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What Is The Best Packaging For Your Item?

Whether you occasionally sell items on eBay or own a small business shipping products around the world, it’s important to look for the best packaging options to hold your items. This improves the overall presentation of your items, safeguards them during transportation, and ultimately improves your reputation as a seller.

But with so many different packaging options available, what should you be using for your items? It really depends on the situation, but here’s some advice to help you out.

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Mailing Satchels

Mailing satchels are convenient self-sealing bags that come in a variety of different sizes. Since they don’t offer much structural rigidity, they’re best for items that don’t require much protection. This includes small documents, flat items like books and video games, or even clothing items.

So while they don’t offer much in the way of protection, they’re convenient and cost-effective if you’re mailing items that are already fairly sturdy. Since they come in many different sizes, you should aim to buy mailing satchels that are a snug fit for the items you plan to send.

Mailing Boxes

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Mailing boxes offer the most protection for your item, but you’ll need to purchase different sizes to ensure your items fit snugly. If you use large mailing boxes for smaller items, then you’ll have to pad the rest of the empty space with something to ensure the item doesn’t move around inside the box during transportation. However, they’re great for packaging multiple items thanks to the extra space.

You can send basically anything inside of a mailing box, but it’s usually best for electronics and similarly fragile goods. The only minor drawback is that you’ll probably need to buy a range of different sizes, and some packaging materials will be helpful to add a bit more cushioning.

Poly Bubble Mailer

Poly bubble mailers are similar to mailing satchels, but they’re lined with a protective bubble cushioning on the inside. This adds an extra layer of defence against accidental bumps and movements during transit.

Although it’s not going to protect extremely fragile items such as glass, it’ll give you more peace of mind when mailing slightly more delicate items such as CD cases, electronic components, and jewellery.

Cello Bags

Cello bags are transparent bags that keep your items safe from dust and moisture. They’re fairly rigid, making them great for items like greeting cards, art prints, and even cables. They’re particularly useful for showing off the product inside.

Cello bags are typically used to package various items, but they’re not sent with just the bag. Instead, they’re placed inside mailing satchels, mailing boxes, or poly bubble mailers.

Ziplock Bags

Ziplock bags are lightweight, versatile, and really practical for packaging items to be sent. Much like cello bags, they’re mainly used as an extra packaging layer to organise items that you’re sending. For instance, it can be used to keep small hardware items like screws, bolts, and nuts. They can also be used for small snack items and sweets, or even complementary stickers that you add to each order.

Ziplock bags come in a variety of different sizes, offering added flexibility when combining them with your existing packaging materials and strategies.

Packaging Tape

Packaging tape is used in virtually every situation where you’re packaging and sending an item. It helps to secure mailing boxes, it adds an extra seal to mailing satchels, and it protects poly bubble mailers too. It can also be used to reinforce and secure labels on items, and it’ll last the entire duration of the item’s journey without failing.

Conclusion

There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for packaging unless you only sell one type of item. The best packaging for you will depend on your needs, the type of items you’re packaging, and even the packaging strategy that you’re using.

The important thing to remember is that packaging isn’t just about securing your items and protecting them during transit. It’s also an opportunity to show your recipient that you care about the quality of the customer experience from start to finish. Nobody wants to receive a beat-up box that’s been haphazardly taped up because it sets a bad impression. If you want to foster a loyal customer base and receive good reviews, then it’s important to put more care into how you package your products.

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