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Annoyed At Postal Service


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REALLY PISSED OFF   Shipped some pottery, 6 plates and a few other pieces to the US .I had it packed well for shipping with several fragile stickers. It arrived with 4 broken plates

I think the Mail handlers abuse packages when it says Fragile

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I have done some parcel sorting before. Even if the parcel is moved carefully whatever is put on top is not necessarily so. They had 6ft tall bags so if your fragile parcel happened to be down low it could end up with a lot of weight on top.

 

Also some staff don't give a crap.

 

This was Royal Mail so maybe other parcel companies sort differently.

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I have to say that I no longer mark shipped pottery as being fragile.  I just assume that 600 pound gorillas are going to spike my package in celebration of something or other.  Then I pack it so they can't do any damage.  They'd have to run over my packages with a tank to do much damage... but most of the time I'm shipping small stuff, and usually only one item per package, so it's easier to pack invulnerably.

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Sorry had to rant but this box was well packed. I had a full liner of cardboard inside so It would not have a crush issue. Each plate was well wrapped and a layer of cardboard between the plates full width of the box with more lose paper around the plate. I have had plates fall off the shelf and onto the cement floor and not break. I could have stood on this box and don't think it would have broken.

Might have to start shipping in wood or steel boxes.

I don't think I will use the fragile sticker next time, think it makes it worse.

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First as one who has shipped tons of pots (4 soup mugs to Colorado today) I have a few ideas for you.

1st idea-the shipping service you use -all of them are going to throw your package-forget the fragile stickers-that will throw it.

2nd you need to pack it so they can throw the box and it will be fine.

3rd use whatever you want to keep the pots separated so when they are airborne they cannot hit each other. For plates I wrap thin foam or cardboard and stack them tight wrap that bundle in paper or bubble wrap or whatever then tape gun them together so they are a tight bundle. This bundle goes in an inner box padded with whatever product you like

this box goes in another box the outer-sometimes I just make a cardboard inner from sheet cardboard but its separated by an outer box with sever inches of padding .

I can drop the box or kick it and the contacts are fine.I never write fragile or use fragile stickers

Now I can ship with no worries unless they run over the box which they do at christmas time. Thats why I avoid shipping in December

Back to those soup mugs I cut strips of cardboard for all 4 mugs and taped that around them with the top and bottom open

I placed all 4 in an inner box and packed it tight with reused peanuts and taped it up )that box was 10x14 x 6inch box and put it in an outer box  which was 18x14x9-it shipped out ups 4 states away today.

I know they will make it-never any issues.

When stacking plates I limit the pile to 4 to 6 tall as they can get so heavy they could break apart when tossed

I ship dinnerware all over this country with this packing with zero issues

I do not know if they open them at customs?

If so then you are doomed

Hope this helps-keep in mind the postal service is the worst on packages I fell and rarely use them other than single items double boxed-My pots get heavy fast so UPS or Fed ex is priced better.

Plus I have to go to the post office (1 mile away) as I'm on a rural route and can only put 14 oz in the box as a limit  since laws where passed after that crazy guy sent bombs in the mail years ago.

I could go on a rant about the postal service but my mother said always if you do not have anything nice to say nothing.

I did ship 6 boxes on Monday with the post office so I do use them-only they are not 1st choice and those items where mostly non ceramic.

Sorry to hear about the loss-I know how you feel its not the money its the effort that broke

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This has happened to me too. I over pack with  2 + inches of peanuts & bubble wrap now, then shrink wrap to hold it tight & more peanuts to stabilize- so far so good. I had my son (he's over 6 ft tall) throw a box  with a porcelain item over-wrapped like that onto the cement floor to test my wrapping & it survived.  

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Shipping in "standard size" boxes helps. For the postal service, this means flat rate boxes. When you used standard sized boxes they go with other boxes instead of the random heap.

 

I shipped pottery back from New Zealand. Two boxes were opened by customs... I cried. Two weren't and had only minor losses. If you are shipping internationally I would say that each piece must be in its own small box.

 

I have labeled boxes with "Fragile :-) " and the smiley seems to help more than the fragile.

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on a lighter note, i just recieved a package i ordered from Barney's in new york.  it was a plastic placemat.  a piece of plastic with holes all over it that i plan to roll clay into to pick up the pattern of the holes.  a    single    plastic    placemat!

 

the box arrived, the nice fedex man put it on my porch.  the box was 18 inches long, 6 inches deep and 12 inches wide.  there were 3 strips of air bubbles inside and a thick plastic bag surrounding the silly plastic placemat.  the air bubbles were the big kind, not bubble wrap.  about 6 yards of plastic packaging tape was on each 90 degree angle and the center openings.  

 

i wonder why things from barney's are priced so high.  do new yorkers ever consider the planet?

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Everything I ship is bubble wrapped and packed in a box with very high compression. If there is any rattle to the box, it will arrive with broken items.  I usually ship chalice and patens in a single 14X14X14 box, and yes, I still use popcorn!

 

 

 

best,

pres

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ronfire, here's a tip I learned about shipping plates. They travel more safely if you pack them on their edges, like file folders in a file drawer. Plates are heavy, and this way they don't put any weight on each other.

 

If I am shipping up to 4 plates, I will stack them horizontally because the proportion makes more sense in a horizontal-ish shipping box (maybe 14l x 14w x 10h). If I am shipping more than 4 plates, I'll use a box that is the same height and width, but with a longer length, and stack them vertically (18l x 14w x 14h).

 

For the order you described, I would use an 18x14x14 box, stack the 6 plates vertically in the middle, and pack the other pots on either side. This way the weight is distributed symetrically, which is easier for someone to carry, less likely for someone to drop.

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As a couple of other folks have said, the key to surviving shipping is to bundle everything together into a solid mass so that the pieces cannon move around and contact each other. Remember that when your package is in transit, the peanuts will shift and move, and pots can migrate through the peanuts. So two pieces that were separated by 3 inches of peanuts can end up right next to each other after being jiggled around in a truck for two days. With plates your better off wrapping them all together with two sheets of 1/8" foam in between, rather than having each one loose with cardboard and peanuts between them. Bundling that way will also allow you to use  smaller box or fit more plates. Putting the bundle on edge is also a great idea.

 

Last week I shipped a pitcher, 4 tumblers and a teapot all in the same box. Everything survived.

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I used to work for a giftware wholesaler that packed many things using crushed paper as fill, rather than peanuts or other cushioning.  The damage claims literally bankrupted them. I dislike Styrofoam of any kind as much as the next environmentalist, but when shipping ceramics I think packing peanuts are a must.

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