 We put a few tips together to help you send out fragile items or collectibles worry free. What you"ll need. A Box. Bubble. Tape. Void Fill. 1. It's all in the box. Everything is in the box, literally your items go in the box so make sure you have the right size. Having a box that is too big can also be an issue as your item might shift around a lot more during shipping and can possibly break in the interim. You want your item to have a nice snug fit. We would start with suggesting a 7x5x5 or 5x5x5 there are many other options that can work, so make sure to measure items properly first, and make sure to leave enough space for packaging protection. (If you are shipping have glass or liquids try a heavy duty box) 2. Bubble, bubble. First thing you are going to do is take your item and wrap it a few times with bubble roll. It's fairly easy, either use bubble bags or get a rolls of bubble that are perforated every 12 inches for easy handling while packing. Most of our rolls are perforated. 3. Void Fill If your package has there’s extra room, you’re gonna need to fill it up with something. You can use peanuts, kraft paper or newsprint. For fragile items Kraft paper or peanuts work best as they can take more of an impact when your item shifts, We cannot stress enough how important it is to use void fill, to fill up that space. 4. Tape Taping your box at the end and when making the box are key factors in keeping your items protected, a nice snug fit is ideal so your item shifts around less. Standered packing tape should do the trick. Start packing - Step by stepStep 1. Make your box. Start by folding the bottoms adding tape to secure and use the H method we mentioned here. Step 2. Protect your items use bubble to wrap your item a few times. Step 3. Layer your box with a bubble sheet our two. Step 4. Place your item in the box, make sure it fits snug. Step 5. Void fill, use peanuts or crunch up some kraft paper as void fill. Step 6. Tape, add a few layers of tape on top to close your box and secure your package, a nice tight pack and seal gives you item less chance to shift around. Or just check out our latest video!  If you’ve ordered any big shipments in the past or take pallets for delivery, you may have heard of the term “freight” or a “freight shipment”.
Essentially, this means that your order is going via truck and is pretty large in dimensions so it would be cheaper to be sent through a carrier that specifically deals with large orders as opposed to the more common parcel carriers such as UPS or FEDEX. When dealing with large orders or bulky items, it is generally beneficial to use freight. Besides for the financial benefit, items are able to retain more of the original manufacturer packaging and increments. We even have something called “flat rate freight” which means your price is capped at a designated amount no matter how many items you ad to your order. The catch is that you need a commercial address. You also need a way to get the pallet of the truck container, this is either by having a loading dock (where the truck pulls right up to) or you have a forklift to remove the pallet. Depending on the freight company and the size of the pallets you might be able to find an alternative method to remove the items. Otherwise the freight companies will charge you (or the company you ordered with) a “liftgate fee” which means they need to use their liftgate on the back of the truck to lower your items to ground level. You can always ask us about our freight shipping tiers. If your business ships anything or you’re selling stuff online you've probably heard of a “mailer” before.
There are many different types and they have many names. Mailers envelopes, padded envelopes, mailer bags, poly mailers, even poly bags (though it's technically not a mailer. They are one of the most common forms of packaging items next to boxes. Most of the time they are used for smaller or lightweight objects that don't need the protection of a box. First thing to clarify before we get started is the name. They are called poly mailers or mailers bags. Generally if something is called a mailer, it’s usually the outer packaging and it's something that you can put a label or stamp on. This is where many people get confused, people tend to call “poly mailers” and “poly bags” but a poly bag isn't something you can really put a stamp or label on. Mailers are more durable, they are not see through like poly bags which are more like glorified plastic bags or plastic wrap. Bag mailers are not corrugated mailers, thats a whole different story. All of our mailers bags ship for free!:) We will divide mailers into two categories 1.Paper 2.Plastic In today's post we are going to be covering your paper options. With your paper mailers you have a few options, Flat or chipboard mailers and Kraft bubble mailers or “padded envelopes as some call them. Here’s some information and how to use them. 1.Flat Mailers - These are flat cardboard mailers. Great for shipping flat items that need a little more protection. The kraft board lining helps protect items from bending, and there are