I’ve noticed that a common complaint is that some people have shipped new books to a buyer only to have them graded as used. I believe that some of this is due to people packing books poorly and having them damaged in transit. Can anybody share some hints for properly packing books for shipment? I’ve pointed people to link on ebay before, but it seems like overkill. I’m hoping to compile some simple, practical steps that people can use to ensure that their books aren’t damaged in transit.
I imagine their might be some different things to consider when mailing individual books versus sending a box of books at a time.
Please post comments here, or email me your tips. I’m hoping to add a new page or two to the site with your input.
This probably isn’t a newsflash, but is all I can think of to contribute: Use a box cutter on the 4 upper edges of a box to slice down to the actual height of the books. Then fold the 4 top parts of the box down to the new height. This, at least, gets rid of the books bouncing up and down, and the box then only requires “padding” on edges.
Hey Brandon. This is a great post idea. I am Todd Bradley, account manager, for CKY Books. We have a page up that addresses your question. http://www.ckybooks.com/book-condition
If I had to summarize some packing basics the #1 thing would be to select a sturdy box to start with. We receive quite a few shipments packed in flimsy boxes, like cereal boxes, or shoe boxes. These just will not stand up during transit.
The next thing I would suggest is to make sure your books have ZERO room to move. If you can shake your box and feel the books moving around. There is a very good chance that they will bust out the side of your box. I also know from experience when books do become separated from their packaging the shipping carriers spend little to know time trying to put them back in the box. To them it is an assembly line process, they don’t stop the line to deal with a box that has come open, they keep working and deal with your books on the floor whenever they can.
Shifting books also can lead to condition problems. Broken bindings, torn covers or pages. Also water damage can occur. If your books shift and create a hole in the box it just takes a few seconds in a downpour for rainwater to ruin a book.
My third tip would be to make sure to you have either some kind of tracking/delivery confirmation or insurance for every package you send. We have statistics that show packages with some sort of tracking on them are damaged or lost much less frequently than packages without. Shipments that have insurance on them very seldom go missing or get damaged. Shipping Carriers know they have some accountability for shipments with these extra services on them and they stress to their employees that these packages receive different treatment than other packages.
I can tell you one aspect of my job that I hate doing is having to email customers and tell them their books were damaged in shipment and we cannot purchase them.
If anyone has any questions about how to package a box properly I would be happy to answer any questions or help in anyone I can be reached via email at todd@ckybooks.com
Padding on every edges then wrap it with cloth..