Extra Paper Stock—what to do?

Hello!

I have a lot of paper/envelope stock left over from various letterpress projects and am running out of places to store them. Ideally I would like to sell the left over stock as I paid to purchase them. But I feel shipping the boxes may not be cost efficient.

What do you with your extra paper? Is there an organization I can donate to that will appreciate the paper and utilize it? Like an art school or organization…My last resort would be to donate to places like Good Will, but it is such precious paper I can’t let it just go to anyone.

Thanks!

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eBay might be a place to sell it. I’ve sold foil odds and ends on eBay, and did quite well. I sold multiple lots with photos in one auction. It was a lot of work, but well worth it since the foil had already been paid for once by the customer. The customer paid to ship, no problem. More photos the better.
I’ve also donated paper to Goodwill and found out later they threw it out, so no to Goodwill. Salvation Army was good though, they seemed happy to get it.

Don’t do Goodwill. they just sell it for profit.
Maybe a church, neighborhood childcare, or kindergarden school?

Where you are located will impact your choices - if in or near a big city, you may be able to sell the paper on Craig’s List or possibly direct to other printers

LD

Are you kidding me? Don’t donate the stock as blank paper, use it for something good…

Use it to either print advertising, OR use it to print stuff for your favorite charity…. with a note “courtesy of ” your shop. I used to print all sorts of things for the SPCA, our local homeless shelter, up and coming local artists, and so forth and so on. Print envelopes for your church, or postcards showcasing your town’s attractions. Or maybe political leaflets for somebody you admire. Or print booklets that your kid writes, or tickets for the school play! Or note pads with pithy sayings. Or Recipes for your mom’s pies that you give away as freebies to your customers.

That paper is worth far more than it’s sale price on e-Bay or it’s value as a donation as blank stock…. as a good-will mechanism it’s worth it’s weight in gold! (ok… maybe not gold, but at least silver plated something or another! ;) )

There’s the old tradition of printing sayings or cartoons as advertising samples, just make sure you have permission for whatever you use and include your name & contact info.

Or, look for a local artist colony/collective or college art department. Or a hobbyist printer, they’re almost always looking for free stock.

Thank you all for your feedback! I did inquire with a few non-profit places such as Art With Heart, but none had use for the paper stock. Ideally I would use it for odd printing jobs but like I said, I have no room to store it. I will try Ebay, as I would like to make some return from it. I appreciate all of your input!

On a different but related note, printers often get loaded up with odds and ends of old ink, such as half cans of PMS matches that were used for one job and will probably never be needed again. If that stuff needs to be recycled by a recycling company, it can cost big bucks. (And for that reason, if someone wants to give you many cans of old ink, think twice before you take all of it, because it could end up costing you if you have to get it recycled).

There are hobby printers, and pioneer villages and museums with working print shops, which will be happy to take at least some of your old ink. I volunteer in an 1860’s pioneer village print shop in southwestern Ontario Canada, and if anyone in that area has any ink they would like to get rid of, please contact me on this site.