Tips for Shipping Fragile Items

Nathaniel M. Kennedy
3 min readJan 30, 2019

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If you look at the process of shipping in general, you will not find it an exciting feature of any ecommerce business. So the concept of shipping something fragile may seem burdensome beyond less exciting. But then, it is something you need to deal with because your entire business process depends on effective shipping.

In this article, we are going to discuss about how you can ship your fragile items safely.

Right Sized Packaging

First thing that you will need to pay proper attention to is the size of packaging you are going to use for your fragile items. When you are shipping something breakable, you will need to use boxes instead of mailers. And then, the right size will help you ensure that your item doesn’t move freely in the box. However, you will need to choose the box with large enough size to fit the cushioning material along with the item.

Wrapping materials

After you have got the boxes, now you will need to select the wrapping material of right type. Fragile items can break easily; so you need to select the wrapping material that could provide optimum cushioning to the items. In most of the cases, you can go for bubble wrap because several layers of it can absorb shock at great extent, keeping the breakable products safe. You can fill rest of the space in the box with packing peanuts. Wrapping paper can also be quite helpful in this regard.

Protection from other elements

When we imagine threats to the package of fragile item, we usually think about the box being mishandled, thrown around or dropped during the shipping process. However, these are not the only factors you need to be concerned about. A package can be exposed to water or moisture during the transit. The cardboard will quickly get ruined when exposed to water. Therefore, you will need to apply the type of protection which could keep the product safe from moisture. Shrink wrap and plastic bags are ideal to keep the product safe from moisture.

Avoid tight wrapping

While it is essential to keep the items secured, you have to make sure that you are not wrapping the items tightly. Tight wrapping can result in pressure being exerted on the items being wrapped. Therefore, the items like glassware are more likely to break due to this unnecessary pressure. Here, you will need to wrap the items in a loose fashion.

Ensure proper sealing of the box

After you have wrapped the Item and put sufficient packaging and cushioning materials to secure the item, now you need to seal the box tightly. The box needs to be sealed using a lot of tape. Even the sides of the box should also be secured with the tape. That will help the package to remain intact even if the box gets damaged.

Labeling

Last but not the least; the box needs to be labeled ‘Fragile’. This label is an instruction to the handlers to pay special attention to the package.

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