many different options and sizes. They are also environmentally friendly! Best used for packing: Photos, important documents, fancy birthday cards to your grandma, books, DVDs, Video games. Etc 2. Kraft Bubble Mailers - These are the most common paper mailer. They look like monella envelopes on the outside and have an inner lining of protective bubble padding. Best used for packing: Jewelry,small electronics, phone cases, accessories. trinkets, but don't put anything too fragile in it unless you double up on the bubble. In the next post we will cover Poly mailers! Stay tuned! ChecSo this my seem pretty simple and not worthy of its own blog post, but you would be surprised at how many people get this one wrong. Well, to be honest there is actually no “wrong” way to tape a box just “better” ways. There are countless videos and tutorials that show you the simple fold and tape, but there are much better ways to reinforce your box and even specific shipping standards. The main difference is the method of taping the bottom. Take a look at how we broke it down. 1. Unfold your box Boxes come flat because when buying more than one at a time it's just easier for transporting and saves a ton of storage space. 2. Bottoms up. Flip your box over. Make sure you're taping the bottom. Essentially it doesn't make a big difference on most boxes but there are a few where it does (moving boxes, or printed boxes) so it's worth it to pay attention 3. Folding Fold the shorter flaps inward first, then the taller ones. This gives your box stronger durability because the taller flaps can cover the full length of the shorter slaps and help reinforce them and the box as a whole. 4. Tape time. Firstly make sure you are using the right tape and a good dispenser. Apply tape across the length of the box, in the middle where the two taller flaps meets. Try and get the flaps as close to each other as possible, and make sure they are aligned evenly. You can double it if you need that line of tape by simply applying tape on top of it. 5. The “H” method. This is the part most people overlook. Reinforce your box with 2 lines of tape across the edge of the width. This is known as the “H” method and is used in many fulfillment and shipping center. Do the same thing to the top of the box after its packed and if you have a shipping label without a packing slip, its a good idea to cover that with a few pieces of tape as well. Hope this helps! get packing! Check out this helpful video on our youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmHug2it5lI  In an age of online shopping and eCommerce, consumer experience is slowly declining. Thanks to packaging design, it still has a fighting chance against sinking with the brick & mortar ship. In 2018, 14.3% of all annual retail sales were done online. So how do you bring the in store feeling to those consumers? The answer is simple. Packaging Think about it like this, your product integrity and customer service obviously need to remain the same if not better when dealing with online shoppers. So how do I give my consumer the in-store experience? Besides of course your product and your website, the only connection they will have to your brand as a whole is something they will actually take into their home, that is your packaging. That’s right, those simple shipping boxes can go a long way. It is literally a physical representation of your brand and culture that can be sitting on someone’s kitchen table. It goes beyond the product, the packaging is the brand itself. That is why it’s important for you to have the right packaging design or logo printing, it is a way to bring the store to your consumer. Yes, it will cost a little more but this raises your brand as a whole and gives your buyer a better experience. Instead of unpacking your amazing product in simple brown box, you can print a beautiful packaged box for properly nesting your product. Imagine this. You have two stores in front of you. One store is selling the product you want at a reasonable price, but the store is messy and has terrible customer service. The second is selling the same product just a tad more expensive but if you walk in they will treat you like you own the place. The cleanliness of the second store is also of much higher standard. Many consumers are willing to pay for the more expensive option because they know they are getting a better experience. Beautiful packaging says a lot about your company. It says that you care about going the extra mile for customer care and experience, and that you care about all the details.  To sum it all up. Here are a few reasons branded packaging is a must.
  How much weight can my box hold? If I put something really heavy in it will it break? Should I use extra tape? These questions come up all the time in the packaging industry. It would not be fun to put a whole package together and wrap it and tape it, only to find out later that it broke during shipping. Thankfully there are guides to help clarify what weight increments your shipping box can handle. There are two guides to figure out the strength of your box.
