# eBay books, games and vinyl setup > Two scales, rigid mailers and shelves sorted by code, so 20 to 80 books, games and records a week go out in the cheapest postage band that fits. - Built for: You buy books, DVDs, video games and vinyl in bulk from charity shops, car boots and house clearances, and sell them one at a time on eBay. - Platforms: eBay - Orders a week: 20–80 - Space: Spare bedroom - Kit total: £222 to £369 - Running cost: £94 to £160 (Consumables at 50 orders a week) - Updated 6 October 2026 Media sells for a few pounds an item, so postage decides your profit. A paperback that weighs 20 g too much, or an envelope a few millimetres too thick, moves from Large Letter to Small Parcel and eats the margin. A 500 g pocket scale reads to the gram for books and games. A parcel scale handles stacks of hardbacks and boxed records, and two shelving units hold a few hundred items, each with a shelf code. ## The kit - **[MUNBYN thermal label printer](https://sellersetups.com/product/munbyn-thermal-printer)** (£55 to £85): It takes the standard 100 x 150 mm labels that eBay, Vinted and Whatnot all generate, and generic labels work, so the running cost stays low. - **[100 x 150 mm thermal labels, 500 fanfold](https://sellersetups.com/product/thermal-labels-fanfold)** (£12 to £18): Fanfold stacks feed flat behind the printer and hold more labels than a roll. 100 x 150 mm matches the label size UK couriers and marketplaces print. - **[500 g precision pocket scale](https://sellersetups.com/product/pocket-scale-500g)** (£8 to £14): Card orders often sit within a few grams of a Royal Mail weight limit. A precise small scale tells you whether a mailer goes as a Large Letter or a parcel. - **[30 kg digital postal scale](https://sellersetups.com/product/parcel-scale-30kg)** (£12 to £20): Covers the parcels most home sellers ship, up to 30 kg. Choose it when the 40 kg scale is out of stock. - ×2 **[5-tier steel shelving, 180 cm](https://sellersetups.com/product/shelving-unit)** (£40 to £70): Floor space runs out before height does. Number the shelves and each item gets an address you can pick from. - **[Kraft padded envelopes, D/1, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/padded-envelopes)** (£14 to £22): Enough padding for a lipstick, a small figure or a sealed booster pack, with no box to fold. - **[Small single-wall boxes, 25 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/single-wall-boxes)** (£8 to £14): Use these for boxed toys and beauty sets that a padded bag would crush, when double-wall board costs more than you need. - **[12-inch LP record mailers, 10 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/lp-record-mailers)** (£10 to £18): A folding board mailer holds one 12-inch record flat with stiffeners either side, so the corners and sleeve seams survive the sorting belts. Buy them if you sell vinyl every week; for a box set or a stack of records, use a small box with bubble wrap instead. - **[Bubble wrap, 500 mm x 100 m](https://sellersetups.com/product/bubble-wrap-roll)** (£10 to £15): A long roll costs several times less per metre than the small packs sold in shops. - **[Tape dispenser gun](https://sellersetups.com/product/tape-gun)** (£8 to £14): Once you ship more than a handful of boxes a week, a tape gun saves minutes on every session and stops tape ends sticking to themselves. - **[Brown packing tape, 48 mm x 66 m, 6 rolls](https://sellersetups.com/product/brown-packing-tape)** (£5 to £9): 48 mm is the width tape guns take. Six rolls last a shop sending a few boxes a week for a few months. - **[Royal Mail Click & Drop](https://sellersetups.com/product/royal-mail-click-and-drop)** (£0 a month): Imports orders from eBay, Etsy and other marketplaces, buys postage and prints to a thermal printer. Use it for the orders where you choose the courier; the platform labels its own. ## How to lay it out ### Two shelving units, spines out Give every shelf a letter and number, such as B3, and put it in the eBay custom label. Books stand spines out, games and DVDs in rows, and records upright at the end of a shelf so they don’t lean. ### Weighing spot at table height Keep both scales side by side on a clear shelf at waist height. The pocket scale stays switched on through a packing session so you weigh every Large Letter. ### Mailers in size order Padded envelopes, small boxes and the vinyl mailers stand in a row by size on the bottom shelf. Grab the smallest one the item fits in, which keeps more parcels inside Large Letter. ### Label printer by the door The printer and the finished parcels sit by the door, sorted into two piles: Large Letters for the post box and parcels for the counter. ## From car boot crate to listed Sort a fresh crate into three