[Joe67]

I have been selling on ebay for 6 years now.

Estimating shipping?

I box up my item as I would to ship it. I take it to the post office and get a quote to ship it to the farthest coast from me in the USA. I use that as my shipping price for any buyers. You can also do this online if you have a GOOD scale and use the shipping company webpages for estimates.

Boxes / packaging material?

I save almost every box from items I buy as well as the packaging peanuts or other materials used to stuff the boxes.

Newspaper works great as a stuffing material if nothing else is available. If it is fragile or extremely sensitive, go buy a roll of bubble wrap from Costco/Sams/Office Max or a store like that. They sell boxes as well.

Another alternative is visit the Post Office for boxes. For most smaller items and clothing, they Priority Mail boxes are FREE. you can package your item and ship it Priority and all is good. I order the priority package from the http://www.usps.com webpage for free (no shipping charges either)

Good Luck!