How to ship fragile items

Shipping fragile goods can be a nerve wracking experience. The idea of entrusting something breakable to a box, packing materials and to someone you don’t know isn’t always the most trust inspiring experience. 

But if you’re in a position where you need to make sure something sensitive gets to where it needs to go, then you should know how to do it correctly. If you follow some of these tips, then you should be able to ship your package relatively worry-free. Let’s jump right in!

Gather your materials

While we’re all about efficiency here at Affordable Courier, when it comes to fragile items – more is most definitely more. It’s better to buy too much packing materials as opposed to too little. While it might seem wasteful on its face, you can at least rest assured that you’ll most likely need to use these items down the road when you ship another package and frankly, the cost of buying too much packing materials pales in comparison to your item breaking. So make sure you have your materials, a sturdy box, tape and scissors. 

Orientation does matter quite a bit

Depending on what you’re shipping, the orientation of your item can have a big impact on its condition when it gets delivered. After all, there’s a reason many boxes have a ‘this side up’ marker on them. If your item is really top heavy, consider flipping it upside down. This is basic physics, as things that have more weight at the bottom tend to be easier to carry and move around. This also helps people generally abide by the indicators on the box. This isn’t a guarantee that’ll happen – but it’ll increase the odds for sure. 

Inspect everything you ship/receive 

Make sure you check your item for damage before it leaves to make sure everything on your end is in good shape. And just like with rental cars, it’s not a bad idea to even take before photos. Also be sure to check your box and packaging for any weak spots, holes or tears. It must be able to adequately protect the item. And lastly, make sure your item carries well by lifting it on your own. Everything might LOOK good on the outside, but you may notice issues when you move around. Make corrections as needed. 

The final thing you’ll want to do is to contact a reliable delivery service. Many courier services specialize in fragile goods and it’s probably going to be worth the extra few bucks to make sure that someone’s transporting it who knows what they’re doing. 

Hopefully these tips will help take the edge off of sending fragile packages. We get that it’s a stressful thing to do, but do it correctly and you’ll have next to nothing to worry about. Good luck!

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