piles: worth listing alone, bundle material and charity shop. Scan barcodes with the eBay app to see what each title sells for before you spend time on it. Clean covers and discs as you go, check each game case holds the right disc, and write the shelf code on a sticky note inside the cover. Fifty items take an evening. ## Weighing every item before you list Weigh each item in the envelope you will post it in, not bare. The envelope can add 20 g or more, and that is enough to push a heavy paperback over a band. Put the packed weight and the postage service in the listing. When it sells you print the label without weighing again. ## A packing session for 30 orders Print every label first and stack them in shelf code order. Walk the shelves once with the stack, pulling each item and leaving the label in its place. Pack Large Letters first, sliding each through your thickness gauge, then boxes and record mailers. Thirty orders take about an hour once the shelves and labels follow the same codes. ## Records, box sets and hardbacks Vinyl, hardback box sets and heavy art books go as parcels. Wrap box sets in bubble wrap so the corners survive, and pack records upright in a rigid mailer with stiffeners. A “do not bend” note on a rigid mailer is optional. Couriers sort by machine, so the mailer and stiffeners protect the sleeve, not the note. ## Keeping consumables stocked Padded envelopes go fastest, about one for every two orders. Reorder when the pack is half gone, since delivery can take a week and media sales come in steady waves. Keep two sizes of small box for boxed games and hardbacks. Buying one size means wasted space and extra wrap on half your orders. ## Growing past 80 orders Stock space runs out first. Past a few hundred items, add a third shelving unit and move slow sellers older than six months into bundles or a clearance sale. Sourcing takes over your week next. Set a buying price per item, such as 50p a paperback, and stick to it at car boots, since one bad lot can tie up a whole shelf. ## Common mistakes - Weighing a book without its envelope, then paying a surcharge when the packed weight crosses into the next band. - Sending a thick hardback as a Large Letter when it is over 25 mm, and having the buyer pay the difference to collect it. - Posting a record inside its sleeve, so the disc splits the jacket seam on the way. - Listing a game without checking the disc matches the case and refunding a buyer who opens the wrong game. - Buying whole house clearance boxes of book club editions that sell for pennies and fill a shelf for a year. ## When to upgrade At 50 orders a week, inventory software matches each sale to its shelf code and tracks what you paid per lot. Past 100, a Zebra printer handles the long label runs that media sellers print every day. - 50+ orders a week: **[Sortly](https://sellersetups.com/product/sortly-inventory)**: Suits you if you keep hundreds of items in tubs and lose time hunting for the one that sold. Scan a QR label on a box with your phone to see what is inside, then update counts as you go. - 100+ orders a week: **[Zebra ZD421d](https://sellersetups.com/product/zebra-zd421)** (£200 to £260): Once you print hundreds of labels a week, the faster prints and fewer jams are worth the higher price. ## Questions ### What are the Royal Mail Large Letter limits? A Large Letter can be up to 353 mm long, 250 mm wide, 25 mm thick and 750 g. Most paperbacks, DVDs and game cases fit if you use a slim padded envelope. Check Royal Mail’s current size guide before you set a postage price, since the limits can change. ### How do I check a parcel is under 25 mm thick? Cut a 25 mm slot in a piece of stiff card and slide each sealed envelope through it. If it catches, it is a Small Parcel. ### How should I post vinyl records? Take the record out of its sleeve and put it behind the sleeve inside the outer jacket, so the disc cannot split the seam. Pack it in a rigid record mailer with card stiffeners. A 12-inch record is too wide for a Large Letter. ### Do I need a separate scale for books? A 500 g pocket scale reads to the gram, which matters near the 750 g Large Letter limit and the weight bands for parcels. Use the parcel scale for anything over 500 g. ### Is it worth listing books that sell for £3? At £3, sell them in bundles by author or series, or list them in bulk with a barcode scan. A single £3 paperback in a padded envelope leaves little after fees and postage. ### Which courier is cheapest for heavy book bundles? Royal Mail suits most Large Letters and small parcels. For heavier bundles, compare InPost and DPD, and Evri for low-value items where price matters more. Weigh the bundle first, then compare each service’s current price for that weight.