# Garage setup for 150 to 300 orders a week

> The step up from a spare room: a garage with picking shelves, two packing tables and a printer built for volume.

- Built for: You sell mixed stock from thrift stores, estate sales and liquidation on eBay and Mercari, move furniture and bulky lots through Facebook Marketplace for local pickup, ship 150 to 300 orders a week and have outgrown the spare room.
- Platforms: eBay, Vinted, Facebook Marketplace
- Orders a week: 150–300
- Space: Garage or storage unit
- Kit total: $902 to $1,482
- Running cost: $546 to $947 (Consumables at 225 orders a week)
- Updated October 8, 2026

Past 150 orders a week, you have stock in every room and spend your evenings packing.

Split the space into picking and packing. Put the stock on four coded shelving units and set up two tables as the packing line, with a thermal label printer for batches of a hundred 4 × 6 inch labels.

## The kit

- **[Zebra ZD421d](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/zebra-zd421)** ($450 to $600): Once you print hundreds of labels a week, the faster prints and fewer jams are worth the higher price.
- **[4 × 6 in thermal labels, 500 fanfold](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/thermal-labels-fanfold)** ($8 to $16): Fanfold stacks feed flat behind the printer and hold more labels than a roll. 4 × 6 in matches the label size USPS, UPS and the marketplaces print.
- **[110 lb shipping scale with fold-up display](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/parcel-scale-50kg)** ($18 to $30): A wrong weight gets you an adjustment charge from the carrier or postage you overpaid. This platform scale takes up to 110 lb, and its backlit display folds up 90 degrees, so you can still read it when a box hangs over the top.
- ×2 **[6 ft folding table](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/folding-work-table)** ($45 to $80): 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.
- ×4 **[5-tier steel shelving, 72 in](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/shelving-unit)** ($40 to $90): Floor space runs out first, so build up instead. Number the shelves and give each item an address you can pick from.
- ×2 **[Clear stackable 32 qt bins, 4 pack](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/clear-storage-tubs)** ($30 to $55): 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.
- **[Tape gun dispenser](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/tape-gun)** ($10 to $20): 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, 1.88 in x 72 yd, 6 rolls](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/brown-packing-tape)** ($10 to $18): 1.88 inches is the width tape guns take. Six rolls keep a shop shipping a few boxes a week going for a few months.
- **[Small corrugated boxes, 25 pack](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/single-wall-boxes)** ($12 to $25): Use these for boxed toys and beauty sets that a poly mailer would crush, when double-wall board costs more than you need.
- **[Double-wall boxes, 18 × 12 × 8 in, 15 pack](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/double-wall-boxes)** ($45 to $70): Double-wall cardboard resists crushing better than single-wall, so your boxed sneakers arrive intact.
- **[Kraft bubble mailers, #0, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/padded-envelopes)** ($16 to $28): Enough padding for a lipstick, a small figure or a sealed booster pack, with no box to fold.
- **[Gray poly mailers, 10 × 13 in, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/grey-mailing-bags)** ($8 to $15): Self-seal poly mailers add almost no weight, so one garment usually ships at the lightest Ground Advantage tier. The film is opaque gray, so it hides the contents, and a 4 × 6 label sits flat on it.
- **[Bubble wrap, 12 in x 175 ft](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/bubble-wrap-roll)** ($15 to $30): A long perforated roll costs several times less per foot than the small packs sold at the post office or a drugstore.
- **[ShipStation](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/shipstation-shipping)**: Suits you when you ship dozens of packages a day from eBay, Etsy and your own store and want one queue for every order. It connects to USPS, UPS and FedEx, so you compare rates and print labels in one place.

## How to lay it out

### Shelves along the back wall

Run four shelving units and give each bay and shelf a code. Put fast sellers at waist height near the tables and slow stock high and far.

### Two tables as a line

Use one table for picking and wrapping and the other for boxing, weighing and labeling. Move each order one way down the line.

### Supplies in reach

Keep boxes flat under the tables, and mailers and bubble wrap at the end of the line. Hang the tape gun where you can grab it.

