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Mailing Art

i'm looking for tips and suggestions on mailing flat artwork.

it's quite the bane of my art selling venture. i'm sure we all get nervous releasing that one of a kind into the unforgiving world of postal exchange.

my usual method is getting an over-sized, usually plastic, bubble mailer, and wedge the piece between as many layers of corrugated cardboard as the space allows. as now, it hasn't failed me, but i'm still wary of stuff like bending and puncturing.

what i wish i could do is mail it in a flat box, like the ones my prints and and other flat material come in, but as of yet i have not been able to find anyone that sells those specific types of boxes. right now i'm forced to collect them when i can, but since i don't know when i'm going to get more, i hoard them XD

and i don't even touch tubes.

what do you do for mailing flat material? share some ideas and resources if you have them.

I'm currently saving up to buy stiff envelopes and thin boxes from http://uline.com/ . Unfortunately, you have to buy in bulk, but if you can manage the purchase cost it works out to be pretty darned cheap per-envelope.

Until that time, I've been doing pretty much what you described, only some of my art is too large for the largest envelopes I can find. In those cases, I've been cutting down larger boxes and inserting bubble wrap so things don't bump around. It seems to work well most of the time, but I have had a couple cases of the "DO NOT BEND" writing being ignored, and it's a pain in the butt. Grrr.

They sell flatter boxes at UPS stores and outlets, I send my paintings in those, but in general I use those stiff cardboard photomailers. Not the brand with the green accents and the duck on them, but the ones they sell in bulk at Staples. Then label it to heck and back, and insure the package.

I wish there was a place that made boxes specifically for flat things. if there is I'd like to know about it.

I actually used to do exactly what you mentioned, and was lucky enough to have the "DO NOT BEND" notes be paid proper attention to. I know where you're coming from though, it made me nervous. I recently discovered the stiff cardboard mailers from Staples that Thornwolf is referring to, and have switched over to those. They haven't failed me yet.

...But then I hear I've had unusually good luck with the post office. :/

The post office used to "taco" my photomailers from ArtSpots (the same kind I use) despite all the "do not bend" warnings on the front, so it would fit inside my mailbox. 3 times this happened, and three times I called the post office and told them about it and that it was unacceptable. My postal worker was nearly fired over it. He finally started coming to the door ;P

Thing is, if it happens, you have to follow up on it or its gonna happen again. D:

@ Sidney Eileen: wow i didn't even think of uline! i remember someone mentioned it to me when they were talking about mailing tubes, but i didn't think to look for boxes there. actually, those easy-fold mailers are just what i've been looking for! wow!

that 100pc minimum purchase is such a bummer though. not so much the cost, but i don't think i have room in this apartment for 100 flat boxes. XD dang. i wonder if anyone else sells something like that with a smaller mp.

thanks for the responses everyone. :)

EDIT: wow, i just googled "easy fold mailers" and got lots of stuff. man, this is just what i've been looking for. and after calculating what i've been spending verses what i could be spending on shipping it this way, the differences is not even noticeable. how exciting X)

I hadn't checked Staples (*doh!*), so I'll have to do that. I've been buying cardboard insert envelopes at the UPS store and the post office, but the largest the UPS carries in envelopes is 11"x14". A lot of my art is on 12"x18" paper, so those don't work. I hope Staples carries them larger, or at least their web site. I'm sure they sell in quantities smaller than 100, so that would be an acceptable solution until I can buy bulk.

Thornwolf said: The post office used to "taco" my photomailers from ArtSpots (the same kind I use) despite all the "do not bend" warnings on the front, so it would fit inside my mailbox. 3 times this happened, and three times I called the post office and told them about it and that it was unacceptable. My postal worker was nearly fired over it. He finally started coming to the door ;P

Thing is, if it happens, you have to follow up on it or its gonna happen again. D:

oh YIKES! Thank you so much for the heads up! I'll be sure to pitch a fit if that ever happens with me.

I haven't mailed art in a long time, but I used to get an oversized envelope and cut two pieces of foam board to fit firmly inside the envelope (with no room to slide around). The artwork would go sandwiched between the two pieces of foam board. I used to use the cardboard method, but found it still too flexible for comfort. Two pieces of foam board tightly packed in an envelope is pretty much impossible to flex without stomping on it or something (and if your mail carrier is that desperate to fold mail, then you have bigger problems than packaging, hehe). Plus, the art was nicely suspended between the two pieces of foam board, protecting even the corners of the art (I made sure the envelope and board were at least an inch bigger than the piece itself). Worked nicely.

@kynliod: huh, i never thought about foamcore. what a great idea, i'll have to try it! thanks!