Stock shelving, a packing bench and a fanfold label printer for selling toys through the holiday peak, from pre-orders to January returns.
Built forYou already sell toys on eBay and Mercari, and from October to December your orders jump from a steady few dozen to over 100 a week as parents and grandparents shop for the holidays.
Kit total
$386 to $719
Running cost
$563 to $962 a month
Consumables at 90 orders a week
- Orders a week
- 30–150
- Space
- Spare bedroom
- Budget
- $650
Why this setup
You already sell toys on eBay and Mercari, and from October to December your orders jump from a steady few dozen to over 100 a week as parents and grandparents shop for the holidays.
Most toy sales land in about ten weeks. You buy stock in September and October, sell most of it from Black Friday to the last shipping days before Christmas, and spend early January handling returns and unwanted gifts.
For that stretch, you run a spare room as a small warehouse. Two shelving units hold boxed stock in numbered bays, a folding table becomes the packing bench, and a fanfold printer runs a full evening of labels without a roll change.
The kit
Every item, why it’s here and what it typically costs in the US.
MUNBYN thermal label printer
It takes the standard 4 × 6 inch labels that eBay, Poshmark, Mercari and Whatnot all generate, and generic labels work, so the running cost stays low.
Typical price$60 to $100
See on Amazon
66 lb digital shipping scale
Covers the packages most home sellers ship, up to 66 lb. Choose it when the 110 lb scale is out of stock.
Typical price$20 to $35
See on Amazon5-tier steel shelving, 72 in×2
Floor space runs out first, so build up instead. Number the shelves and give each item an address you can pick from.
Typical price$80 to $180
See on AmazonClear stackable 32 qt bins, 4 pack
Mark each bin with a shelf code and record the code against the listing. When an item sells, the code in the listing tells you which bin to open.
Typical price$30 to $55
See on Amazon6 ft folding table
Packing on the bed or the kitchen table means setting up and clearing off every session. A table that stays up lets you leave your supplies where you need them.
Typical price$45 to $80
See on AmazonTape gun dispenser
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$10 to $20
See on Amazon
Buy this kit
Copy the full list to take shopping, or print it.
Shipping per order
What most orders like these ship by, at today’s published rates. Rates checked October 7, 2026.
USPS Ground Advantage, under 1 lbUsual$6.93 to $8.95
TrackedUp to 1 lbClothing, cards in a mailer and other small items under 1 lb. Tracked, with $100 insurance included.
- USPS Ground Advantage, 1 to 2 lb
$7.61 to $13.42
TrackedUp to 2 lbShoes, jeans and boxed items up to 2 lb, tracked with $100 insurance.
UPS Ground, up to 5 lb$12.00 to $25.00
TrackedUp to 5 lbTracked UPS Ground for boxed items up to 5 lb, for when it costs less than USPS.
About $2,703 to $3,490 a month in shipping at 90 orders a week On most marketplaces the buyer pays shipping; 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
Numbered shelving along one wall
Stand the two shelving units side by side and number each shelf. Heavy boxed toys sit at the bottom, small stocking stuffers in clear tubs at eye level, and each listing notes its bay.
- 2
Packing bench in the middle
Set the folding table where you can reach the shelves in two steps. Boxes, void fill and the tape gun go under it, tissue and stickers on top at one end.
- 3
Label and scale end
Put the printer and scale at the other end of the bench. Move each box left to right along the bench: pack it, weigh it, label it and stack it.
- 4
Outbound stack by the door
Mark a patch of floor by the door for finished boxes, split by carrier. USPS pickup and your UPS drop-off runs take from one place, so packed orders never get lost behind stock.
The guide
Each step in the order you'll need it.
Planning stock in September
Pull last year's sold reports from eBay and Mercari and list your twenty best sellers from October to December. Order those first, before suppliers run short.
Clear slow lines in September with a price drop. Each shelf you empty before October frees space for stock that sells in December.
Storing stock in numbered bays
Give each shelf a bay code, such as A1 to A5 and B1 to B5, and add the code to each listing's notes. A 9 pm order then means a walk to one shelf.
Keep toys in their outer cartons until they sell. Buyers won't give a new toy in a dented retail box as a gift, and they send it back.
Kit for this step
Pre-orders and stock promises
List a pre-order only once a supplier has confirmed the delivery date to you in writing. Give yourself a week of slack on the date you show buyers.
