# eBay electronics reselling setup > A testing bench, bagged cables, double-wall boxes and clear battery rules for reselling 10 to 50 phones, consoles and gadgets a week on eBay. - Built for: You buy used phones, games consoles, headphones and laptops from car boots, job lots and trade-ins, test them, and resell them on eBay from a spare room. - Platforms: eBay - Orders a week: 10–50 - Space: Spare bedroom - Kit total: £266 to £428 - Running cost: £145 to £227 (Consumables at 30 orders a week) - Updated 6 October 2026 Electronics returns cost more than any other category: a faulty console comes back with your postage, the buyer’s postage and a refund. Half this room is a testing bench, so every item leaves with a known condition. Double-wall boxes and a full roll of bubble wrap protect screens and hinges. A light box shows every scratch against white, which heads off most not-as-described cases. ## 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. - **[40 kg digital parcel scale](https://sellersetups.com/product/parcel-scale-40kg)** (£15 to £25): A wrong weight costs you surcharges or overpaid postage. A flat platform scale with a separate display stays readable when a box covers the top. - **[180 cm folding table](https://sellersetups.com/product/folding-work-table)** (£40 to £65): Packing on the bed or the kitchen table means setting up and clearing down every session. A table that stays up lets you leave your supplies where you need them. - **[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. - **[Clear stackable 32 L tubs, 4 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/clear-storage-tubs)** (£30 to £45): Label each tub with a shelf code and record the code against the listing. A sale then tells you which tub to open. - **[Double-wall boxes, 18 x 12 x 8 in, 15 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/double-wall-boxes)** (£22 to £34): Double-wall board resists crushing better than single-wall, so your boxed trainers arrive intact. - **[Grip seal bags, 100 × 150 mm, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/resealable-cable-bags)** (£4 to £8): A coiled charger, a set of earrings or a bag of spare game pieces fits a 100 × 150 mm grip seal bag, and you can write the stock code on the white panel. Pick a larger size if you bag laptop power bricks or whole controllers. - **[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. - **[40 cm photo light box](https://sellersetups.com/product/light-tent)** (£25 to £40): Consistent white-background photos make your listings look like a shop. The box folds flat when you need the desk back. - **[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 ### Testing bench with a power strip Keep one end of the table for testing: a surge-protected extension, a known-good charger for each common plug, a test game disc and a pair of headphones. List nothing until it passes here. ### Cable and charger tubs Bag each cable or charger with the item it belongs to and write the stock code on the bag. Spare leads you have tested go in one clear tub, sorted by connector. ### Shelves by stock code Number each shelf and give every boxed item a code like S2-07 that also goes in the eBay custom label. Keep untested stock on the bottom shelf only. ### Packing end of the table Printer, scale, tape gun and the bubble wrap roll sit at the door end. Flat-packed boxes stand upright under the table so you can pull the right size in one move. ## Testing a fresh job lot Clear the testing end of the table and work through the lot one item at a time: power on, check every port, test buttons and speakers, then reset. Write the result on a sticky label on the item. Split the lot into three tubs: working, faulty and for parts. Faulty items can sell well if you describe the fault exactly, and parts sellers buy dead consoles for their shells and boards. ## Photos in the light box Shoot small gadgets, controllers and earbuds in the light box so scratches show against a white background. Larger items like laptops go on the table under the same lamp, open and powered on. Include a photo of the screen showing a settings or about page with storage and model. Buyers trust a picture of the device working more than a line saying it works. ## Packing a console in ten minutes Wrap the console in two layers of bubble wrap, tape it, and put cables in a separate labelled bag on top. Fit it into a snug inner box, then into a double-wall outer box with crumpled wrap around it. Weigh the finished box and buy postage in Click & Drop or on eBay. A boxed console with controllers often lands in a heavier band than you expect, so weigh first and price postage in the listing from that. ## Batteries and what you can send Keep loose lithium batteries out of every Royal Mail parcel. If you buy a job lot of spare phone or laptop batteries, sell them collection only or check a specialist courier’s dangerous goods rules. Tape over the power button or switch the device fully off before you pack it. A laptop that wakes up in a box gets hot and drains its battery before it arrives. ## Stock codes and serial numbers Record each item’s serial number, test result and shelf code against its eBay custom label. When a buyer opens a return, the serial tells you whether the device that came back is the one you sent. Review the bottom shelf of untested stock every Sunday. Items that sit there for weeks tie up money you could spend on the next lot. ## Running out of boxes Double-wall boxes go fastest, since every console and laptop takes one. Reorder when you reach the last five, and keep a few bigger outer boxes for double boxing. Save clean boxes from your own deliveries for inner boxes. Remove or cover every old label and barcode so the courier scans the right one. ## Common mistakes - Listing a phone without checking the activation lock, then refunding a buyer who cannot set it up. - Sending a loose spare battery in the box with a laptop it does not fit, against Royal Mail’s rules on lithium batteries. - Packing a console in a single-wall box with a sheet of wrap, so a cracked corner comes back as a return. - Writing “works perfectly” without a test, then paying return postage both ways for a faulty disc drive. - Throwing chargers into one big tub and posting a buyer the wrong plug. ## When to upgrade At 30 orders a week, inventory software tracks serial numbers, test results and where each item sits. Past 60, a Zebra printer keeps up with long label runs without jamming. - 30+ 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. - 60+ 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 ### Can I post lithium batteries by Royal Mail? Royal Mail does not accept loose lithium batteries that are not sent with or fitted in the equipment they power. For batteries inside a device, check Royal Mail’s current prohibited and restricted items guidance, which sets conditions on how you pack them. ### How do I prove an item worked when I sent it? Film a short test of each item before you pack it, showing the serial number and the device powering on. Keep the clip until the buyer leaves feedback, and note the serial in the listing. ### Should I double box consoles and laptops? Yes for anything with a screen or heavy internals. Wrap the item, box it snugly, then put that box inside a larger double-wall box with padding on every side, so a drop hits the outer box first. ### Do I need to wipe phones and laptops before selling? Yes. Factory reset each device and sign it out of every account, including the activation lock on phones and tablets. A locked device is worthless to the buyer and comes straight back. ### Which courier should I use for valuable electronics? Royal Mail tracked services cover most phones and small gadgets. InPost and DPD suit larger boxes like consoles, and Evri is the cheap option for low-value accessories. Match the compensation level to the item’s value and check each courier’s rules for batteries. ### How do I describe faults in a listing? Name the fault in the title and the first line, such as “for parts, no power”. Use eBay’s condition options as the platform defines them, and photograph every scratch and crack.