Supplies That Will Serve You Well During the Holidays

From one year to the next, the winter holidays continue to inspire us in ways that no other holiday can. There’s something about the magic of cold weather and being bundled up indoors next to a fire. And then there’s the fact that great food is inevitable, everyone gets a few days off work, family that you haven’t seen in awhile comes over, and gifts are the center focus.

But for the times when we can’t see family or friends yet still want to let them know we’re thinking of them by sending something in the mail, it’s important we have the right supplies on hand in order to be timely and with good presentation. Sending gift packages in the mail can actually be an exciting thing for people here and now in time, especially since it’s pretty rare to send parcels in the mail in the first place anymore.

But what kind of sucks is running out of or not having any shipping supplies, which forces you to make a trip to the local office supplies store. That can be a bummer during this time of year, especially if you’re behind on your wrapping or gift packaging. The good thing is you’re not alone.

Whether or not you realize it, a lot of people also put off keeping up on office supplies in the home. But I’m here to tell you that there is plenty of use for these items in many different ways outside of your office. Let’s consider if you’re intending to wrap gifts, ship things to a distant family member during their birthday, or merely keep your office space tidy for work at home. There’s no doubt that you’re sure to benefit from this list of essential shipping supplies around the holidays.

More than any other time, you’ll definitely want quality packing tape and a black permanent marker. The good thing about these is that they’re useable in so many other scenarios that they easily make their purchase worth it. But for shipping parcels long distance, the tape is extremely important for holding the box together so that you don’t have to fear something ripping or opening prematurely in transit.

And the black marker? Well, addressing boxes or tags is enough reason to use these types of markers on packages you’re shipping, but they also come in handy for any other gifts you have that aren’t being shipped.

Being Resourceful Takes Effort

Sometimes it’s easy to accumulate quite a bit of materials just by simply buying things. Because we live in a society that produces so much extra packaging materials and shipping supplies, it’s quite simple to amass a lot of things that you can put away and use for later. And it’s all for free (if you think of it that way).

Often times, we throw those materials away. For example, think of all the cardboard boxes you’ve tossed in the garbage simply because you thought you had no other use for them. Those could be put to use in so many other ways, yet you’ve just mindlessly tossed them. Next time you buy something online, think about conserving your cardboard for future use. You could use it for kindling a fire, soaking up oil spills in the garage, or even compost it.

So, what other uses do you have for your excess shipping supplies like cardboard and leftover packaging materials? Read on for a few unique ideas!

Using for your fire pit.

I understand that having some fire bricks or other firestarters are perfect for an outdoor fire pit. Heck, if you like to rough it, you can even go gather a handful of dry twigs for the perfect kindling. But we like being resourceful and not letting anything go to waste, so I’ve started tossing small ripped up pieces of cardboard into our fire pit whenever we’re starting a fire, and sure enough, it works like a charm. In fact, we save money on not buying fire bricks and also allow our backyard twigs to break down as natural compost. It’s a great situation both for our property and for our wallets.

Makeshift backing for a dartboard.

We installed a steel tip dartboard in our basement about a year ago, and it’s served us quite well ever since. But every now and then, our aim fails us and we end up with a few bent dart tips because of the stone wall behind the board. So, we decided to hang a sheet of cardboard behind the dartboard in order to preserve our somewhat expensive darts. While rigging it up wasn’t the easiest thing ever, we managed to make it somewhat presentable. But more than presentation, we’ve nailed it in the utility department. Now, our errant darts make certain to not scratch our wall or bend their tips when they miss the main board. For something that cost us absolutely zero and looks alright, I’d say we managed to make something out of nothing.

Take control of your shipping budget

I love the new world we live in.  Ecommerce is now becoming a dominant force in the market and for me, it is easy to thrive in due to what my job is. The economy had to change to keep up with the laws. This is mostly due to the shutdowns and regulations being put in place by local governments.  It is mostly affecting small stores because big box stores are not closing down or being forced to change capacity like a small store is.  This makes no sense to me but what I am seeing is these companies that are in transition are losing money by not purchasing their shipping supplies in the correct location.  That is causing them to not be able to be competitive and they are simply losing money on each sale because of this mistake.  Shipping supplies can make or break your company and most people don't even know it.  But today you will understand why!

Being fast to just do something is a good sign of a businessman.  But sometimes you need to think about it and save money.  Sometimes businessmen simply pull out a catalog where they purchased their shelving from to order boxes.  Sometimes they run to the local big box packaging store to buy things at retail pricing.  These are usually the most expensive and the least option-rich places to shop.  They are higher priced and low quantity with low choice.  Most people stick with what they know and they think that is fine. But there is so much opportunity and cost in this now that you must stay at the top of the food chain. 

Convenience is king for most people and depending on how much your time is worth then it is worth it.  But when it comes to just getting on your phone and ordering on Amazon it may be a big mistake.  Here they can find quick shipping which is a great benefit and also a good amount of variety between companies.  Pricing is usually better than a local store or catalog company.  So this usually is where many companies go.  The issue is that these companies do not offer advice or the best pricing.  Selling on Amazon simply is a guaranteed ten percent upcharge from what the company could sell.  That is the loss they take by being on Amazon for each time they sell an item.  That quick purchase will cost you and you now know that you are not saving money.

Shipping supplies stores are the answer to most of your issues.  This is like shopping at the source and skipping all the middlemen. These are the giants who have sold to every industry for decades and have helped create campaigns for every industry.  That means that their customer service team can simply give you free advice and then give you bulk discounts if you buy it all there.  I have seen my companies pricing go down around thirty percent and we even got better products that were rebranded for our items.   How can you not think this is simply the best way to go.  Shipping took a few extra days, but the quantity and options were thousands more than anything we found on Amazon.  Just take the time to call them up and work a deal and save your company a lot of money.