Packing service, with 82 million items of post going through the Royal Mail service every single day it is no wonder that packing your goods correctly and thoroughly has become more and more important. Your letters, packets and parcels are all treated by machinery as well as also finally distributed by hand and it’s essential to make sure each and every item can withstand the test of going through this system.

There are, of course, other options. You don’t necessarily have to send your items through Royal Mail or a courier company. However, these are the best value for money services the industry has to offer today. For extremely fragile items or items that require refrigeration and special treatment, your only option would be to obtain an extremely specialist service for this delivery. Whether it is a dedicated delivery service just for your item, sending your goods on a pallet or paying for a refrigerated delivery service all of these will cost you more than the traditional mail and courier options.

As most of us do like to be able to rely on Royal Mail and other private courier services for distribution of letters, packets and parcels the advice in this particular section is very much geared to ensuring that your items arrive in one piece when using these services. For items that are not fragile it is very simple to be able to choose the lightest method in which to send an item to keep your postage costs to a minimum. Simply place them in a post safe bag, these are extremely resistant as well as waterproof, which ensures the items will remain safe and dry even if they are left on a porch awaiting someone’s arrival.

For items that are fragile, things get a whole lot more complicated. Our standard packaging procedure for fragile items would be that we would initially thoroughly bubble wrap the item or items concerned. Once the items are bubble wrapped you can see how much space is required and you can then set all the items together and pick a box that will actually at least be 2” larger on every single side of the items to place the bubble wrapped goods inside.

It depends on the fragility and weight of the goods to whether you should use foam chips or void fill. If you’re not sure, I would always go for foam chips over void fill as these cannot get pierced and deflate in transit and they also ensure goods can’t move around quite so much. Always use big, thick, heavy duty brown packing tape at least 75 millimeters wide to actually construct and seal the box. Thinner, clear tape can be used for attaching labels and/or other instructions to the box. It is also better from a presentation standpoint.

Although adding fragile labels doesn’t necessarily mean a courier will take this seriously, if your box and final presentation in terms of packaging is professional and you have used fragile stickers as opposed to fragile tape, the chances of your item being handled with more care are, in fact, higher.

If you have an item that is actually too large to go in a traditional standard size box, then really you ought to get something made specifically for it. If time is of essence and you don’t have this luxury then you will need to get standard size boxes and make up a box to suit the size of article you’re trying to ship. Alternatively a pallet service might be a very good option.

Making up boxes into a particular size or shape is not as difficult as you may think. As long as the item is correctly scored on the inside and a double lined box is used, this can actually generate a very professional looking finish and do the job extremely well.

The main key to making sure a good packing job is done is really making sure you take the time to carefully and meticulously wrap every item and make sure it’s gone into a correct size box and that nothing can move inside the box once it is packed. A good test is once it is closed is to shake it vigorously and if nothing moves you know you’ve done a good job. This isn’t to say this method isn’t infallible. Unfortunately, mistakes can happen in transit.

If items are going through a courier service they will be sorted onto a conveyor belt system. If this is done quickly and without enough due care and attention, the items can in fact fall off the conveyor belt system or get caught. This is just one of the hazards that are unavoidable if you’re looking for a good value for money service, which doesn’t cost the earth.

Having said all this, our success rate is, in fact, 98% with one of our fulfillment customers. And the product they ship is just china. So the long and short of it is it’s really to use your common sense. If you don’t think a particular product can be packed sufficiently enough to withstand a machine sorted distribution systems as well as a number of hub changes and Lorries on and off loads, then you’re better off opting for a specialist service.

Oh yes, just as another quick piece of advice if you’re ever packing and shipping a computer do make sure the cables are bubble wrapped but then stuck to the main body of the actual computer frame. So often we have heard stories of computers being delivered and the additional items having been thrown out in the post or in the garbage or having been recycled. With the right materials, common sense and taking your time ensures that you can get anything you want from A to B.