Packing for firkin shipments

Ahhh… A lot of packing here at the firkin mansion (just let me dream for a minute) and I wanted to share how I do it. Packing?  You are writing a post about shipping dude?  I mean what are we doing here?  Ya, you see I am not a packer, I am an OVER packer.    I like the tape people….I like the tape.  For a small side biz cost means everything.   The more cost, the less profit on a sale and some of my sales are low $.  I also have a relatively low volumev(but growing quickly!)  I am not just selling a bunch of stuff for hundreds of dollars, we sometimes sell things that are $4 or $5.  Cost is everything when you talk about an item that small. 2 weeks ago I shipped a decal from Ebay that I started at 1 penny….it sold for 1 penny on Ebay.  Now I was able to ship that puppy for a stamp (49c) and an envelope but my net profit(loss) was -$0.48.  No big deal but it sucks a little.  I have sold items for $9.00 that cost me $8.90 t0 ship and I offered free shipping.  I don’t care how much something costs to ship, I do it right.  If I cut corners, its noticeable and frankly when you are selling on Ebay and Etsy, your reputation is EVERYTHING.

Here is why I ship the way I do:

• Packaging Quality. Some packaging materials including the USPS flat rate boxes can open up.  Many people ship just by sealing it with the included sticky bits but to me….too dangerous.  Stuff coming out of boxes = bad news
• The quality.  When someone opens a package we ship they probably feel one of these ways:  (a) Dammit this thing is hard to open!  (b) wow, they took some time to make sure this thing got to me in one piece.  I gamble that (b) is the normal answer….but hey maybe I am wrong.
• It’s the right thing to do.  Besides buying the right stuff, describing it properly, and selling it responsibility…it’s my job to get it to the customer in one piece.  It needs to be in the same condition that you see in a photo.
• Unpredictable delivery conditions. Have you seen some of these videos of USPS / FedEx / UPS deliveries gone wrong?  Listen, I trust these people and there are so many hardworking individuals working for these companies but hey…there are some people that don’t care and I need to be prepared for that.

Here is how we ship my peoples…

I am a simple dude so here are my simple tools…. cutting mat, tape gun, and a paper slicer thingy.

 

I use a ton of bubble wrap and paper inside of a box… I need to be prepared for the box being dropped!  I shipped a porcelain thing not long ago that was super fragile.  By the time I was done I was able to throw it across a room and feel OK about it

I also like to use packing peanuts when I can, these are great for filler and they absorb shock really well.

 

Cardboard pieces for backers.  You need to save these !  When you are shipping in envelopes you should use these to keep the envelope rigid.

 

Here are a couple of packages and you can see I use tape liberally….again I always expect the worst just to be safe. Look at that shiny tape! WOOOWEEEE

 

 

 

and to top it off here is something else I believe is worth the time and investment… these double sided cards.  They were not what I would call cheap but this helps promote the biz a little and help people connect with my firkin social networks and website.  I also ALWAYS write a handwritten personal note of some sort…just something small to show that they matter to us.

At the end of the day, customers are the most important firkin thing no matter how big your business is.   Without some antique and collectible lovers bidding on auctions or shopping in your store,  you do not have a business …only an idea.

 

-Chris

 

 

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