Did you know you can make your own shipping boxes? It is relatively easy to do this, and I will try to help you with this project. Doing this will take the headache out of trying to find that perfect box for whatever item it is you are trying to ship. This project can be done with materials you have on hand, using an oversized box that was leftover or getting cardboard and making it into a box. Many different companies sell boxes for competitive pricing, but they won’t have the box you need most of the time; either it will be too big or too small, you won’t easily find that perfect box for that reason going with making your own box. With this guide, I hope to help you quickly understand how to make your very own box for shipping. 

First, you will need to determine the size of the box you will need to make. This can be done by getting a measuring tape to measure the time you wish to ship. You will want to measure the length, width, and height of the item. If it is fragile, I recommend adding half an inch to an inch of space for bubble wrap and other kinds of packing material; this can also be applied to other items, not just fragile ones if you so choose. You will want to write the measurements down on a piece of paper. 

With these measurements, you will be able to make your box, but you will need a few more things. Firstly you will need to get either the cardboard you want to work with; this can be obtained from craft stores for cheap, or if you have a leftover box from a previously received shipment, you can use that as well. Once that has been gotten, you will need to draw out four even-shaped squares on the cardboard. This will form the four sizes of the box we are going to make. Once those squares have been drawn, on a protective surface, cut out those squares. Either cut them out all separately or all in one that can be folded together. Additionally, you will need to cut out two more squares separate for the top and bottom of the box.

Now that you have a lot of squares, you can begin constructing your box. For this part, you will need some masking tape or packing tape; I recommend using packing tape. If you left the four squares together, fold them to form a square and tape the single seam inside and out. If you cut out all the squares, you will need to tape all the seams together to form a square. Once this has been done, you will need to do the same process to add the bottom and top of your box. Leave the lid off if you still need to add your item in. Make sure you protect it with some packing materials. 

Now that all of this has been done, if done correctly, you should have a nice-looking box for your shipping needs. There are many companies that have shipping boxes for sale, but generally, they are expensive or not the correct size. This project can be a bit challenging, but it is an effective way to ship items on a budget. I also think this would be a fun project to do but use the box for storage needs or something of that caliber. 

If you are a big company that ships a lot of packages, it can be tough to find the best shipping supplies to ensure the safety of those shipped items. Once you do find a good manufacture, the prices may be too much, so you will want to look elsewhere. This will be a guide on where or how to find shipping materials effectively and cost-efficient. This process can be stressful, so hopefully, this guide will help to point you in the right direction to get started. This is not a foolproof guide, so take these words with a grain of salt and determine what the best shipping material is best for you.

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The first place recommended to check out for your shipping material needs would be Amazon. Amazon is a great company and a very big one at that, with many stores all over the world, your package will get to you within a few short days. This is the first advantage amazon has; its shipping times are great, especially if you have prime. This company also offers excellent bulk deals on shipping materials they have to offer. The cheap aspect of these materials can be an upside as you are able to get a lot of what you will be needing. They also offer more expensive shipping materials if that is what you were looking for. 

Another good company that is recommended to check out would be a company called Uline. They are a standalone shipping company focused on shipping materials. This is a benefit as anyone from there will be able to answer any questions you may have regarding the materials they have and you are interested in. they also focus on making those shipping materials very cheap. This is good as you may not want to spend too much money on shipping materials you need for your company. This would be an excellent company to buy from if you are an eCommerce store. 

The final company we are going to look at and recommended is Online Labels. This shipping company specializes in making shipping labels. This is another company that focuses on selling cheap shipping products that do not compromise on quality. This is an excellent thing to keep in mind as when you are buying cheap most of the time; you are able to tell it is cheap by looking at it. This company makes its products in-house and does not compromise or cut corners on anything. The best part about this company is that because they specialize in labels, you are able to get custom labels for cheap. They are known for their competitive pricing. Look at this store first if you are looking for the best shipping materials for cheap but good quality.

As you can see, there are many different stores to look at and even more that were not mentioned. What you should take away from this is that a lot of companies offer cheap shipping supplies, but only a few make those cheap supplies high quality. In the end, it is your company, so the decision is entirely up to you. If you will accept this recommendation, go with Online Labels. They seem to be the best company for shipping materials, and you will get the best bang for your buck. They also make custom labels, so you will not need to worry about that. 

When it comes to shipping, there are a few different kinds of boxes that can be used. One of those boxes is cardboard. A solid yet cheap material that can be used for shipping. Another option is wooden boxes or crates. These boxes are heavier than the other options. The final option for shipping boxes would be plastic. This material is also cheap and durable but also flimsy. It can be challenging to decide what box would be the best to ship items, but hopefully, this will guide you in the right direction. 

The most common kind of box for shipping is cardboard. These boxes are great for all types of items, regardless of shape or size. Cardboard boxes can come in all shapes and sizes. The versatility of these boxes is unmatched. They are incredibly light and can hold quite a bit of item inside of them. Cardboard boxes have a unique design that gives them the strength they have. This design is called corrugation. Corrugated cardboard is the small waves you see in between the top and bottom pieces of cardboard. This design makes these boxes unmatched by being light but durable. Cardboard is also very cheap to mass produce with very little material. 

The following kind of box for shipping is wooded boxes or crates. These boxes are the strongest of the three we are going to discuss but very heavy. Wooden boxes need to be made by hand, so this is a long process. Usually, these boxes are used to ship large, heavy machinery that a cardboard box could not hold. The durability of wood boxes is obviously better than cardboard and plastic, but that durability comes at the cost of being very heavy. These boxes will need to be moved by at least two people or heavy machinery, which can be a problem for some people as they may not have access to the required items to move the box. 

