Warehouses are hard to keep at the perfect temperature. Especially with the weather fluctuating  the whole season. Make sure to have some extra jackets on hand to keep your warehouse employees warm. ​

For keeping your item secure during shipments you can use kraft paper to wrap around the item itself and as a void fill. It also has a great look. When dealing with luxury items, apparel or items that you may want to represent with more of a personal organic touch, you can use newsprint or tissue paper. All these options are recyclable. If you need even more protection you can use peanuts. We carry non-foam peanuts which are actually made from a blend of cornstarch or wheat and other non toxic ingredients, they are compostable after use and biodegradable.
Cool fact, they even dissolve in water.
Many people have switched over to this option since New York City’s ban on all foam materials.

We have many eco-friendly options for tape.
Tape is a necessity on  every package. Most tape is made out of an acrylic blend but we have some paper tape options as well. Generally because of the way its used paper tape isn't recycled, but they are biodegradable which helps reduce landfills and general waste. 
We have regular paper tape, and the most popular is the water activated reinforced paper tape and they come in white too!
We even have option to out your logo on the tape.

We hope this was helpful and you may have learned a thing or two about your environmentally friendly packaging options. Looking for creative ways to re-use boxes? Check out  this post.
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This one you”ll really have to measure each item as they all size so differently.
If you are dealing with small collectible figurines a 4x4x4 is great or a 6x4x4.

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.

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.

​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.

Step 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.

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

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.

1. The Mullen test/bursting test
2. The Edge Crush Test (ECT)

 
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!  ​

​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.

​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.

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.

​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. 

​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. 

​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.