Saving money on shipping

Last week, MovieMan brought up a good point about looking behind stores or around dumpsters for boxes so he could save money on shipping supplies. Does anyone else have any tips that could help us save money on shipping or shipping supplies?

I use a crosscut shredder to shred all of my scrap paper and junk mail. This confetti makes for good free packing material.

I think its like saving money on groceries where you always keep an eye out for a deal.  I always buy a couple cases of various canned tomatoes when sales/coupons bring price down to 30-50 cents/can.  I don't wait until I need some.....

Same with shipping material.  Keep an eye out. 
I got about 20 feet (4' wide) of bubble wrap from art museum.  They unwrapped something and was sitting in lobby.  Asked if I could have it.  I didn't need it but knew I'd use it eventually......

Wrapping paper goes on 75% clearance after Christmas. May be too late now, but you can usually pick up 75-100 yards of packing material for about $1. I even use the cardboard rolls as a barrier between my product and box edges. Toilet paper rolls are good for that too.

Most Newspapers will sell the leftover rolls that are not long enought to print out the next batch, usually pick them up around 5 bucks, usually have 500 yards or more of newspaper left on them. Wife uses it for arts and crafts with the kids, I use it for packing.

Most Newspapers will sell the leftover rolls that are not long enought to print out the next batch, usually pick them up around 5 bucks, usually have 500 yards or more of newspaper left on them. Wife uses it for arts and crafts with the kids, I use it for packing.

I'll second that.....I go down to the local newspaper and they sell theirs for $3 a roll.....I buy five rolls at a time and it last quite awhile.

Also, hospitals are a great source of boxes.  The local hospital in town here has a spot under cover that they pile up boxes and anybody can go there and pick them up for free.  And of course people are always giving them away on craigslist.

Appliance boxes are a good source of sheet cardboard if you need to make up a custom box.  I get them from my "real" job, but most places that sell appliances will save you a few if you ask nicely.  Its not worth the time for the regular stuff, but every once in a while I find that making up a custom box really pays off.

I have a commercial paper shredder that I got from a locker, I normally shred most of the papers i find in lockers.

But to be honest, paper is very heavy, so it's really best to use the white peanuts, to reduce shipping cost. You can but those huge 20 cubic foot bags for like $18 from a wholesale packing place.

Sometimes I use paper, depending on the weight of the box, lets say something weighs 2.2 lbs going fedex, since fedex is by the pound I can use up to .8 lbs of paper for packing. I also use bubble wrap.

I also use a box sizer to reduce the amount of packing I need.. It looks like this.

Got a package today that the seller had put the item inside of a brown paper lunch bag, rolled it up and put it in a small box. It was a small auto part so the bag did keep it from moving around in the box.

I use a crosscut shredder to shred all of my scrap paper and junk mail. This confetti makes for good free packing material.

good idea i used to do the same thing. for anyone doing this make sure you ahve a crosscut like he said just a straight shredder its fairly easy to put documents back together and people have your sensitive banking info or taxes or whatever you shredded.

im sure buyers hate this though. i never mind packing peanuts but many buyers and people on here hate them so im sure they love shredded paper which is even worse in terms of getting everywhere, hard to cleanup, and the ink from documents often rubs off on everything.

I'm sure buyers hate this though. i never mind packing peanuts but many buyers and people on here hate them so I'm sure they love shredded paper which is even worse in terms of getting everywhere, hard to cleanup,

The greenies love the paper because 1, it's being reused instead of just thrown out, and 2, paper is bio-degradable, and 3, packing peanuts are Styrofoam which they really hate to see go into a landfill.

It is a good idea to buy from those places which you guys have mentioned that allow you to get the necessary items at wholesale prices. However, you would require a lot of storage space at home to hoard all of those items for “future” because moving is not an activity which you do every single day. For me, I still prefer to get plastic packing boxes which can be reused over and over again because they are durable and can last for more than just one or two moving-out phases. You can even lend them to your friends or family when they need to shift houses.

Walmart is great for boxes. Go after 9PM and they have carts of them all throughout the store and they're eager for you to take them.