Shipping a painting takes about an hour..start to finish. There are a lot of steps and stuff involved. I make sure I take my time, and don’t rush through the process. The first thing I do is make sure I’ve signed the back of the painting. This is very important! You don’t want your customer returning the painting because you forgot to sign it. That would be a $30 mistake!! I would definitely feel obligated to pay for shipping both ways. Next, I wrap it in waxed paper. This protects the paint from sticking to the wrapping. Those mail trucks get very hot in the summer months, so make sure you protect your painting.
Next, I wrap the painting up in off-white wrapping paper. I like my customers to think of their purchase as a gift to themselves. So, I package it, like I would a gift to a friend. If the painting is going to be a gift for someone else, I’ve saved my customer time by having it already wrapped What I do varies slightly from here on out.
I tie it up with ribbon, and tuck a thank you note, along with my business card, underneath. This painting got a little original painting with a note on the back. I don’t always have time to paint something, tho. If there’s no time, I will send a store bought thank you card, instead.
Next, I bubble wrap the entire painting. If I don’t have bubble wrap on hand, I will stuff the box with lots of extra paper for padding. USPS has changed the quality of their priority boxes. Have you noticed? They are weak and flimsy now. I noticed the price didn’t go down, tho. Boo!!!