Suggestions on Shipping 11x17 prints 0

[fastballspecial]

I just got some great 11x17 signed prints. Some of them I am going to keep, but others I am going to sell to recoup my costs. Anyone want to 
share some good packing supplies for them? I know how I want to pack them, but I would think there are others here with more experience 
in this area I could learn from.

 

[F For Fake]

I'm assuming you want to ship them flat and not rolled, right? With prints and (relatively inexpensive) original art (the expensive stuff gets a proper box) I usually put the art in a plastic sleeve (original art sleeve if you have them, if not you can assemble your own by creatively cutting the sides of magazine bags ahen then assembling them with tape) and then sandwich it between two Regional Rate A boxes (using painter's tape to affix the sleeved art to one of the boxes). I then slide this art sandwich into a Priority 1095 box, or a medium flat rate box, whichever I have handy, until it is snug and secure in the middle, leaving the ends of the larger box open. Then I tape the ends of the outer box. This is the cheap/fast solution, as all of those supplies are available for free from USPS. This is the part where someone probably comes in and says you aren't supposed to use USPS supplies like that. I've been doing it this way for many years, and have never had an issue. YMMV. 

This makes a pretty sturdy sandwich which is pretty difficult to bend.

Otherwise, for pricey stuff, I'd use foam board or masonite for the sandwich, and then use a proper box. If I don't have any extras laying around from CLink, sometimes Amazon will send stuff in nice, long, flat boxes that also serve the purpose. I'm sure there are boxes out there made specifically for this, but I don't deal in art often enough to buy them in bulk. 

Good luck!

[lonetree]

The USPS 1095 box is 15 1/4 x 12 3/8 x 3 - I use them for CGC books.  I dont think an 11x17 print will fit. 

I have been thinking of purging some of my prints as well.  Typically I make bulk shipping purchases form Shippingsupply.com.  Just picked up some 18x12x2 Kraft Easy Fold Mailers with some 11 7/8 x 17 7/8 Corrugated Layer Pads. The Kraft Easy folds were $46.84 for 50 and the Corrugated Layer Pads were $37.36 for 100.  I also bought a 400 other bookfolds and 800 other pads.  The real killer was shipping cost $100.  (this was a huge increase over my last similar order that was only $56 for shipping)   I have not used them yet, but they look like they will hold up.  Rethinking the idea, I might try Kraft Mailing Tubes to save money.  I am not a fan of getting prints in a tube since it takes awhile to get them to lay flat. 

If someone else has a better place for purchasing shipping supplies, I would love to hear it.

[alexgross.com]

selling and shipping prints is a significant part of how i make a living. my advice is DO NOT SHIP FLAT. any time i have done it i have regretted it. usps or ups will bend the #(%$* out of your packages. i use heavy duty mailing tubes and even then, about three per cent get smashed. insure your packages, whichever service you use. 

[Artboy99]

I have shipped literally hundreds of 11"x17" original art pages I have drawn to my customers and I have yet to have any issues.

Pick up some 11"x17" top loaders, put the prints into the 11"x17" top loaders and then I put them inside cardboard. I tape the top loader in place inside the cardboard. I also seal the top of the top loader so the print doesn't come out.

I claim all the large cardboard the company I work for sends to this location all the "propaganda" posters.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Artboy99

[F For Fake]

1 hour ago, lonetree said:

The USPS 1095 box is 15 1/4 x 12 3/8 x 3 - I use them for CGC books.  I dont think an 11x17 print will fit. 

I have been thinking of purging some of my prints as well.  Typically I make bulk shipping purchases form Shippingsupply.com.  Just picked up some 18x12x2 Kraft Easy Fold Mailers with some 11 7/8 x 17 7/8 Corrugated Layer Pads. The Kraft Easy folds were $46.84 for 50 and the Corrugated Layer Pads were $37.36 for 100.  I also bought a 400 other bookfolds and 800 other pads.  The real killer was shipping cost $100.  (this was a huge increase over my last similar order that was only $56 for shipping)   I have not used them yet, but they look like they will hold up.  Rethinking the idea, I might try Kraft Mailing Tubes to save money.  I am not a fan of getting prints in a tube since it takes awhile to get them to lay flat. 

If someone else has a better place for purchasing shipping supplies, I would love to hear it.

Hmm, I maybe thinking of another size then, but there is definitely a USPS box that comfortably holds the Region A sandwich of 11x17 art. But again, this is for the cheap stuff that I'm moving quickly. And I've never had a single piece of art damaged shipping flat in over 20 years. In fact, the only art I've ever shipped that got damaged was in a poster tube. So, as with most things, ymmv.

[HENRYSPENCER]

Masonite board from Home Depot.  I've never had them charge me for cuts there, and you’re talking ~22 plus pieces for a $12 board.  I ship it through the USPO all the time.

[fastballspecial]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 9:09 AM, www.alexgross.com said:

selling and shipping prints is a significant part of how i make a living. my advice is DO NOT SHIP FLAT. any time i have done it i have regretted it. usps or ups will bend the #(%$* out of your packages. i use heavy duty mailing tubes and even then, about three per cent get smashed. insure your packages, whichever service you use. 

I was wondering about shipping tubes. These aren't very expensive prints, but its seems safer to use those or Masonite/stacks of cardboard are really 
the only two routes I am considering. What's the cost on those poster tubes?

 

[alexgross.com]

18 minutes ago, fastballspecial said:

I was wondering about shipping tubes. These aren't very expensive prints, but its seems safer to use those or Masonite/stacks of cardboard are really 
the only two routes I am considering. What's the cost on those poster tubes?

