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Our house goes on the market in the spring, and I'm getting into the clearing out and packing up mode big time now.
"Clean and cleared out" shows better, makes the house easier to keep clean, plus moving will be that much easier with the STUFF cleared out and packed up. I've been buying the opaque plastic boxes when they go on sale at K-Mart or Home Depot. They'll store better than cardboard, plus there should be less breakage with glass and china.
Do you know of a good source for bubble wrap - large quantities at a wholesale or low price? I've found some online sources - any experience ordering bubble wrap online? So far I've found eSupply Store, Uline Shipping Supply, MoveOut.
Try Sams, Costco or Office Depot/Staples. Sumetimes other office supply places carry it. I may try the virtual bubble wrap site.... sounds like fun. Thanks
Check the Yellow Pages for packing and shipping supplies. These places will be vastly cheaper than office supply stores, which are outrageous, same for foam packing peanuts and cartons of all sizes.
I used to buy these for a non-profit group as I was the volunteer who picked, packed & shipped the model trains and books. I've shipped a lot of stuff for ebay too.
We got 14 cu foot bags of peanuts as low as $25 at a wholesaler of supplies in Jessup, MD, but had to go to the industrial park to get them. Two of these bags will FILL a mini-van. There were others a bit more convenient and a bit pricier. But they are in your yellow pages and you'll have to call them. Some don't want to deal with private citizens, maybe you can find a work-around for such cases. Ask for them for free on your local freecycle.org site in your town.
When we moved in 2005, we did all of our own packing. We got boxes from a website called U-Line and they were great. Hugely cheaper than boxes at the local storage yard or office store, and they shipped them to my house, yep, a 53-foot semi rolled up two business days later with my order. I got my own peanuts and bubble wrap at the wholesale place, but U Line could have sent those too I believe. They have EVERY box size imaginable, including all the dish-packs, dividers and etc used for packing stemware and china, etc. My wife and I have about 50 of those plastic tote boxes for office files that we use to store model trains, model horses and collectibles, and U-line had overpack cartons that fit all of our bin sizes perfectly, we just set up the box, slipped in the bin, taped it up and marked it. I'd go with them again if I were moving again.
Oh yes, if you do you own packing, you need lots of tape (we use about 50 rolls of the stuff) and several sharpie markers. Be sure to number each box sequentially, and KEEP AN INVENTORY FOR EACH BOX!!! I had 250 cartons of goods, and I kept an inventory, and I still know what is in any given box that is still not unpacked. Tape is cheap compared to busted/lost goods, use LOTS of it.
It's good that you are starting early. Very good.
s/Mike
Last edited by Mike from back east; 12-28-2007 at 05:32 PM..
Reason: Fix a typo
When we moved in 2005, we did all of our own packing. We got boxes from a website called U Line and they were great.
Oh yes, if you do you own packing, you need lots of tape (we use about 50 rolls of the stuff) and several sharpie markers. Be sure to number each box sequentially, and KEEP AN INVENTORY FOR EACH BOX!!! I had 250 cartons of goods, and I kept an inventory, and I still know what is in any given box that is still not unpacked. Tape is cheap compared to busted/lost goods, use LOTS of it.
It's good that you are starting early. Very good. s/Mike
Thanks Mike! U Line was one of the websites I bookmarked, and to have a first-hand recommendation is fantastic!
I've moved many times over the years, and have always marked the boxes with the room they go in & the items they contain. Numbering the boxes to coincide with the inventory list is a great idea, especially since many of these boxes will be stored away for quite some time. I will surely forget what is where by the time I actually UNpack! Good tip on the tape - that always runs out quickly and even the plastic storage boxes with snap-on lids will need to be secured.
I tell you, after looking at the wholesale prices of bubble wrap online, and comparing to prices at a place like Staples ...there is quite a profit in bubble wrap!
Thanks again Mike! The voice of wisdom as usual!
If you are in NJ I can tell you a wholesale company I buy from, if you pick it up you save a lot.
E.L Baxter in Long Branch has the best prices. I use a ton of bubble wrap because I run several web sites and ship all the time.
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Packing and Shipping Supplies
4 Eva!!!! Are you from NY?
