Featured Step by step directions for how to pack a delicate figurine with protruding parts.

This is the type of piece I am talking about.



I actually got this method of packing from the Boehm Company. They use it to ship their flowers when the original shipping box is no longer available. If you are not familiar with this type of flower figurine, suffice it to say that if you look at the petals wrong they will break off.

 

The figurine shown in the photos below is one I shipped back in 2015 & yes it arrived safe & sound.

1. Get a box big enough to safely accommodate the figurine. I usually allow at least 2 inches on the top, all 4 sides & the bottom. Cut down the sides to form a flap. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of the bottom of the box.


2. Secure the base to the piece of cardboard with several pieces of masking tape. I now use the blue painters tape as it doesn't leave a sticky residue that sometimes happens with masking tape.


3. Place some peanuts in the bottom of the box & secure the cardboard piece to the sides of the box with masking tape.


4. Tape up the sides of the flap you cut in the one side of the box.


5. Sprinkle in more peanuts so that they surround the figurine. Occasionally shaking the box gently to make sure there are no pockets. Continue sprinkling in the peanuts until the box is filled to the top. Be careful to not over fill the box because the pressure exerted by the extra peanuts could damage the piece.


6. Tape close the top of the box & write instructions for the buyer as to how to open the box. After opening the top, they cut down the sides of the flap. This allows the peanuts to spill out of the box & exposes the figurine. They simply cut the pieces of tape that is adhered to the sides of the box & remove the cardboard.


7. The box is then placed inside a slightly larger box that has had peanuts placed on the bottom & then filled to the top.


This is the only times I have ever used double boxing because I think if you pack well it is just an added unnecessary expense for you & the buyer. I just wouldn't trust that one flap that has been cut making it through the shipping.

I hope this makes sense to everyone.

I have used this method to ship at least a dozen pieces & all arrived successfully.

 

double boxing was a good idea..

 

After you have basically destroyed the integrity of the inner box, there is no other way you could ship it safely.

 

Great job!

It's refreshing to see others as detail oriented as myself, right down to unpacking instructions. That's my job at work. If it looks difficult, I am tasked.

 

Waaaaay back, there was a thread on the ebay PGP discussion board "How Clamboy Packs A Chihuly". I've looked for it and can't find it anymore, but it was good info at the time and basically the same procedure as @bercrystal shows but on a larger scale. Don't know why that lingers in my memory when I can't remember much more important things from just a few days ago.

Linda

 

That's how the brain works. It loves to play tricks on us.

 

That's so funny, the first thing I thought of when I saw this post was that old ebay post except I couldn't think of clamboy's name So you win the memory game

 

I employed this method a while ago fir a Royal Albert bouquet centre piece. I think that it was on your advice. Fortunately the base tapered wider towards the bottom so I could strap it down with some shoe laces. Job well done and received in one piece. Thanks.

 

Oh, it had to perk for a while before I remembered his name but it finally just showed up.

 

Didn't Greg also post something about how to pack things many years before he passed?

 

Very nicely done, an' described, Peggy...Thanks!

 

That jogged a memory ... for a while, about ten years ago, eBay was deleting old board messages. Then they started archiving them, but they were under a different URL that I don't remember any more. I rarely look at their "community" boards any more and don't know what their current practice is.

 

I am so glad to hear my tutorial helped someone be able to ship one of the impossible pieces.

I had forgotten about the clamboy post. I did get to read it when someone posted it again during a discussion about a Chihuly piece. That was during the good old days when we could just chat with one another & no one got their hands popped because they veered off topic.

 

That is what made me such a good OR circulating nurse. You need to anticipate everything beforehand & have everything within reach that the surgeon could possibly need. Details, details, details will save you ass from get royally chewed on every time.

 

the step by step instructions are so helpful, thank-you for posting this Peggy

 

You are very welcome!!

Let me know if you ever get to use the method.

 

I always double box fragile items