The kit our builder picks for a typical Trainers seller. Change the answers to fit yours.
Storage
Holds tubs or boxes floor to ceiling in a small footprint.
Label printer
A compact thermal printer for your first few hundred labels.
Each step in the order you'll need it.
For packing, buy double-wall boxes, bubble wrap, brown packing tape and a thermal label printer, so each boxed pair leaves padded and labelled in one pass. Add a parcel scale with enough capacity for a boxed pair in its outer box.
For storage, a steel shelving unit with labelled bays keeps boxes off the floor. A light box is too small for trainers, so use a plain wall, a tripod and a pair of LED panels instead.
Stuff the toes with tissue so they hold their shape. Close the original shoe box, wrap it in bubble wrap and put it in a double-wall outer box.
Fill every gap and tape every seam. The label goes on the outer box only: a sticker on the shoe box damages it, and buyers pay for the box too.
Number each shelf bay and put the bay number in the listing’s SKU field. Once a pair sells, you walk to its bay.
Keep boxes flat and dry. Boxes stored in a damp garage or loft go soft and marked, and buyers pay less for a crushed box.
Kit for this step
Shoot both sides, the soles, the heels and the insoles, then the size tag inside the tongue and the box label. Show any creasing, marks or yellowing close up.
Buyers look harder at higher-value pairs. eBay runs an authenticity check on some trainers and other platforms set their own rules, so read the rules for your listing before you price it.
Keep your proof of purchase for each pair, so you can answer a buyer who questions it.
On Whatnot and TikTok Shop, hold each shoe up to the camera and turn it slowly: sides, sole, tag. Say the size twice for viewers who join late.
Pull the pairs for a show onto one shelf before you go live, in running order. Pack sold pairs that evening, while you still remember which buyer ordered which pair.
Boxed trainers are bulky, so carriers often price them on size as well as weight. Measure your usual outer box and compare services before you set postage on your listings.
Past 50 orders, buy outer boxes in the two or three sizes that fit most of your stock. Pre-cut bubble wrap to size and keep a roll of tape on a dispenser by the table.
Each one costs you money or reviews, and each has a fix.
Complete kits for one kind of seller, costed and laid out.
What most orders like these go by, at today’s published prices. Prices checked 6 October 2026.
Royal Mail Tracked 48 Medium ParcelUsual£5.70 to £12.25
Trainers, homeware and electronics up to 20 kg, tracked and cheaper than untracked 2nd Class.
InPost locker to locker, medium£2.59
Shoe boxes, books and bags up to 19 cm deep, sent between lockers when the buyer picks a locker.
Royal Mail 2nd Class Medium Parcel£7.00 to £13.70
Shoe boxes, homeware and bulky parcels up to 20 kg that don’t need tracking.
Labels on the shoe box. Buyers pay for that box, and a label damages it.
One roll covers a few hundred small parcels.
Fits a boxed pair of trainers with room for padding.
Step-by-step help for the jobs that come next.
Buyers check the shoe box as carefully as the shoes. Ship it inside a double-wall outer box with padding, and put the label on the outer box only.
Pairs take a lot of room. Put them on steel shelving with numbered bays, so boxes stay off the floor and you can find a sold pair fast.
Not on its own. A label or courier scuff on the shoe box cuts its value, and buyers complain. Put the shoe box inside a double-wall outer box with bubble wrap around it.
Measure a typical box against the unit’s shelf depth and check the tier height on the spec sheet. Count a full tier before you order more units.
eBay runs an authenticity check on some trainers. Eligibility depends on the item and price, so check eBay’s current rules for your listing.
With the box where you can. Buyers pay more for the original box in good condition, and some won’t buy without it.
Use a plain wall or sheet, two soft lights at either side and a tripod. Shoot every pair from the same angles.
Stuff the toes, wrap the shoe box, and pack it in a double-wall box with no empty space.