Finally, we have plastic boxes. Like cardboard boxes, these are durable and can sustain the elements. The downside is that these boxes can be very flimsy. These boxes have a unique process to make them which cuts into the price tag they have. Plastic boxes can be more expensive compared to cardboard boxes and, at times, wooden boxes depending on the size. These boxes can hold about the same as cardboard boxes but have more strength to them as they are made from plastic. 

With so many different kinds of shipping boxes, it can be challenging to decide which one to get. It really depends on what it is you are trying to ship. Cardboard boxes are good for just about anything, and they are very cheap, which helps. Wooden crates are best for shipping large machinery that a cardboard box could not hold or support. The high price of plastic boxes can be a turnoff, but they are a happy medium between wooden boxes and cardboard boxes. Plastic is light like cardboard boxes but durable like wooden boxes. In my opinion, I would suggest going with the old faithful cardboard box. They are cheap and can be bought in bulk, thus saving some money in the long run. The need to construct wooden boxes before anything can be shipped seems as it will cut into the running costs of a big business, and no ordinary person has the need for it. 

I started my eCommerce career on eBay. I found it super fun to make money on items that at the time I didn’t want or that I knew I could make some extra money selling them.   I don’t even mind that I am going to lose around 12% for just using the platform.  The big deal is that I am getting rid of almost always something I am never going to use again.  It is the best part of living in American and that is Capitalism.  I am able to sell an item that I don’t want to someone who does want it and it is pretty darn cool.  The major areas that I think are important to know when selling on eBay are the process of listing and then shipping.  Packaging is key and I want to go over some basics that could help you and your company save some money and time.

If you are selling on eBay, remember that is actually costs money to send that package.  It sounds small, but you must build this cost in.   It is not free to send something in the mail or by UPS or FedX.  There are costs involved and many people forget to think about the shipping charges that they will pay when they sell an item.  It is a big thing to think about because if you have a strangely shaped item or it is really heavy the cost of shipping may be super high.  You may want to sell for free shipping or you may want to have the buyer pay for it.  But measure your item out and also think about what it will take to get that item to the buyer safely.  No one likes a busted item when it arrives and it is super costly. 

When it comes to packaging it needs some thought.  You can make or break your company just on this small choice.  I may need to use a bubble bag that seals or I may need to use a big box.  Either way, the cost of shipping supplies needs to be added to every single sale in your own mind so you don’t lose money on the sale.  Now I like to keep my used Amazon boxes that I get in order to sell items later.  If I have a box all ready to go then I don’t have to go out and buy more shipping supplies later.  That to me is key to making money on eBay.  So save up some different sized boxes from things that you have bought and it also helps the environment out as well.  Take what you have and use it.  There is no need to waste and get something else if you already have something in inventory or at home.

Filling up your packages is pretty important.  It may actually be 30% of the savings because of the safety it can bring. Some items are fragile and need to be protected.  I have used cardboard to protect knife blades in the mail and also small pieces of wood too.  Just make sure it is soft enough wood to not break the item, even if it is pointy.  Keeping paper or newspapers around to use as stuffing is a great idea or just the packaging fillers that came from Amazon can be reused as well.  Just a few tips and tricks that I hope help!

My favorite part of working is doing things my own way.  I do a lot of work on eBay selling things and making extra fun money for my hobbies. I have lost money and learned many lessons from my mistakes and from simply not knowing.  But I have learned many positive things as well from successes and from watching what others were doing.  I found it amazing that using the correct shipping supplies could end up changing my margins on the items I was selling.  Did you know you could make an extra 30% profit by changing your boxes?  It ended up saving me money in the long run due to returns as well.  I want to talk about how I did this and how you can do it to during the 2021 eCommerce craze.

I got into this whole thing to make money!  I think most of us do.  For some people that come in when they list the item.  Or for some people, they love when they finally ship the item and then they feal amazing about the wholesale.  But either way, I think you feel even better when you are able to make more money doing it.  If you get to see those awesome sales running in and you are cashing checks then it is a cool thing. 

Do some research.  I think learning about the industry is key.  I found out that I actually knew nothing about the shipping supplies world and that I needed to up my knowledge base in order to get the correct items and stay ahead of my competition.  Some of my competition was actually winning in this area and I didn’t even know it.  By them being able to purchase boxes at a lower price that fit their products better they were able to in the end have more merchandise than me and sell it at a slightly lower price than me as well. Lower prices usually win over ratings on eBay. I have a great rating but it really is not worth anything. 

I found the big companies that only worked in bags and boxes and went with those to save money.  By doing this and not selling on a third-party location like Amazon they can sell them cheap and still make more money themselves.  So that is one of the best places to look for the boxes you need.  I was able to call a few companies up and find a better product.  Then I was able to get a bulk discount from each and then see which one would go lower than the other.  It was not mean, but I honestly wanted to know.  I decided to go with the more flexible company and I have gone back to them to show my gratitude as well.  If a company is willing to take a little less to keep me then I am going to be more loyal to them and show my gratitude.  It is a cycle of respect that businessmen and women understand and appreciate. So get the right box and rock your business because that can change eyou from a success to a failure.  If you are using the wrong stuff and getting returns because of damaged goods that is not good either. Use high-quality gear.