Shipping Pottery-packing tips

[Mark C.]

First there a million ways do this and my way is just one way. I like to reuse materials. Shipping materials are all over the place for free. No need to spend a dime on them. I have a small shed full of free boxes and cardboard and foam and peanuts, Styrofoam to corn starch ones. Also  pieces of packing foam the kind that is used in appliance boxes. I get this from stores and business . Its all free for the taking.

I use clay boxes a lot as they are moving thru the studio in large numbers every year. I learned long ago not to over pack pots as that takes up to much space. The smaller the box the cheaper to ship.

Of course with a 30-40% discount on UPS via a I-CAN membership (for life by the way) its pretty cost effective. I learned shipping from others along the way. This took 5 minutes tops to wrap and pack up 4 tumblers that are going interstate on Monday. 

1st I break down a clay box and cut into strips a bit wider than the pot. Roll up the pot in cardboard and tape. repeat on all forms. Find a tight inner box that holds the post very snug or add more material to snug them so they cannot move.(this is the most important step-no moving of pots inside)  -The cardboard keeps the pots separated and they will not break as long as they are snug.

Pack the top tight with whatever you have more cardboard or peanuts or bubble wrap (bubble wrap takes up to much space for most uses  in terms of wrapping the pots). Then I find an outer box and use chunks of packing foam and peanuts or bubble wrap-whatever is handy and fills the space-on bottom and sides and top. 

If you use a lot of used boxes like me you can get maskout spray that is cardboard colored at U-line. I tend to buy lots of cans every 10 years or so to keep cost low.I used some in this case to show you what it looks like. usually I would not maskout that small label unless its white or distracting.Most tear off but some do not so I paint over them.

Tthis whole process took 5 minutes. I shipped 18 of these tumblers to Colorado two weeks ago zero breakage-I have been shipping this way since the 80s. No cost for materials and very secure with no breakage. At xmas when shipping volumes are maxed out they can run over box with the trucks  and use them for soccer practice and crush them thats why I stop shipping around thanksgiving and restart the days after xmas. I hate broken pots in shipping and have learned to avoid the bad 3 weeks of shipping hell just before the holidays.

Customers like reused materials and its best for all of us to reuse materials . Clay in general is a heavy footprint on the planet and this makes it just a bit lighter.

 

[Morgan]

Nice, thanks for sharing!