A spare room set up for jugs, vases, tea sets and studio pottery sold on eBay and Etsy, with packing built around zero breakages.
Built forYou buy vintage ceramics, glassware and small decor at car boots and house clearances, sell 15 to 50 pieces a week on eBay and Etsy, and pack from a spare bedroom.
Kit total
£364 to £601
Running cost
£209 to £328 a month
Consumables at 33 orders a week
- Orders a week
- 15–50
- Space
- Spare bedroom
- Budget
- £550
Why this setup
You buy vintage ceramics, glassware and small decor at car boots and house clearances, sell 15 to 50 pieces a week on eBay and Etsy, and pack from a spare bedroom.
A cracked Hornsea jug costs you the sale, the postage both ways and a mark on your feedback. Spend on packing before the camera: most of the budget goes on double-wall boxes, two big rolls of bubble wrap and a scale that reads a boxed lamp base properly.
Etsy buyers come for the vintage and the styling; eBay buyers search by maker and pattern. You set the room up for both: two shelving units hold wrapped stock by bay, a folding table doubles as the wrapping bench, and a softbox pair gives the glaze the even light it needs in photos.
The kit
Every item, why it’s here and what it typically costs in the UK.
MUNBYN thermal label printer
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.
Typical price£55 to £85
See on Amazon
30 kg digital postal scale
Covers the parcels most home sellers ship, up to 30 kg. Choose it when the 40 kg scale is out of stock.
Typical price£12 to £20
See on Amazon5-tier steel shelving, 180 cm×2
Floor space runs out before height does. Number the shelves and each item gets an address you can pick from.
Typical price£80 to £140
See on Amazon180 cm folding table
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.
Typical price£40 to £65
See on AmazonTape dispenser gun
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.
Typical price£8 to £14
See on AmazonTwo softbox lights with stands
Softboxes spread light over a big area, so a whole outfit or a rail of stock gets even light with soft shadows. They take more floor space than panels and suit a spare room better than a desk.
Typical price£50 to £90
See on Amazon
Buy this kit
Copy the full list to take shopping, or print it.
Postage per order
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
TrackedUp to 20 kgTrainers, homeware and electronics up to 20 kg, tracked and cheaper than untracked 2nd Class.
- Royal Mail 2nd Class Medium Parcel
£7.00 to £13.70
Not trackedUp to 20 kgShoe boxes, homeware and bulky parcels up to 20 kg that don’t need tracking.
About £815 to £1,752 a month in postage at 33 orders a week On most marketplaces the buyer pays postage; this is the cost when you pay it.
How to lay it out
Where everything goes, so each order moves one way through the room.
- 1
Shelves on the inside wall
Stand two steel units against the wall furthest from the door, with heavy stoneware on the bottom shelves and glass at waist height. Keep anything fragile below shoulder level.
- 2
Wrapping bench under the window
Set up the folding table with a roll of bubble wrap mounted on a broom handle at one end, and tissue and paper fill in a crate underneath.
- 3
Photo corner opposite
Two softboxes either side of a sheet of plain card curved up the wall. Leave it set up so a new find goes straight from the bag to the photo.
- 4
Box store behind the door
Stand flat double-wall boxes in three sizes on edge, ready to make up when a sale comes in.
The guide
Each step in the order you'll need it.
Sourcing in batches
Buy on a Saturday and process on Sunday. Wash each piece in warm soapy water, dry it, and check it against a lamp for chips and cracks before it goes near a shelf.
Write a stock tag with the bay code, the maker and the condition on a strip of masking tape inside each piece. With that strip in place, you skip repeating the same checks at the photo, listing and packing steps.
Photographing glaze and glass
Set the softboxes at 45 degrees and turn off the ceiling light, which throws a yellow cast across white glazes. Shoot the backstamp, every chip and one photo with a hand-sized object for scale.
For clear glass, put a sheet of white card behind and slightly below the piece. The edges then read dark and buyers can see the shape.
Kit for this step
The two-box rule for fragile pieces
Wrap the piece in two layers of bubble wrap, fill any hollow with crumpled paper, and box it with 5 cm of fill on every side. For anything over £50 or very thin, put that box inside a larger double-wall box with more fill between them.
Shake the closed box. If you hear or feel movement, open it and add fill.
Running Etsy and eBay from one stock list
Keep one spreadsheet with a row per piece and a column for each platform's listing number. When a piece sells on one site, end the other listing before you start packing it.
Etsy fees and eBay fees work differently, so set prices per platform from your own sums rather than copying one across.
Weighing and pricing postage
Weigh the packed box, not the item. Double-wall cardboard and padding often double the weight of a small vase, and a guess based on the bare piece pushes you into the wrong band.
Keep a card on the wall with the packed weight of your usual box sizes. A new listing then gets the right postage in seconds.
Kit for this step
Handling a breakage claim
Ask the buyer for photos of the box and the piece before they throw anything away. Couriers ask for the packaging when you claim, and if the buyer has binned it, the claim fails.
Refund straight away on a clear breakage, then claim from the carrier. Note what failed and change the packing for that shape next time.
Common mistakes
Each one costs you money or reviews, and each has a fix.
- Wrapping two pieces together so they knock against each other in transit, the most common cause of a broken set.
- Packing glass in a single-wall box from the supermarket, which crushes at the corners under heavier parcels.
- Listing a jug as perfect without checking it against a bright light, then facing a return for a hairline you could have spotted.
- Pricing postage from the bare item weight and losing money on every boxed order.
- Leaving a piece listed on Etsy after it sold on eBay, then cancelling an order and taking the hit to your shop stats.
When to upgrade
Past 35 orders a week, swap to a 40 kg scale for boxed lamps and dinner services. A light tent helps once you list small glass in volume, and a Zebra printer earns its price near 50 labels a week.
- 35+ 40 kg digital parcel scale
- 40+ 40 cm photo light box
- 50+ Zebra ZD421d
Questions
Should I list ceramics on eBay or Etsy first?
Put named makers and patterns on eBay, where buyers search by Denby, Poole or Hornsea. Styled vintage pieces with a story often do better on Etsy, as long as the item is at least 20 years old to count as vintage there.
How do I check for hairline cracks before listing?
Hold the piece up to a bright light and run a fingernail round the rim. Tap it gently: a sound piece rings, a cracked one gives a dull clunk. Mention any crazing in the description.
Can I post a full tea set in one box?
Yes, if every cup, saucer and plate is wrapped on its own and stacked with card between layers. Over about 10 kg, split it into two parcels so each box handles less weight.
Do I need to say if glass has been in a dishwasher?
Say it if you can see cloudiness or worn gilding. Buyers of vintage glass ask, and dishwasher bloom is a common reason for not as described returns.
Which couriers suit fragile homeware?
Royal Mail Tracked 48 through Click & Drop covers most pieces. For heavy or high value items, compare couriers through eBay labels or a broker, and check each one's cover for breakages. Evri is cheapest for light, sturdy items but read its fragile items terms first.
Does insurance cover a breakage in the post?
Only if the courier's compensation terms accept the packing and the item. Many exclude glass and ceramics without extra cover, so read the prohibited and restricted list before you book.
More setups
Updated 6 October 2026
