Today my nerves, never very good at the best of times, were shattered by openning a newly arrived parcel of broken glass.
I'm shaking because I'm in shock, sad and angry that the sender cared not enough about this beautiful object.
I'm angry at them becuase they couldn't or wouldn't even follow my very basic and simple instuctions on how to package this very delicate item.This, my second piece of broken glass in a month has made me angry enough to do something about it.
I had already taken some photos of broken pieces I'd receieved from Ebay - now I can put them to good use.
Here's is some glass I got broken a few months ago.
Most Ebay sellers are contrite and co-operative. Some offer an immediate refund. Others assist in making a claim against the Post Office. A few, a very few, are argumentative and obstructive.
Most breakages en route can be avoided with proper packaging.
Glass and ceramics should have a layer of tissue paper (or kitchen roll etc) before bubble-wrap.
1) At least 3 layers of bubble-wrap. (This may be one large piece wrapped around 3 times)
If you don't have any, wrap the item with one layer of tissue and one of newspaper. Then surround it with at least one layer of newspaper scrunched up into balls and tape them on. You should end up with something that is at least double the volume of the item secured with lost of packing tape or Sellotape.
2) A roll of card-board around drinking glasses and other delicate thin walled glass pieces.
3) Minimum 3", preferably 4"+ space between the bubble-wrapped item and the walls of a strong box to be packed with: (in order of preference)
a) Expanded polystyrene lining all sides of the box & Polystyrene packing chips to fill the gaps.
b) Polystyrene packing chips
Failing those and if needs must
c) Tightly scrunched up single pages of newspaper, layered below and packed around the sides and on top of the item.
( C is not recommended as newspaper compacts during shipping especially if the item is particularly heavy and add more weight so will most likely increase postage costs)
** Do NOT use shredded paper. This does not hold the item in place. It compacts significantly during shipping and adds a great deal of weight to the parcel increasing postage costs significantly and unnecessarily.
The box should be strong enough to contain the item without bulging and without movement and be able to withstand rough handling and dropping.
Finding the right box for a particular item is often the most time consuming aspect of packing which in itself is the most arduous aspect of selling online.
