Anyone Mailing Stuff to Any Extent?

[TexasTimbers]

I need to find a shipping products supply, supplier, with reasonable pricing. I checked out Uline but they seem high to me. I need mainly boxes, tape, peanuts. We dont't have an Office Supply anywhere near and I think shipping supplies are high there anyway.
Wal Mart is outrageous on tape etc. Haven't tried Sam's but they generally stick it to you as well. What's the industry secret out there?
Surely someone has opened a shipping supply chain that focuses on high volume fair pricing versus high profit we-don't-care-about-volume. 

[DR_Buck]

Kevjay,

We do a lot of mailing and shipping of  mostly smaller items.    You're right about Uline's prices and any walk-in local store including SAMs.  They're all to high priced.   The best I've been able to do for padded envelopes, poly mailers and smaller boxes is ebay.  look for the guys that combine shipping for multiple items.   For larger boxes I go to the the local U-haul store.   Their somewhat higher prices are made up for by  not paying any shipping.

I also save and reuse almost every box we get something shipped to us in.   

[beenthere]

'Tis the season, and it comes once a year.....they'll get the money while the gettin is good.

[Norm]

For boxes we use uline. If you can find a local place to buy peanuts and bubble wrap that would be best but with us we are so far out in the bonnies that I order peanuts and bubble wrap from uline also. Some things like tape and other small incidentals we buy off of ebay. Tape is one that we get the good 3m tape at almost half price. If you have the storage buy in large amounts to get the shipping cost down. If I order from uline in the afternoon it is delivered the next day via truck. Plus since my order was over $750 I got a cool Chicago Bears fleece warmer....

[Larry]

Harbor Freight for cheap tape which is sufficient in most cases, Uline for higher quality tape/boxes, and USPS for free priority mail boxes/shipping labels.  Free used boxes at the grocery store, meat market, and a smaller retail store.  We got them trained to save us the size of box we use.  They have us trained to buy stuff at there stores.  Heavy duty industrial shredder gets rid of newspapers and makes a lot of packing.  If we run low, trip to the local bank will supply us with shredded paper.  Peanuts come from the Dr’s office.  Pallets of free styrofoam sheets from a manufacturing company.

If selling wood products sometimes I cut them to fit the boxes.

[TexasTimbers]

If selling wood products sometimes I cut them to fit the boxes.

I'm already doing that where possible too. 

I also save and reuse almost every box we get something shipped to us in.

I am not liking to think about all the boxes I have thrown away in just the last few months!  Just no room to store them but I am going to make room now I am going to build a lightwieght loft from my shop cieling in the corner and throw them up there until needed.


Great info if anyone else has some tips please share.

Hey Norm . . . .  how bout dem bears! They might meet our Cowgirls possibly eh? I wish we would trade you guys T.O. for . . . . . for . . . . .  for nothin. 

[tcsmpsi]

I keep most my good boxes up in the loft at the shop.  I used to give all the packing materials (mostly peanuts/semi-shredded cardboard) to one of the local wrap and ship places.  But, after 100 or so bags of peanuts, and they got to where it wasn't even worth a thank you any more, I went back to dumpstering them.

I can't say for many others, but most of the folks I know in smaller retail business would be glad to have someone come by periodically and retreive the burdensome packing materials from shipments.

Except for what I keep for my own shipping, I probably throw away 5-7 large garbage bags of packing material a month (bubble wrap, airbags, peanuts, and that thing they do with cardboard making mats).

Might well be worth checking a few places. 

[TexasTimbers]

Yep those are good ideas. But mainly I am llooking for the price king of packing supplues because I really don't even have the time to go rounding up things like that. I don't mind paying, just wanted to do a little due dilligence and minimize the costs to my customers as much as possible. I pass them on I don't eat them.
But if I get in the cycle of making weekly rounds then I do eat them.
Clever ideas all though.

[tcsmpsi]

Well, good luck.  I've not found any wholesale/retail outlets for packing material that I would deem reasonable.

I still give boxes/packing material to a few folks, but not nearly enough to keep me from having to throw most of it in the dumpster.  Shame. 

And, it is perhaps that this particular business generates more such material than many.  Looking at it in that regard, I can see where it would.

[metalspinner]

I use Uline because they can ship to me so quickly.  Also, I have several different size and style packaging boxes that I use of theirs.  If you buy a large enough quantity it is more reasonable.  The storage demands of the larger quantity are kind of a hassle, though.

[farmerdoug]

Kevjay,

Who do you ship your packages through?

USPS has priority mail boxes for free but of limited sizes.
Fedex and UPS will provide you with boxes at a cost but probably cheaper than Uline.

Farmerdoug

[Patty]

I think FEDEX & UPS will give you free boxes, but you can only use them for air shipments, and they are pretty small.

We have checked around, and for us Uline was the cheapest option. Now we have ours custom made at a local manufacturer. We need very heavy duty ones to hold up to the abuse that UPS / FEDEX give them. The stuff we ship is so breakable we just had to go with the heavy duty boxes.

[Daren]

I don't know how much this helps, but I will throw my $.02 in. I was getting ate up by shipping too, especially boxes. I just went to the local furniture and appliance sales places and said I was needing some cardboard and check back every once in a while. Most of that stuff comes in big sturdy boxes, they just break it down and pitch it (some recycle). They usually have a ton of that foam wrap too. I still have to buy bubble wrap sometimes, but not too often. You have to "make a box" from the big pieces, but with lumber like you are shipping that is not too hard, wrap the cardboard around it and tape it up good. I do use alot of tape though, I bought a tape gun and use the refills. I'm not sure how handy that is for you (like if there are places like that close), but around here there are big cabinet factories/ garage door factories... even the local newspaper. The mayor is my buddy and works at the paper, he brings big sheets of cardboard home from work for me. I found no matter what size box I had it was never the right size anyway, might as well make them. It may seem like a pain in the rear to go "cardboard hunting", but if you can find a place to get it for free and it is close/handy beats buying it for sure.

Maybe someone else has ideas on where to get big boxes too. I used to work as a sub (plumber) for a couple general contractors. They save the boxes from stuff like doors/cabinets... when I call and ask if I am getting low. Just some thoughts.

[Engineer]

I mail a lot of maps in roll tubes, and I get them from a place called Brasspack.  They have a website and are also an eBay seller.  They carry all that stuff you are looking for.

[TexasTimbers]

Yes the long blocks and short lumber is not a problem really. I wrap it just like you stated. Have a triumvirat of 50 pounders going to Iowa that very way as we speak.  
The small stuff is no sweat either. The easiest thing is logs. No wrapper equired. But it's those DanG cookies. A "disc" or "round" for you non turners. Take a 2" x 20" cookie. ULINE wants . . . . .

Aha!. I just went to check uline site again to get the exact price to complain about, before I complained about the price again.
I had not noticed the little "Search By Size" function. I found exactly what I needed. I was just cruising the sire before and never saw the "Cookie" boxes.
Sorry folks. I should have noticed it before but I just didn't. I just ordered some 16 x 16 x 4 for less than a buck a pop and found some 12 x 12 x 3 on sale for less than 4 bits!

Still, I got some great ideas to implement from y'all. The shredded paper from the bank won't take long at all. Anytime I'm there and need some.

Many thanks to all.

Just saw where you posted while I was typing engineer I will check out Brasspack too.