### Outbound by the door

Mark an area for packed orders and sort them by carrier, so pickup takes minutes.

## A typical packing shift

Start with your shipping tool. Import eBay orders, sort by shelf code and print the whole batch in pick order. Mercari labels come from the app, so print those separately and add them to the pile.

Pick in one loop around the shelves with a crate or cart. Then pack at the first table, move each order to the second for weighing and labeling, and set it in the outbound area by carrier.

At 150 orders a week, that is 30 a day across five days. Time your own first shift and plan from that.

## Keeping hundreds of items findable

Code every bay and shelf: bay A, shelf 1 is A1. Put that code in each listing's SKU field and on a sticker on the shelf edge.

Check once a month: walk the shelves with your listing export and look for items with no listing and listings with no item.

## Supplies at volume

Buy poly mailers, envelopes and boxes by the case rather than in small packs. At 150 orders a week, a case of 500 mailers lasts around two months.

Keep one shelf as the supply shelf and a reorder list on the wall. When you open the last case of anything, write it down and order that week.

Fanfold labels and tape run out fastest. Keep a full spare box of labels on the shelf.

## The garage itself

Cardboard soaks up garage damp and goes soft. Keep boxes off the floor and run a dehumidifier if you see condensation in winter or sticky air in summer.

Keep a clear path from the shelves to the tables to the door. Move stock along it on a cart or a crate on wheels.

## Pickups and drop-offs

At this volume, a free USPS Package Pickup or a scheduled UPS pickup saves a trip to the post office. Check the current terms and any pickup charge with each carrier.

Sort packed orders in the outbound area by carrier so the driver can take them in one go. Print a USPS SCAN form so one scan covers the whole day's packages.

## Taking on help and growing to 300

Past 200 orders a week, bring in a second person: one picks while the other packs at the two tables.

A second printer means both can label at once. Write down the packing order and box choices for your helper.

## Common mistakes

- Storing cardboard on a bare garage floor, where it goes soft and collapses under weight.
- Letting stock and listings drift apart over months, so items sell that you cannot find.
- Buying supplies in small packs at this volume and paying more per mailer than you need to.
- Mixing packed and unpacked orders in the outbound area and sending something without a label.
- Training a helper by watching only, with no written packing steps, so orders go out packed two different ways.

## When to upgrade

Honeycomb paper replaces plastic fill when buyers ask for it; at 200 packages a week a roll goes fast, so buy it by the case. Beyond 300, add a second printer so both of you can label at once.

- 200+ orders a week: **[Honeycomb paper wrap roll](https://sellersetups.com/us/product/paper-void-fill)** ($20 to $35): Stretches into a cushioned mesh and goes in the paper recycling. Choose it if low-plastic packaging is part of your shop's pitch.

## Questions

### Do I need a warehouse, or will a garage do?

A dry, secure garage works for most stock. Check that it stays out of freezing cold and summer heat, and below damp levels, for anything with batteries, cardboard or fabric.

### Is a thermal label printer worth it at this volume?

Yes. At 150 or more labels a week, a thermal printer prints batches faster and takes generic 4 × 6 inch labels, which cost a few cents each.

### Should I move to a shipping tool like Pirate Ship or ShipStation?

Once you sell on more than one platform, yes. Pirate Ship imports eBay orders for free and ShipStation charges a monthly fee for more channels and automation. Mercari orders still print from Mercari's own prepaid labels.

### How do I keep a garage dry enough for stock?

Raise everything off the floor on shelving or pallets, seal gaps around the door, and run a dehumidifier if you see condensation or summer humidity.

### Do I need business insurance for a garage setup?

Homeowners insurance often limits or excludes business stock. Ask your insurer, and look at a home business rider or a separate policy if you hold a lot of value.

### Can two people pack with one printer?

Up to about 300 orders a week, yes, if one person picks and one packs. Beyond 300, add a second printer so neither of you waits at the labeling end.

### How do local pickups fit around shipping days?

Set two pickup windows a week for Facebook Marketplace buyers and stage the sold pieces by the door with a name tag. Take cash or a payment you see land before the item leaves, then get back to the packing line.