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05 OctSelling on Ebay? Make Sure You Use Good Packaging

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Ive been selling on ebay for some time now, nothing major, Im not doing it for profit as such but more to clear some space and reduce my carbon footprint!

On that note people really should try to resell their old stuff rather than dumping it or taking it to a recycling center where it will be scrapped. Finding a new home for your old things is far more environmentally friendly, but I digress.

The point is, I am not an ebay trader, just a typical WAHM looking to clear out some much needed space. I also buy on ebay too. One thing that really seems to niggle buyers including myself is poor quality packaging, particalarly on items that are fragile or easily water damaged.

I started out buying some plastic sealable envolopes which do a great job for clothes and none breakables, but when I came to start selling some old toys and baby gear I kind of came up short!

Foolishly I had thrown away the original packaging (which I plan to keep in future as you can get better prices with the original boxes) which left me scrathing around for appropriate packaging for my items.

I eventually (this took far longer than it should have) decided to look at some online packaging suppliers. I had not bothered to do this before as I assumed the order quantities would be too high, but found a site (davpack.co.uk) selling some great quality carboard boxes in a range of sizes, not only for affordable prices but in very small quantities!

The great thing about this particular site is that you can also mix and match the boxes you buy if you need different sizes.

Clearly they do add a cost to your ebaying, but for a breakable item that is worth a reasonable amount of money they are well worth it as:

  1. You can be confident the items will not be damaged / returned reducing the need for insurance (I am more inclined to take a chance when using this packaging)
  2. You get great feedback scores on ebay!

If you are planning on trading on ebay, correct packaging is really something you need to pay attention to, people dont like receiving rag tag items in questionable condition!

 

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05 OctMountain Biking vs Road Biking

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There’s a debate raging amongst me and some biking friends over whether it’s more fun to go mountain biking or road biking. I’m a road bike fan, so naturally I think that’s more fun, but I can see the attraction of mountain biking too. I think it lacks a certain something compared to old fashioned road biking though.

You can get a lot more speed when on a road bike which is the main reason I prefer it. There’s nothing quite like speeding along a long and flat road without having to worry about roots, bumps and other hidden obstacles that will throw you form the bike (apart from cars, but that’s a different story!) It’s also a lot easier to go road biking. You don’t need to worry about trying to find the perfect trail, you just get on your bike and ride from your home.

I can see why some people might prefer mountain biking though. Having a bike fitted with a good set of suspension forks does make riding a lot more comfortable (although also slower – you lose a lot of energy while pedaling because it goes into compressing the forks). Riding in nature means that the scenery while mountain biking is usually better. And you don’t have to worry about cars, which is a real bonus as that’s the main downside of road biking.

Overall though I think that road biking is much more fun. It’s possible to set times, accurately record the distances you travelled and then try to beat it the next time. You can’t really do that while mountain biking, as the trails change, the terrain might be different etc. Mountain bikers will tell you otherwise of course.

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