Where to Get Shipping Supplies for eBay

If you sell items on sites like eBay, you know that you can never have too many shipping supplies for business. It could be a pain sending off items if you don’t have a certain box. I’ve been there a few times and had to ship some items off in a too-big box. I don’t want you to be in that situation. Today, I want to go over where to get your shipping supplies for eBay. I’m going to start with three places where you can get boxes and then discuss other supplies.

Shipping Supplies for eBay

Visit the USPS

You may or may not know this, but USPS offers free priority shipping boxes. They also offer several flat rate boxes that come in sizes small, medium, and large. A flat rate box is a box that ships for a flat rate. As long as the box is 70 pounds or less, it still ships for one flat rate. Those boxes come with insurance as well. The prices for the flat rate boxes are as follows:

Small Box – $8.30

Medium Box – $15.05

Large Box – $21.10

Those are the shipping costs if you purchase in person at USPS. The price will be a little cheaper if you pay for your shipping online. These boxes come in different sizes as well. Some medium and large boxes are of different shapes. To see an example of what I’m talking about, visit the USPS site.

There are a couple of ways for you to get some of these boxes for your eBay business. The first way is to order them on the USPS website. They are free. You have the option to choose different sizes. The other way to get them is to go to your local post office and pick them up. They should have a section or display for them. If they don’t, one of the associates working should be able to help you.

Keep this in mind, USPS is typically busy. Depending on when you order the boxes, it may take a few weeks for you to receive them.

Check with your neighborhood stores

The next way to get shipping supplies for eBay is to check with stores in your neighborhood. A lot of stores get shipments multiple days of the week. After they unpack the inventory, they usually throw the empty boxes away. You can check behind the back of the store near the dumpster to see if they have what you need, or you could do what I’ve done in the past. I used to go to my local Family Dollar and ask the manager if they had any boxes that they were getting rid of that day. I could go to their stock room and grab whatever I wanted. That was an easy way to get boxes a couple of years ago.

Purchase them

The third way for you to get boxes is to go to a store and buy them. We all love free supplies for business, but sometimes you will have to spend money on some things. I buy boxes all the time now. Sometimes, you won’t be able to find the right size box for free, so you’ll have to buy it.

You can get them from Walmart or Amazon. The Amazon link leads to my Amazon store. I have several boxes and other supplies for business that I’ll be talking about shortly.

At the beginning of this post, I focused on shipping boxes that you can use. Those aren’t the only shipping supplies that you will need. Below are a few more things that you need if you want to take your business seriously.

Scale

If you want to make shipping as stress-free as possible, you have to grab a scale. I sold online for several years before I decided to get my scale in 2020. It was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. In the past, I used to guess when it came to shipping prices. That worked half the time. When it didn’t work, I lost money. I do not want you to be in the same situation if you are reading this. Get a scale. I recommend this Accutek. It’s the exact one that I have. I paid $25 for it. Click on the image below for more info.

Tape

If you ship as much as I do, you will need a lot of tape. Below is a set that should get you going right now.

Poly Mailers

This is another item that I just started using this year. If you sell many clothes or jerseys, you need to use poly mailer bags. They are durable. You can save so much money using them instead of putting your closed in small boxes or large envelopes.

Bubble Wrap

This is another item that you will need a lot of depending on what you sell. I sell a lot of coffee mugs and bobbleheads, so I go through bubble wrap. I used to go grab the $3 bubble wrap pack from the store, but it wasn’t enough. I was at the store two or three times a week. I finally started ordering a bigger size online. I saved money and time doing that. Below is the bubble wrap that I recently purchased.

Printer

This is another item that I purchased this year. I used to go to the post office and have them print my postage. That was cool for a while, but I hated slowing up the line once I started making more sales. The turning point for me was waiting in line for 40 minutes and then getting postage for 8 packages. I told myself never again and purchased a printer. Below is the HP printer that I brought. I may eventually move to a Thermo, but for right now, this printer does the job.

Peanuts

Peanuts are great for packing items. They are used to prevent damage to items that may be fragile. I used them when shipping coffee mugs, glass, certain kinds of toys, and more. Below are some that I’ve used in the past.

eBay Supplies Discount

Do you have an eBay store? If the answer is yes, you are in luck. Every quarter eBay store owners receive a $25 coupon that we can use for eBay shipping supplies. eBay has all kinds of supplies, including boxes, tape, poly mailers, and more. If you have a store, make sure that you use that coupon and get your eBay supplies for business.

If you are starting out in the resell business, I hope this post helps you get supplies. I want you to thrive as a reseller, and you will.

Do you know of any places where you can get supplies for business?