Ned:
You described what I was going to talk about and did it a LOT better than I could. One other source of inexpensive flat boxes are the U-Store-It places. They have several standard sizes and will sell them in various sized bundles. Even though I have Garry-standard shipping supplies I don't buy them in limited numbers either. I have all my envelopes preprinted with return address and "advertising" on them and so they are all neatly boxed on the shelf in the closet. I spend the extra buck or two and purchase all of those envelopes in 28# Kraft. It turns out they are a lot sturdier and also they are distinctive so when they arrive my repeat customer recognizes my stuff right away. In my case there are really only three sizes of envelopes. Then there are boxes that are sometimes used. I purchased a bundle of 50 standard boxes and use a case knive to cut them down if I have to resize them slightly. What I have going for me is that I don't have a great deal of odd size material to ship. But you are right on the nail with not fooling with recycling boxes. The recycled boxes that I do use are liquor boxes as they are much heavier and I can use them for perfectaly packing stamp albums. However, recycling boxes can be more time consuming and now with the new postal regulations extra work just listing an item.

One suggestion for half.com - purchase a roll of corrugated paper. It is almost as thick as a cardboard box but not quite. It comes in a roll. Just cut off a length of the stuff wrap the book in it. Securely tape the cut edge staple shut the two ends slap on a label and you're ready to go. The book is well packed and it is safe. If you don't have a heavy duty stapler just staple and then tape shut the ends. It makes for a very nice looking package and is so easy to ship a book. My neighbor who worked at Walden Books gave me that tip and it was well worth it.

Garry