Besides marketing, shipping is my least favorite part of selling paintings online. Yet, it’s something that has to be done, and should be done well. It can take a great deal of time to get a painting packaged up, and out the door. I usually allot an hour per painting. As a general rule, the smaller paintings take less time, and the larger paintings take longer. I’ve learned not to rush through it.
It’s important to me that my packaging looks nice. It’s the first thing my buyer is going to see, so I wrap each painting with care.
I use small Priority mail boxes for my minis on canvas. It’s easy, convenient, and best of all, it’s FREE. I get a box of 25 shipped to my PO box by ordering at USPS.com. It usually takes about a week, so be sure to order in advance.
Most of the bubble wrap I use isn’t brand new. Whenever I buy something online, it usually comes wrapped in bubble wrap, so I save and reuse what I can. I’ve only had to buy a big roll of bubble wrap once in all these years of business.
If I don’t have bubble wrap on hand, I’ll cut cardboard to wrap around the painting before placing it inside the box. It gives it an extra layer of protection. This is a video I found that helped me learn how to make my own box. I have a scoring wheel tool that I use. Instead of folding the cardboard as messily as this guy does, I score it instead, and the box comes out looking much neater. Again, I want my packaging to look nice when it reaches the buyer, so I take my time preparing the shipment.
The most important thing about packaging a painting or any item for shipment is securing it inside the box. You don’t want it to bounce around and break. You want it to sit as tightly, and still as possible while on its journey. There was extra space to the right when I slid the painting inside the box, so I made sure to pack it with scrunched up paper. I stuffed it full after I shot this photo.
I always tape up all edges, and openings. You can’t see it in this photo, but I go around the entire edge of the box with tape. I’ve learned that the sticky stuff on the Priority box flaps isn’t dependable. I sealed a box once, walked away to print out the label, and the box was wide open when I came back in the room. All I could think was, what if that had happened in transit? The contents inside would have been lost for sure. Since then, I’ve always taped the box shut before shipping it out, and never rely on the sticky flaps working correctly.
Want to read more about how I ship paintings? I’ve written other posts about shipping here and here.
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