Are You Looking for Free Packing Material?
You may think to look at department stores for boxes, but they compact everything. AUTOMOTIVE BODY SHOP & FURNITURE STORES! Yes the gold mine in packing material, styrofoam, bubble wrap, small to huge cardboard boxes are BODY SHOPS AND FURNITURE STORES (a favorite among Ebay power sellers). Next Day Blinds has nice long boxes for shipping door moldings, bumpers, shovel handles, anything long and narrow. Borders Book Store usually has a cardboard only dumpster. Liquor stores have heavy boxes. They have multiple boxes of the same size from stocking shelves. Recycle day in your neighborhood is like driving down the street and shopping for free.
Packing material fills up a businesses dumpster, and they are more than happy to get rid of it. Commercial generators of cardboard pay to have it taken away.
Make an arrangement to have your favorite business save what you are looking for. Yes, you could just dumpster dive (legal in most cities) . Large boxes that had hoods, fenders etc. are a great source of cardboard. Small boxes from small parts, books, merchandise. Most of these shops and stores do not compact or break down their trash. Not too messy, and you are going to find sheets of bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts.
Small businesses will save packing material for you too, just ask. They may even have a stockpile of styrofoam peanuts.
RECYCLE, RE-USE, YOU CHOOSE
Remember that the postal service provides FREE boxes for Priority Mail and Express mail.
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