posted on March 29, 2002 04:22:20 PM new
I am going to list some of my daughter's and her cousin's old toys from the early 70's. When it comes to something like a dollhouse or car play set, that is plastic and therefore "semi-fragile" but very awkwardly shaped and bulky, what suggestions do you have on shipping? I need to be able to figure an estimate to ship the items. Thanks!
posted on March 29, 2002 11:52:32 PM new
Here's what I'd do: Before listing a bulky toy, such as you describe, I'd first find a box large enough to fit it AND all the packing you'll want to do.
My personal favorite would be to start with slabs of styrofoam, essentially creating another box inside the carton, on all sides. For actual shipping, I'd wrap the toy in bubblewrap, place it in the carton that's now well padded, then fill the spaces with padding such as styrofoam peanuts, crumpled paper bags, more bubble wrap, or whatever you have. Be sure to put a styrofoam slab at the top of the box before sealing shut.
You'll need a very large box in order to do this. Find it first, pile it with a lot of the padding you intend to use plus the toy itself, weigh the whole thing, and figure out from the USPS what's the best way to ship (priority or whatever). I always add a few ounces to the total to account for tape and additional padding if needed.
I would do all this weighing before even listing the item (mainly because I do not like surprises!)
Of course, on occasion I've played it by ear, especially with smaller items, weighing just the item and estimating the extra weight that packing will add. Hit or miss--but the more experience with this, the better. Good luck!
posted on March 30, 2002 03:30:39 AM new
Another thing that can be used for extra padding are the plastic grocery bags.
Any small pieces should be put in a sandwich or refrigerator bag and then tape the bag to the toy (not over paper decals). This keeps the small items from getting broken or lost during shipping.
posted on March 30, 2002 08:12:20 AM new
roadsmith has got it nailed. I learned the hard way not to list delicate or bulky items and THEN worry about how I was going to ship them after they were sold. It's a panic trap. Do the packaging first.
posted on March 30, 2002 08:42:52 AM new
I had such a nightmare recently. I think it was a reflection of the economy. My apartment is a hop and a skip from where the recycle area is, so I like never have to buy bubble wrap, boxes, pebbles or styrofoam. My neighbors are the typical conspicuous consumers. (Which also makes me nice eBay profits.) Anyway, I sold this dollhouse, thinking ho-hum no problemo and for a period of WEEKS there was not a box to be found. I can not stress how bizarre this was and had to conclude that people actually were not buying anything. They had to be buying nothing at all. I scoured the streets. Grocery cartons wouldn't do--it had to be a TV or computer sized box. It was just awful. The buyer offered to MAIL ME a box from California! Thank God she was a good sport. (Oh, people are buying again, or at least moving in.)
For a plastic toy I would think a fow rounds of bubble wrap tucked in scrunched up newspapers or pebbles nice and tight would suffice.
posted on March 30, 2002 11:47:12 AM new
another reason to pack it before listing is surchages for large packages
my wife just sold a 3'doll ,she weighed it and quoted 10.50 shipping by weight. we packed it yesterday and shipping is going to be 17.75 becouse it is oversize....OWWWW!!
I am going to try repacking this weekend to see if we can get the size down.
spock here......
Live long and Prosper
posted on March 30, 2002 05:46:11 PM new
If you can't find a box for a big item, just go to a 24 hour grocery store, at night, and tell them you need a big box, are they stocking anything they might be able to let you have one? most of them are happy to give you one, it's one less to take to the trash or recycle dumpster.
Selling small items, my best all-time source for boxes was the Fanny Farmer candy store. I just went on the one night a week they put them out for the mall trash pickup. Clean, sized right, no markings on them except the store number and sometimes a small end label.. when it closed I just took everything, so I still have a pile of them. I also did good with the cardboard dumpster at the religious bookstore, when I worked elsewhere in the same plaza and was taking our cardboard and trash out, I would just take what I needed.
Foam peanuts can let your contents settle when shipping, so I only use them in certain situations and mostly have been using newspaper. If you can;t find lots of foam bricks, though, you could conserve it on big items by using strips of it and filling the gaps with the peanuts.
posted on March 30, 2002 08:59:11 PM new
ess98--you're right about how to conserve the foam bricks. Even half a piece can do a lot of buffering.
I've discovered a fabulous site for sturdy small boxes--our local hardware store empties these boxes of nails and small parts into the appropriate bins and then piles them up, empty, until they can dispose of them. They are very sturdy (have to be, to hold nails) and almost completely unmarked. I'm talking perhaps 5 x 5 inches, or a bit larger or smaller. They'd be great, too, if you're double boxing a small breakable item.
This is a small town and a small old-fashioned hardware store--may not be possible to find these boxes in a Home Depot, say--at least not quite so easy.
