Tips on Packing & Shipping Rae Dunn and Other Fragile Items

As a lot of you already know, Rae Dunn pottery has become all the rage amongst those who love farmhouse decor. It is a beautiful collection for those who love neutrals and cute, simple designs. The large letter font has won many hearts over in the farmhouse community, even to the point that people are paying big bucks for it.

Now, I know a lot of people do not like how it is being collected and sold to the highest bidder, but that is part of the process when a line becomes collectible. Read my post about why it doesn’t bother me here. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to partake, but there are a lot of people out there who sell at cost or a little above cost or who trade to get their pieces and help other collectors out. If you are a part of those who trade or sell at retail, then I have some tips for you on how to package it the best way possible to ensure it has the best chance at arriving in one piece AND to cover your butt if it doesn’t.

• First off, ALWAYS ship priority mail (via USPS). You can choose another service if you are more familiar with that, but USPS is what I always use. As one of my post office tellers put it, “Do you want it bouncing around in a big, bouncy truck or do you want it to be secured better and safer?” Once a package leaves your hands, you have no control over how it is handled, but if you don’t let them know it is a delicate/fragile package, they won’t treat it as such.
• I purchase all of my packaging from Walmart. They have the best rates on boxes that I have found, unless you use the priority boxes offered by the post office (some of which aren’t big enough for the canisters). Most of the time, I can use the priority boxes to ship items, but sometimes the cost is cheaper when I use one more fitted for the item. I buy my bubble wrap, tape and kraft paper here. If you are planning on trading/shipping often, it’s good to invest in these brands and not the dollar store ones.

• Always use three strips of tape overlapped when sealing the top and bottom of the box. Start on the “seam” and add more. If it’s an especially heavy box, use tape around every edge.
• Line the bottom of your box with a good layer of bunched up kraft paper for padding/cushioning.
• Bubble wrap your items with a generous amount, but don’t overdo it. I typically do two layers. Give extra attention to handles or any parts that jut out from the item. Bubble wrap lids and individual pieces separately.
• When you layer your pieces in, make sure you have room around every side of each item so that you can add extra cushioning.
• Add kraft paper around the side of every piece. Make sure they are immobile. That is the biggest trick to making sure they have the best chance at surviving is making them immobile so they don’t shift much, if at all, during travel. Once you have all space filled with kraft paper, add it to the top of your items then seal it off tightly.
• Give your package a little shake to make sure nothing moves. If you hear movement, open it back up and add more paper.
• Finally, label every side of your box with FRAGILE or BREAKABLE in large letters or with bold, red stickers.

That’s it! It does take a good amount of time to carefully package fragile items, but despite our best efforts, sometimes they just don’t make it. Always make sure you have insurance on the item for it’s value/purchase price. This will relieve you of any headaches if there is an issue as a claim can be filed online by the purchaser. You will need a receipt of purchase and images of the damaged item. If you do a trade, you will need to find a way to cover this and make an agreement with the other person prior to doing so.

I hope this helps!