Start Shipping from Home

So, you’ve decided to sell some books online, get rid of old stuff or maybe you’ve started up your own online mail-order business. Congratulations! For the first article on the Snail Mail Shipping Guide, I’m going to post about things you will need to start shipping. Got questions? Please post a comment or send an e-mail.

Scale – Very important, and mandatory. You can get a simple mailing scale from an office supply store or online for under $30. Depending on what you ship will depend on what kind of capacity scale that you’ll need. Everything I ship is light, so I have a 5 pound scale. If you ship heavier items, you may need a 10 or 25 pound scale, or a bigger industrial one. If you don’t know- post a comment with what you sell and I’ll reply with a recommendation. A scale is helpful for getting shipping quotes for your customers, and you’ll need one if you decide to create shipping labels from the internet.
Packaging Tape – Another mandatory item. You’ll need tape to secure and seal envelopes, packages and boxes.
Black Marker/Sharpie – To mark out old barcodes, labels, writing, etc on reusable packaging.
Printer and Paper – Any kind of ink jet or laser printer is fine. You’ll need these to print out mailing labels, invoices, stickers, etc.
Computer – Since you’re reading this I assume you have one :)
Measuring Tape – If you ship larger boxes, you’ll need the measurements to be calculated in the cost if you ship online.
Cardboard – Great for reinforcing and strengthening boxes and protecting items.
Bubble Mailers – New or used. I endorse recycling and re-using mailers that are in good shape.
Box Cutter – Not mandatory, but very helpful in cutting up cardboard and opening packages.
Packing Peanuts, Bubble Wrap and/or Newspaper – To protect items.

There is some dispute about reusing packaging, but I personally believe that recycling is less wasteful, saves resources and is totally acceptable when done right. I'll talk more about this in future articles.