Materials guide for LEGO selling & shipping

Many members have asked for a centralized place where they can go for shipping box information. I'm going to pin this post and update it as new information is provided. I just want to take a few minutes and thank those who wrote the following articles. They are still very good reference materials for the LEGO storage and shipping process. I may develop this into a blog article eventually.

Fcbarcelona101's : Selling LEGO : Basic Materials Guide
Mos Eisley 's : LEGO Storage Wars

Incompetech's Catalog of Amazon.com Box Sizes - (thanks No More Monkeys)

Amazon Boxes Sorted list by length - courtesy of pstebbing

I've scoured the forums and here is a list of box sizes with basic set information:

Boxes:
24x20x8 : Super Star Destroyer; Death Star, Roller Coaster, UCS Sandcrawler, Assembly Square
24x20x6 : Thicker sets like Town Hall, Tower Bridge
24x16x6 - 60052 Cargo Train, R2-D2, Maersk Line Triple-E, 7939 Cargo Train
24x16x4 - Helm's Deep, Vampyre Castle, Black Pearl, Friends Riding Camp, Parisian Restaurant, High Speed Passenger Train, Jabba's Palace, Downtown Diner
24x20x4 : Grand Emporium, Pet Shop, Imperial Shuttle, Haunted House, Palace Cinema, Fire Brigade
24x14x4 : Dolphin Cruiser, Coast Guard Patrol
24x4x12 - Dolphin Cruiser, Coast Guard Patrol
20x16x4 - Volkswagen Camper Van, Olivia's House, Sonic Raider, Sopwith, Creator Bike Shop, Batcave, Quinjet, Moria & Ambush
20x16x6 : Thicker sets like the Republic Gunship; City Cargo Plane
20x14x4 : Attack on Weathertop, Hulk 's Helicarrier Breakout, X-Wing 9493, Black Gate
16x16x4 : Gungan Sub, Pre Viszla, Tie Fighter
16x10x4 : Council of Elrond, Desert Skiff, City Grand Prix Truck
16x10x6 : Thicker sets like Creator Family House, Hillside House
15x12x4 : Funhouse, Orc Forge, Tumbler Chase, Daily Bugle Showdown, Hulk Lab Smash
12x12x4 : Uruk Hai Army, City Cargo Truck, Creator Treehouse, City Fire Emergency
11-3/4x8-3/4x4-3/4 : Wolverine Chopper, Arctic Batman, Power Armor Lex, Droid Escape, Cloud Cuckoo Palace
12x8x3 - Battle Packs, CA Avenging Cycle, Catwoman, Gandalf Arrives, Holiday sets
10x8x4 : Battle Packs, CA Avenging Cycle, Catwoman, Gandalf Arrives, Holiday sets

Envelopes:
4x8 : Minifigs & small polybags
6x9 : Polybags small & larger
10.5 x 16 : Larger shipments of 3 x polybags or more

Packing Tape : buy in bulk or on sale : you can throw some in during a Staples coupon promotion to get up to free shipping
Walmart.com Duck Brand Packaging Tape
http://www.staples.com/Staples-Standard-Grade-Packaging-Tape-Clear-189-x-110-yds-6-Rolls/product_380107

Retailers:
Uline.com : holiday sale starts first part of November (usually 30% off)
Staples.com : use coupon promotions - $10 off $30, $20 off $75, free shipping over $60
Walmart.com
USPS Priority Mail (free boxes at USPS.com)

 

Michigan Box Company:

Flat Boxes 18"-23" L  (thanks pstebbing)

GBE Packaging (thanks pstebbing)
 

PackingSupplies.com

http://www.packaging...ated_boxes.html     (thanks pstebbing)

 

Bubble Wrap:
3/16" thick x 350' ft x 12" wide - eBay

 

Sams Club

3/16" - 12"x240' $12.98 (In store) ($.05/LF) (thanks pstebbing)

I like to use large and small retailer plastic bags to wrap items in, even after I bubble wrap it.

For battle packs and even small sets, I sometimes use Wal-Mart, Target, or plastic bags from any store. Additional packing isn 't really needed. Usually like 2 bags on bottom, one to wrap the item, and two bags on top. Make sure to cover the corners of the item real nice to provide extra padding.

Rule of thumb : ship & pack all of your items the same way you 'd like to receive items you've purchased.

Shipping Paper:
Collect it when you receive shipments.
http://www.amazon.com/Pratt-Multipurpose-Packaging-KPR30241200R-Length/dp/B00AI652CM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408061459&sr=8-1&keywords=pratt+kraft+paper+1200?

Shipping Labels & Printers:
Dymo 450 & Dymo 400
Brother QL-700

DoNotInsertIntoMouth's : How to setup your label printer for shipping on eBay


Feel free to post a follow-up or point out anything I missed. I 'll update it with what everyone wants added. I hope this is helpful.

15 minutes ago, thekragle said:

I sold a set and turns out I do not have a 24x20x6 box. (thought I did)

I ordered some but delivery is not until mid next week.

anyone know a place that sells this size local? (I tried Office max / Depot, Fed Ex, target, and even ace hardware)

or a hack to create one out of other boxes?

thank you all.

