How To Package Various Types Of Items For Ebay - Packaging For Shipment

Packaging: it's what your buyer tears into when they finally get that special package in the mail. It's also what helped what they ordered to arrive in one piece.

When selling items on Ebay, you want to make your buyer happy by getting their item to them in the same condition that you sold it in.

Shipping

If you have not read my article on the Ebay shipping process, you can read it below:

You will need a few basic materials in order to ship your items safely to your buyers. I covered these things more in depth in my Ebay Shipping Guide, but the materials you will need are boxes or bubble mailers, bubble wrap, newspaper or other filler, packing tape, and cardboard.

Make sure you have enough materials on hand so that you don't discover that you ran out of supplies when it comes time to ship your item.

If you are shipping trading cards or some other kind of paper that cannot be bent, you will need to take extra care to ensure that the item stays safe during shipping. You do not want to just stick it in an envelope, or bend it (I cringe) to fit it into the packaging.

Trading Cards

The process of shipping cards such as sports or trading cards is fairly simple, but is often overlooked by many sellers. You need to protect your item, and that requires just a little bit of effort.

• First, put your card in either a toploader or a single plastic sleeve. Do not put tape over the end, as this will damage the card.
• Next, put the protected card into a team bag, and seal it. This will make the card water resistant and protect it from most liquids, if they should get to your card at all.
• Now take some thin cardboard (like what you get from a cereal box) and cut two rectangles roughly the size of your card, and sandwich the card between them.
• Take a sheet of bubble wrap, and use it to wrap your card. Make sure the bubble wrap is even and does not leave any part of the card unprotected. Cut the bubble wrap if you need to. Tape the loose ends together, but make sure that your buyer will be able remove the bubble wrap when they receive their package.
• Take a sheet of thick, corrugated cardboard, and cut two pieces roughly the shape of your bubble wrapped card. Sandwich the card between the two pieces of cardboard, and tape the four ends just so they stay together.
• Put it all into a bubble mailer. Make sure the bubble mailer that you have are the right size to fit your item. Tape the end if it is a used bubble mailer, and put a label on it.

To ship multiple cards, follow the same principles, but put up to around thirty cards in one team bag. You will probably need to ship these cards in a box, as they will not likely fit into a bubble mailer when they are properly packaged.

Other Paper Items

Shipping other paper items is similar to shipping cards. You could follow the same steps to package your paper goods. With common items, it may be acceptable to simply sandwich the item with corrugated cardboard, wrap it in bubble wrap, and put it in the appropriate size box.

Older, more valuable, or more rare items should be packaged according to the same guidelines as for shipping cards in order to prevent them from being damaged during shipping.

You need to be extra careful when shipping breakable items on Ebay. These items are more prone to damage and you need to take the necessary precautions to ensure their safe delivery.

• Separate multiple items with newspaper to prevent them from bumping together. For added protection, you can use bubble wrap to separate items in addition to newspaper.
• Wrap your item(s) in as much bubble wrap as you want. You can almost never use too much bubble wrap with breakable items.
• Use sheets of cardboard cut a little smaller than the sides of the box and placed on the inside if you feel that you need to reinforce it. Use as much newspaper or bubble wrap (or both) as you can fit into the box to ensure a tight fit.

Do everything you can to make sure that your items will not move around in their boxes and result in costly damage during shipping. Just to be safe, I usually insure my breakable and expensive items when I print my shipping labels.

When shipping electronic items, you need to make sure that you use enough protective packaging to ensure that the item gets to the buyer safely.

• If the item is in its original box, make sure the packaging is still there, or add your own, unless the item is brand new.
• What you may want to do, whether the item is in its own box or you put it in a box, is to put that box inside of a larger box. That way, the box closest to the item will not directly experience as much of the shock if it happens to get dropped during shipping.
• Wrap the inner box (or the item, if it is small and not in a box) in bubble wrap, and use filler if you need to.

You want to make sure that when you ship CD's or records your buyer receives them safely.

• Make sure the item is in its proper case. If not, put it in a replacement or a makeshift case, but make sure that it will be protected.
• Secure the item with just bubble wrap, and it should be fine if you use plenty.
• If you are worried about your item breaking, you can use thin cardboard to sandwich your item, bubble wrap around the sandwich, and corrugated cardboard secured around the sandwich.
• If you are shipping CD's in a bubble mailer, secure them with bubble wrap and a sandwich of corrugated cardboard. For records, it is probably best to use a box to avoid damage during shipping.

Books are fairly simple to package for shipping. They are rugged items, but you still need to protect them.

• Wrap the book in bubble wrap. Tape the loose ends, being sure not to tape the book itself.
• If you want added protection, use cardboard corners to keep the corners of the book safe.
• Use filler if you need it. Bubble wrap should be enough, but if you still have more box to fill, put some crumpled up newspaper around the book.

If you want to make the book water resistant during shipping, put a plastic bag around it.

Depending on a book's value and condition, it may not need to be protected with bubble wrap. Sometimes I have received a book from an Amazon seller that was simply wrapped in a stsrip of cardboard. That may not be the best option for shipping books, but you certainly don't always have to treat them as breakables when you ship them.

Small items, such as jewelry, coins, or even matchbox cars, should be shipped in bubble mailers.

• To package jewelry, place the item in a small jewelry bag or a jewelry box. You may want to secure the item inside the bag/box with bubble wrap, but that is optional. Wrap the bag/box in bubble wrap. If you would like, secure a bubble wrapped jewelry bag by sandwiching it between two pieces of corrugated cardboard.
• To package coins or other similar collectables, place them in an appropriate bag or box. Use bubble wrap to make sure they will not rattle around and become damaged. Bubble wrap the bag/box so that it will be protected inside the bubble mailer.

When packing items for shipment in general, you want to protect them in any way possible. You want your item to arrive at its destination in the same condition that you shipped it in. If you do what is necessary for that to happen, your package should arrive safely to your buyer.