If a delivery slips, message every pre-order buyer the same day with the new date and an offer to cancel. Parents planning for the holidays need to know in November, while they can still buy elsewhere.
Holiday shipping deadlines
USPS publishes recommended holiday shipping dates each fall, and UPS and FedEx publish their own. Write the earliest date for each service you use on a note above the bench.
Update your listings with those dates as soon as they appear. After the cutoff, switch listings to Priority Mail or state that the order may arrive after Christmas. USPS has also added a peak-season surcharge in recent years, so check current rates before you set shipping.
Gift wrap and notes
Wrap gift orders in tissue inside the box, seal with a sticker and tuck the printed note on top. Use a plain outer box so the toy stays a surprise on the porch.
Leave prices off everything inside a gift order. Keep the packing slip for your own records instead.
Kit for this step
Safety checks on new stock
Check each new line for tracking labels on the toy and packaging, age grading and choking hazard warnings where needed, and ask the supplier for its Children's Product Certificate. Some cheap imports lack them, and platforms can remove those listings.
Keep supplier invoices and certificates in one folder. If a platform or the CPSC asks, you can show them the same day.
January returns
Expect a wave of returns in the first two weeks of January. Keep one shelf empty for them and check each return within a day: sealed and unused goes back into stock, opened goes into a separate listing as open box.
Refund within a day or two of checking the item. Quick January refunds protect your feedback for the rest of the year.
Common mistakes
Each one costs you money or reviews, and each has a fix.
- Guessing the holiday cutoff from last year leaves orders arriving late, so take this year's dates from USPS, UPS and FedEx when they publish.
- Taking pre-orders on stock with no confirmed delivery date turns into cancellations in mid December, so wait for a written date from the supplier.
- Putting a gift-wrapped toy in a printed retail box tells the child what is inside, so pack gift orders in a plain outer box.
- Buying cheap new toys with no Children's Product Certificate gets listings pulled and puts children at risk, so ask for one before you order in bulk.
- Running out of boxes in the second week of December stops shipping, so buy your two busiest sizes in bulk in October.
When to upgrade
At 60 orders a week, inventory software tracks which bay holds what across both platforms. At 100, a heavier-capacity scale handles ride-ons and big playsets. At 120, a desktop label printer with larger rolls keeps up with the peak evenings.
- 60+ Sortly
- 100+ 110 lb shipping scale with fold-up display
- 120+ Zebra ZD421d
Questions
Straight answers to what sellers ask about this.
When are the last shipping dates for Christmas?
USPS, UPS and FedEx each publish recommended holiday shipping deadlines every fall. Check those pages and put the earliest date for the services you use in your listings.
Should I take pre-orders on toys for the holidays?
Take pre-orders only for stock you have confirmed with a supplier and a delivery date in writing. Put the ship date in the listing title or first line, and check eBay's rules on pre-sale listings before you start.
Can I offer gift wrap?
Wrap in tissue inside the shipping box and leave the outer box plain, so a child can't see what's inside when it lands on the porch. Offer it as a listing option or a message request and keep the wrap neutral.
Can I use a Mercari label for a ride-on or a big playset?
Mercari's prepaid labels run on USPS, UPS or FedEx at a fixed rate with tracking, but only within its size and weight limits. A ride-on over 50 lb or a box longer than 34 inches goes as Ship on your own: you buy the label, add a valid tracking number to the sale, and the package loses Mercari's shipping protection.
How do I include a gift note?
Ask buyers to message you the note text and print it on a plain card, with no prices on it. Leave the packing slip out of gift orders, or put it in a sealed envelope marked for the buyer.
How do I handle returns after the holidays?
eBay runs an extended holiday returns window each year for many listings, and buyers expect it. Check the dates eBay announces, match your own policy to them, and say in the listing that it applies.
Do new toys need safety testing?
New toys for children 12 and under sold in the US need third-party testing and a Children's Product Certificate from the maker or importer. Buy new stock only from suppliers who can show one, and read the CPSC business guidance at cpsc.gov.
How much stock should I buy for the peak?
Base it on last year's sold numbers in each line, plus a margin you can afford to hold until spring. Toys that miss the holidays sell slowly in January, so favor lines that also sell for birthdays.
Guides
Step-by-step help for the jobs that come next.
More setups
Updated October 6, 2026