Just fold down the flaps of a 24x20x4 on top of a scrap or flat of 24x20. Or if you really want to waste money use two 24x20x4, lid style.

12 hours ago, thekragle said:

I sold a set and turns out I do not have a 24x20x6 box. (thought I did)

I ordered some but delivery is not until mid next week.

anyone know a place that sells this size local? (I tried Office max / Depot, Fed Ex, target, and even ace hardware)

or a hack to create one out of other boxes?

thank you all.

couple of 'local' options.

Uhaul: Medium Electronics box. (24x24x20)
Home Depot:  XL (24x20x21)

Thank you for the suggestions.

I wound up turning a 24x19x16 box from Walmart into a 25x20x9 via cardboard origami. 

(So $2.10 for the box, elbow grease, and two bad knees.....   I wouldn't want to do this again though!)

PS: A Orthanc Tower with air pillows on the top and bottom of set. 9lbs.

 

Edited February 14, 20232 yr by thekragle
add info

I'm in process of selling a brand new Orthanc too

My post is a little off topic but I was hoping I can gain some advice from you fellow BP'ers. 

I'm selling a rather large box. It's 23"x20"x18" and weighs 21lbs. I'd like to double box it to protect the original shipping box. 

Any advice on buying a big and box and customizing it to wrap around the original shipper? Do I need to buy one of those rolling cutter tools I've seen mentioned here before? Thanks in advance for any advice. 

Edited April 21, 20241 yr by oneknightr

31 minutes ago, oneknightr said:

My post is a little off topic but I was hoping I can gain some advice from you fellow BP'ers. 

I'm selling a rather large box. It's 23"x20"x18" and weighs 21lbs. I'd like to double box it to protect the original shipping box. 

Any advice on buying a big and box and customizing it to wrap around the original shipper? Do I need to buy one of those rolling cutter tools I've seen mentioned here before? Thanks in advance for any advice. 

Home depot 24 x 20 x 21 should be a near perfect fit. Double wall for extreme protection.

Any suggestions to buy bubble wraps for good price?

11 hours ago, airhanny said:

Any suggestions to buy bubble wraps for good price?

I usually just look for some cheap stuff on EBay.

On 4/21/2024 at 11:16 AM, Bricklectic said:

Home depot 24 x 20 x 21 should be a near perfect fit. Double wall for extreme protection.

Damn near perfect fit, and only $3.50! Thank you again!

10 hours ago, exciter1 said:

Any suggestions to buy bubble wraps for good price?

Not bubble wrap but, if you live near an actual (paper) newspaper office then almost all will sell you their paper end rolls for $1-2.  There is a ton on plain white newspaper left on those tubes and make great dunnage when wadded up.  Three rolls, like in the photo below, would last you hundreds, if not thousands, of packaging.  Not bad for under $5.  Many big Amazon resellers use these as it is so much cheaper than bubble wrap.  Buy directly from the newspaper if you live near one.  Many people buy up all they can and then mark them up to $10+ a roll online.


    
 

Great advice. 

How do you look for these paper/newspaper offices in Google map?

2 hours ago, raindog said:

Not bubble wrap but, if you live near an actual (paper) newspaper office then almost all will sell you their paper end rolls for $1-2.  There is a ton on plain white newspaper left on those tubes and make great dunnage when wadded up.  Three rolls, like in the photo below, would last you hundreds, if not thousands, of packaging.  Not bad for under $5.  Many big Amazon resellers use these as it is so much cheaper than bubble wrap.  Buy directly from the newspaper if you live near one.  Many people buy up all they can and then mark them up to $10+ a roll online.


    
 

I'll have to try that. I do use paper as the primary packing, but still occasionally use bubble wrap for certain collectibles along with paper. We still have a local newspaper, so this may be an option.

On 4/21/2024 at 9:02 PM, airhanny said:

Any suggestions to buy bubble wraps for good price?

https://www.americanbubbleboy.com/  

I'm probably the last to know this, I usually try to minimize weight to get the cheapest rate. YMMV but, just realize when the first cheapest rate is usps priority mail under a pound (14 oz), increase it to 1 pound and you may get usps ground advantage which in my case was $3 cheaper.

The new UPS saver shipping labels aren't printing correctly on my zebra from Amazon print connect. Everything else seems to be working though. Anyone else have this issue?

50 minutes ago, pharmjod said:

The new UPS saver shipping labels aren't printing correctly on my zebra from Amazon print connect. Everything else seems to be working though. Anyone else have this issue?

Mine don't either.  The appear to print for a smaller label.

53 minutes ago, pharmjod said:

The new UPS saver shipping labels aren't printing correctly on my zebra from Amazon print connect. Everything else seems to be working though. Anyone else have this issue?

Worked fine for me yesterday. 
Temp workaround: If you close Amazon print connect it will bring up the label in a small window. Right click just to the right of the label and it will give you the option to print.
 

Well, I didn't even know what Amazon Print Connect was until I just now looked it up.

27 minutes ago, exciter1 said:

Well, I didn't even know what Amazon Print Connect was until I just now looked it up.

😮😲