The trick in the title is one we use on almost every pack-day video and it saves a meaningful chunk of postage over a year. Two parts to it: order the right size box for the item, and when “right size” is taller than what’s on the shelf, resize it down.

The pack-of-the-day cubic-foot resize

[10:20] Bose stereo (CD/radio combo). I’d already pulled a 1086 box (16 × 12 × 10) — a workhorse size for us. The stereo fits but doesn’t fill it, so I cross-cut the long flaps, fold them in, tape across. Final dimensions ship at 17 × 13 — barely under a cubic foot.

That’s the whole game on USPS Ground Advantage. Under a cubic foot you pay one rate; over, you start paying dimensional weight, and the price jumps fast. Cutting an inch off the height of every too-tall box is the difference between one rate and a noticeably worse rate. Multiply that by hundreds of packs a year, you’re looking at a four-figure delta.

The cross-cut isn’t pretty. “This is not my prettiest work. The tape kind of camouflages it.” Strength-wise it’s fine — the seams run vertically, the resize cuts horizontally through the middle of a panel where there isn’t a seam to begin with.

The Bose was also a cautionary tale

[10:40] I tested this stereo at the sale — even had Candice grab a CD so we could hear it. Worked 100%. When I went to list, I figured I’d already verified it but I’d film a short clip of it working anyway. Plugged it in. The screen wouldn’t even come on.

Something happened between the sale and the listing. That is exactly why electronics are the riskiest thing we sell. High margin, high sell-through, but old electronics that worked at the sale won’t always work after they’ve ridden across the country in a truck. When a buyer says “it doesn’t work” — sometimes they’re scamming, but sometimes the thing genuinely failed in transit. I deal with electronics a lot less than I used to.

Magnets — both 3D printers paid off

[13:35] Magnet #169 going to a viewer. Net per magnet after eBay fees, filament, packaging — about $5. We’ve put 169 of these into the wild. We had $800 into the two printers. They’ve just officially paid for themselves. Filament’s covered in the per-unit cost, so from here it’s profit on the printers we’d otherwise still be paying off.

Mark gets one too. Thank you, Mark.

Other packs

[1:20] Magnet #170 to Matt. 170 is significant only to me — it was the model number of the digital communications system (TRC-170) the Air National Guard rolled out the year I started. Cool story, bro. Candice’s response, exactly.

The lawnmower aside

[18:50] We’re picking up a new electric mower. Greenworks 22-inch self-propelled, normally $700, on sale for $500. Same brand as our last one because I’ve accumulated four of these batteries over the years and they’re not cheap. The new one comes with a bigger battery than any I have — that one alone is probably $250–300 worth.

I’ve turned into the guy who plans his week around grass-cutting weather. Apparently I was always going to be that guy.

Zoro stickers

[28:05] Zoro keeps shipping shipping-supply boxes with their own labels and barcodes still slapped to the outside. We can’t ship those out to buyers without peeling off a half-dozen barcodes that have nothing to do with the actual shipping label. I’ve emailed them about it. Not a dealbreaker — they’re a great supplier — but it’s the dumbest little gripe I have with them.

Wrap

If you take one thing from this pack day, take the cubic-foot resize. Cross-cut, fold in, tape across. “Sufficient. Slightly tight.” Over a year, that adds up to real money. Last pack was a Stanley cook set in a 1086. Out the door. Bye y’all.