Essential they both tell you the same thing “ how much weight can your box hold before breaking”, But they get there a little differently. You can find them both on the bottom of your box inside the box certificate. The bursting test - is just how it sounds, how much pressure can be applied to a square inch of your box before puncturing. The edge crush test - tests how much force can be applied to the box as a whole before breaking. It works by applying pressure to one of the corrugated sides and seeing how much pressure it can withstand when vertical before collapsing.  There are about 15 different test outcomes per box but you rarely see all them. An average user will encounter 3 basic tiers. For standard , Heavy duty and Heavy Duty double wall. Here is map that you can use to see the loading limit per each grade of box and test. Notice the numbers for a Mullen test will be in the hundred and 200 range while ect usually stays under 100. This was a basic guide to help you start off, so get packing!  Poly mailers are an extremely lucrative source for efficient packaging. It's like your products getting in the perfect Uber, saving you money and time in so many ways. Here’s a few reasons you might want to use a poly mailer 1. Shipping costs. As we discussed in our post about shipping boxes, most postal delivery service or ground carries charge by weights and dimensions. That being said a poly mailer and all mailers for that matter (unless they are corrugated) ship flat, meaning until you pack your product in, it's about 3 or 4 millimeter in height. So that's already a huge save there as far as dimensions, but the main saving will be on the weight of a mailer compared to a box. 2. Aesthetics. When a consumer first receives & opens your package, it’s essentially like them walking into your store for the first time. This is your chance to make an impression and unless you’re going to customize and brand your boxes for a better user experience, poly mailer come off a lot more pleasing when unwrapping. Poly mailers have a much sleeker and cleaner look over any basic box. Think about it, it's not bulky and covered in tape it’s a simple and clean opening experience for your consumer, ‘nuff said. 3. Packing time.Time is money, so let's save some. Poly bags don’t need tape! That’s right you heard it here first, most poly bags are self-sealing they have an adhesive strip that seals once you apply pressure and you don't need to bother applying tape! They come ready to pack and don’t need to be folded and assembled, just slip your package or item right in and send. Another great way to save time on sending fragile items is by using poly bubble mailers. They are a poly mailer or Kraft mailers that are pre-lined with bubble protection. They save you a lot of packaging time without needing to wrap each item in bubble just slip it in and send. Your time is valuable save it when you can. 4. Storage space. Boxes and mailers both store flat, but 25 flat boxes averages about 7.5 inches and you can store about 76 mailers in that same size. Think about it like this, when it comes to storing pallets of supplies, your smallest box of 4x4x4 will be 5,000 boxes per pallet but your smallest mailer of 6x9 can be 80,000 per pallet! If you don't have a warehouse for storing supplies, mailers can be a real space saver. 5. Sustainability. In general poly mailers are pretty durable and the higher mil per bag the stronger the durability. You’re pretty safe to go with sending anything and not worrying about it ripping the bag unless its a sharp or jagged item. In that case you would either want a really strong bag or wrap the item in foam or bubble. Another plus, the poly materials ensure you package stays dry on the inside as opposed to corrugated materials which absorb moisture poly mailers protect against it. Many people will even send boxes covered in large poly mailers just for weather protection. 6. Custom Printing. Another great way to give your consumer a great face value experience with your brand, printed mailers. Whether you're simply printing your logo on the bag or want a full blown design a poly mailer is always going to run cheaper than any box. Firstly because of the price per unit but mainly because the printing plate fees on mailers run significantly lower than on a box.  This week we celebrated employee appreciation week at The Boxery. We took the team out for a nice night out in Brooklyn. March 1st was the unofficial holiday of “employee appreciation day” here’s a few pointers on how can you help your employees be the most productive through appreciation. Firstly the term “employee” isn't something we like to use very often at The Boxery. We like to refer to everyone as teammates. This makes your employees feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves (which will also help peer-to-peer relationships) and lets them know they have support and backing when needed. Get Talking. Verbal appreciation is a great place to start. If someone makes a sale, got their proposal in on time or even finished an everyday tasks, saying thank you and giving verbal appreciation builds confidence in your “teammate”. This will help boost their confidence for future decision and simply let them know that they did a good job. It continues to help build that awareness that we are all in this together. The Space. Environment plays huge roll in productivity, it should probably be listed as a number one. There has recently been a boom in collaborative, creative and fun work-spaces. Even companies that are crunching numbers the whole day at a desk can be using these work-space environments. Environment can even go beyond the physical term, by creating