Tips for Packaging and Shipping Books

When packaging books one has to focus on three important issues: water, movement, and impact damage.

Minimizing Movement

Wrap book in white newsprint paper. This will keep the book from getting scratched up from vibration or movement. Wrap this as you would a birthday present.

Waterproofing

I find that placing a book inside a large food grade sealable bag is more than sufficient for waterproofing a book. These can be bought from your local grocery store.

Padding

Bubble wrap is my preferred method of padding books, its cheap, easy to use,  and very effective. Wrap a book with a few layers of bubble wrap and tape to insure it does not unravel. I find that trying to buy bubble wrap in large qualities locally can be downright expensive or impossible. Here are some amazing deals on bulk bubble wrap. If you notice that any voids exist after placing a bubble wrapped book inside a box, fill the voids with crumpled newspapers.

Packaging

I recommend shipping via USPS Priority mail because they provide fast delivery and give you plenty of free packaging boxes. Always use clear wide mailing tape on boxes. Mailing tape can usually be purchased locally anywhere that has office supplies. Before sealing the package it is a good idea to include a packaging slip. This can be a printed piece of paper that states the shipping and mailing address's in case something happens to the outside label.

If you don't want to use free USPS boxes you can instead buy padded mailer envelopes in bulk somewhat cheaply. This is also a good option if you want to ship by Media mail rather than Priority. Please note that most hardcover books should be shipped in a box that can provide better protection than a padded mailer.

Shipping

Shipping rates are often determined by weight, therefore it is important to have a reliable scale for weighing books and packages. This weight information is used by eBay's shipping calculator to let any potential customers know exactly how much the shipping will cost. You will also need to know the exact weight if you want to purchase your postage labels online. I find that shipping scales are hard to come by locally and when you do find one it can be somewhat expensive. A great quality reasonably priced postage scale can be found here.

USPS Priority Mail

If you use the free USPS Priority mail boxes you will have to ship by Priority mail. At this point you can either take the package(s) to the post office and purchase postage or you can order and print your postage online. If you print your postage online delivery confirmation is included for free. This is useful as it allows you to check online to see if and when the package has been delivered. Purchasing online postage also gives you the option to have the packages picked up for shipping.

USPS Media Mail

Media mail is a discounted way of mailing packages that are considered media such as tapes, cds, or books. The only downside of shipping by media mail is shipping supplies are not provided free of charge by the USPS. This rate of shipping can also take longer to ship than Priority mail.

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