 

uline sells tubes in boxes of 25 each. it depends on size of course. the ones i get are around $70 after shipping. so i guess about $3 per tube. smaller ones will be less of course. mine are 4 x 4 x 30 inches. you can probably use 3 inch wide tubes which will certainly be cheaper. if theres one thing the post office is expert at, it's bending things that are not meant to be bent! 

[Senormac]

On ‎8‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 7:09 AM, www.alexgross.com said:

selling and shipping prints is a significant part of how i make a living. my advice is DO NOT SHIP FLAT. any time i have done it i have regretted it. usps or ups will bend the #(%$* out of your packages. i use heavy duty mailing tubes and even then, about three per cent get smashed. insure your packages, whichever service you use. 

I agree.  Always use the stoutest cardboard tube you can find and roll them . 

[Senormac]

22 hours ago, HENRYSPENCER said:

Masonite board from Home Depot.  I've never had them charge me for cuts there, and you’re talking ~22 plus pieces for a $12 board.  I ship it through the USPO all the time.

If one is not going the tube route but is dead set on flat mailing..... this idea sounds good to me.  Masonite or maybe plexiglass 

[HENRYSPENCER]

1 hour ago, Senormac said:

If one is not going the tube route but is dead set on flat mailing..... this idea sounds good to me.  Masonite or maybe plexiglass 

https://www.yazoomills.com/

try these.  Nearly indestructible.   Great product.

[Mickael Brown]

On 8/3/2018 at 4:01 PM, F For Fake said:

I'm assuming you want to ship them flat and not rolled, right? With prints and (relatively inexpensive) original art (the expensive stuff gets a proper box) I usually put the art in a plastic sleeve (original art sleeve if you have them, if not you can assemble your own by creatively cutting the sides of magazine bags ahen then assembling them with tape) and then sandwich it between two Regional Rate A boxes (using painter's tape to affix the sleeved art to one of the boxes). I then slide this art sandwich into a Priority 1095 box, or a medium flat rate box, whichever I have handy, until it is snug and secure in the middle, leaving the ends of the larger box open. Then I tape the ends of the outer box. This is the cheap/fast solution, as all of those supplies are available for free from USPS. This is the part where someone probably comes in and says you aren't supposed to use USPS supplies like that. I've been doing it this way for many years, and have never had an issue. YMMV. 

This makes a pretty sturdy sandwich which is pretty difficult to bend.

Otherwise, for pricey stuff, I'd use foam board or masonite for the sandwich, and then use a proper box. If I don't have any extras laying around from CLink, sometimes Amazon will send stuff in nice, long, flat boxes that also serve the purpose. I'm sure there are boxes out there made specifically for this, but I don't deal in art often enough to buy them in bulk. 

Good luck!

 I see what are you talking about. I buy a lot of things at Amazon and use the approved Amazon service provider https://clearitusa.com/. I've got all my packages good looking without damages. And also I like client servise of this company. Maybe my experience wold be usefull for someone else there.

[fastballspecial]

On ‎8‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 8:55 PM, HENRYSPENCER said:

https://www.yazoomills.com/

try these.  Nearly indestructible.   Great product.

So if I am shipping an 11 x 17 print it looks like their 4 inch tube by 20 inches long would be a good fit. There shipping is free too which surprised me.

 

[HENRYSPENCER]

9 minutes ago, fastballspecial said:

So if I am shipping an 11 x 17 print it looks like their 4 inch tube by 20 inches long would be a good fit. There shipping is free too which surprised me.

 

And they ship very quickly.  Yazoo Mills is the gold standard when it comes to shipping tubes in the print and poster business.  They've been around for a long time.

Edited August 10, 2018 by HENRYSPENCER

[GeneticNinja]

On 8/3/2018 at 9:09 AM, www.alexgross.com said:

selling and shipping prints is a significant part of how i make a living. my advice is DO NOT SHIP FLAT. any time i have done it i have regretted it. usps or ups will bend the #(%$* out of your packages. i use heavy duty mailing tubes and even then, about three per cent get smashed. insure your packages, whichever service you use. 

 

I've received flat posters and prints in the mail along with original artwork. Some things you just don't want to roll if it's on really heavy paper. The shippers usually just use Masonite or a lot of heavy board with the artwork sandwiched between. Of course place "do not bend" on the package too. Some times it helps. But it's really up to the packer and materials. Get it right and no worries. Get it wrong and you are asking for it.

 

On 8/4/2018 at 8:55 PM, HENRYSPENCER said:

https://www.yazoomills.com/

try these.  Nearly indestructible.   Great product.

Yeah Mondo Tees, Bottleneck Gallery, and many others use these tubes. Never had a damaged print using these. You would have to roll over them with an airplane or trailer truck to crush them. It's just up to the shipper to roll the print correctly after using these tubes.

[shadroch]

So the consensus seems to be ship rolled, not flat. Correct?

How about the triangular priority boxes from USPS?

[miraclemet]

If you do decide to go the "sandwiched between carboard flat" route make sure you alternate the cardboard by direction (know how it's easier to bend one direction vs the other?) that will decrease the ease with which the post office could bend the flat package...

[Artboy99]

buy an 11"x17" top loader. Place the print inside. Then put cardboard around it to mail. Try to bend it, to do so requires extreme measures and is very likely to not happen in the mailing system.

It is the best method.

I hate rolled prints, find creases in them from lousy rolling all the time...

[Artboy99]

1 hour ago, miraclemet said:

If you do decide to go the "sandwiched between carboard flat" route make sure you alternate the cardboard by direction (know how it's easier to bend one direction vs the other?) that will decrease the ease with which the post office could bend the flat package...

also a great tip.