a positive, friendly and even fun atmosphere in an office has proven to boost productivity especially here at The Boxery. The point is, even if you’re not using brand new office space with robots mixing your cocktails every time you leave your desk, you can still create an incredibly fun and productive work space. These might help with that… Outing & Gifts. Team outings and events are a great way to boost office morale and camaraderie. Firstly, they are a fun and easy way to blow off steam, but they also give your team a chance to experience each other on a more personal note and work on problem solving outside of your office. They also tend to build teamwork and relationships among co-workers for a more productive workflow. Gifts are another way of saying we appreciate the value you bring to this company. Whether it’s a bonus or a mere incentive to get work done, that extra step shows your team that what they each do matters, and they are appreciated. Good luck with the Team!  In this post we are going to focus on the advantages of operating your business as a B2B. From both the buyers and sellers perspective, whether you’re focused on selling tactics or worried about making the right purchase here are a few pointers that can help. Relationships. Companies working with B2B have a much stronger commitment to their client base. With a regular B2C scenario sellers are focused on driving one sale or transaction and putting enough effort into that product or sales that the transactions repeat but B2B companies tend to focus on building a relationship with their customer. Of course this is not saying that there is any less attention on the product or service they are selling but it is about building a lasting relationship with their client instead of just a one-time sale. Purchasing. Being that B2B is relationship based and not transaction based there is a lot more room to be flexible in the sale. Let's break it down, B2B are not focused on making that one sales to someone they may never see again. When your focus is building a trusted relationship with your customer and you know that they will be purchasing consistently, you are able to offer discounted pricing when they meet a certain quota. Here at The Boxery we are proud to offer Wholesale accounts to all of our clients - You work one-on-one with one of our team members to help get the best price and delivery option for your business. When you want to build a relationship and you know there will be recurring business there is a certain trust built that cannot be fabricated, which leads us to our next step. Customer service. This trust brings out a special attention in customer service. If something is wrong with the product or service the customer might feel more confident when calling in if the voice on the other end already knows their name and is familiar with their previous purchasing needs. Knowledge & Information. B2B transactions are generally much larger than B2C and have more moving parts. That being said, it requires the sales team to have a wider understanding of the product or service. Especially when dealing with different industries, standards tend to shift and suppliers & regulations can change. For the most part in B2C things will stay the same and products don’t change that frequently. B2C customers tend to do a lot of research on their own or they can find reviews online for a popular product such as a smartphone etc. but having a knowledgeable sales staff is key for creating a long lasting relationship with your consumers. Having a better understanding of the product helps build a long lasting relationship with clients knowing they can depend on you and trust. Sales teams know that this is not just a one-time transaction and there is a lot more at stake so they make sure to do their research.  With the influx of millennials buying collectibles & vintage items LP vinyl records are making a quick come back. People are choosing vinyl records for their classic oldie music and sound, and consumers are dying to get their hands on something tangible in our digital age. Either way, it’s a hot item for buying and selling so if your selling & sending these puppies out or just mailing one to your grandkid, take a look at these steps on how to properly pack this precious package. #knowyourpackaging Step 1 - The Box. The box you want to send these in is actually called a mailer, which is usually made to fold in someway and can be slightly thinner than a standard box. The main difference is that a mailer is usually designated for mailing a specific item, in our case it’s your vinyl. The mailers are called LP Record mailers or just Record Mailers. It doesn't need to have that name as long as the sizing of mailer is accurate you are good to go. We will address that in the next step. You can get them in Kraft or White. Step 2 - The Size Most vinyls are 10 inch in diameter or 12 inch, the mailer you use should be bigger than 12 inches. We use 12.5x12.5x1 so you”ll have enough room to get some packaging protection in there. Keep in mind to get the mailers with variable depth (all of our LP record Mailers come with it) that comes in handy if you want to add extra protection or send more than one record in your mailer. Step 3 - The Packing
 Visual Step by Step.Notes: 1.Before you put anything in, prefold the mailer to the size you want for easier packing 2. You can tape the corrugated sheets together for extra firmness 3. You can use a few layers of newsprint as an inferior alternative to corrugated sheets. 4. Use fragile stickers or write on the box, fragile or do not bend or crush  We hope you enjoyed, Get Packing! |
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