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How To (& How NOT To) Properly Pack & Ship An Autographed Item

This seems like a simple enough of a concept. Most people do it well, but there's nothing worse than receiving an autographed item that was damaged in shipping when it could have been prevented by better packaging. The single worst thing in this hobby is waiting for a great new item to arrive at the door and then finding it mangled due to insufficient packaging. Sometimes even really good dealers aren't doing the best they can when it comes to packaging. This is a very big deal to me and I have stopped dealing with certain dealers who are cutting corners and not shipping items properly.

Let's use this thread to share advice on how to properly pack and ship an autographed item. My experience is mostly with flat items, so please add advice for other things that can be signed!

Before we start, a good rule of thumb is to assume that your package will be banged up in shipping. So when you are packing up your item, try to think about the ways it could be damaged and then do something that will prevent that kind of damage!

Cuts to 8x10s:

There's no excuse to ship 8x10s in a way that sets them up for being damaged in shipping. I've received them in envelopes with no packaging whatsoever. I've received them in bubble envelopes with no hard cardboard for backing. I've received them in Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes with no other reinforcement. All of these methods will lead to dinged up items!

The absolute best method, in my opinion, is the "Toploader between at least 2 pieces of cardboard, inside of an envelope of roughly the same size". The toploader will even absorb major bends, dings and dents that could happen in shipping. When a photo is bent inside of a toploader, it is very rare for the photo itself to be damaged. In the thousands of photos I have received in the mail, I have only seen it happen once. It shocks me that major ebay dealers who are routinely asking at least $100 per photo cannot be bothered to ship their items this way.

One very important warning: If you are going to use a toploader, keep in mind that it could stick to the photo and autograph, potentially removing pieces of the signature when you pull it out (it's happened to me, even in the short period of shipping time). To combat this, cut a piece of plastic from a sleeve that will cover the signed area. Even a piece of printer paper will suffice. Remember never to keep a photo in a toploader for too long because of this. They should be used only for short term shipping.

Next, put a small piece of tape over the top of the toploader. If you don't, the photo can slightly come out during shipping and the corners can get dinged up. Next, place the toploader between at least 2 pieces of strong cardboard. Make sure the cardboard is a little larger than the item itself so it can absorb some of the corner dings and dents the package may incur in transit.

If you are not using a toploader, increase the amount of layers of cardboard you are using. Once again, make sure the cardboard is a little larger than the item itself so it can absorb some of the corner dings and dents the package may incur in transit.

11x14 and up:

The larger an item is, the greater the chance of damage that can happen to it if it is shipped flat. If you absolutely must ship an 11x14 photo flat, use the same method described above. Put it in a toploader, put that between cardboard, and put that in a form fitting envelope. Because of the larger surface area, it has a greater chance of being bent or dinged up in shipping. Sending 11x14s flat with flimsy cardboard is just asking for disaster. The best way I've ever encountered is the "tube in a box" method I'll describe below.

One important note: I have received many flimsy poster tubes over the years that USPS put a big dent in. That dent then transfers through the poster multiple times, denting that same rolled spot over and over again! If you're going to be selling items that are potentially worth hundreds of dollars, invest in stronger tubes. Next, put the tube in a small box that is about the same size as the tube. In my experience, nothing works better than a "tube in a box" for 11x14s and higher.

That's all I've got for now. What percentage of damaged items do you receive? Who are the biggest offenders? What extra tips can you share?

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 12, 2016 at 8:13pm

With SDCC just around the corner, this thread hit at a perfect time. I try and pick up a few cast signed posters every year, and the cost of doing so is minimal in comparison to attending the show itself.

That is until the newbie (who got 1 of 100 signing bracelets) sells his poster on ebay, usually for big bucks, and decides to ship in in a paper towel roll.

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Permalink Reply by JXE on July 12, 2016 at 9:43pm

Hahaha!

That reminds me... I once got a poster in a wrapping paper roll. There was still some wrapping paper left on the end of it.

Signed books is a crapshoot too. There's nothing worse than a $200 hardcover showing up at your doorstep wrapped in nothing but paper, or stuffed into an oversized bubble mailer.

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Permalink Reply by James on July 12, 2016 at 9:53pm

I'm buying an expensive 23x35 signed poster that was originally machine-folded in the late 70s. I haven't made the final payment yet. But I think the seller had said that it would be shipped folded up as it was originally folded into an LP. How should I ask the seller to ship it to make sure it isn't damaged in shipment?

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 13, 2016 at 4:40am

If it has been stored flat all this time....flat is the way to go. If it has been rolled since the 70's or any length of time, he should roll it place it in a tube, then at the very least put that tube in a priority mail triangle holder with the appropriate bubble wrap inside.

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Permalink Reply by James on July 13, 2016 at 9:34pm

Ok, thanks, Pete. I contacted the seller, and he said it is folded up, and that is how he will ship it - well protected he said.

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Permalink Reply by Virgil Thompson on July 13, 2016 at 4:04pm

Does anyone have Experience on Shipping Frame And matted pieces under glass?

I have thought of making a cutout using a router on 2 inch foamular 250 or wooden frame with

padding. I read you can lay out spray foam and place picture inside (wrapped in 6 mil plastic) to make a mold. All labor intensive .

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Permalink Reply by Pete Bendu on July 13, 2016 at 4:15pm

If you are selling the item, I would say, take it to the UPS store and get a quote for shipping with their packing and full insurance.

Quote your buyer the actual cost and be done with it.

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Permalink Reply by Full Time Flipper on July 13, 2016 at 8:50pm

You have to remember though that most buyers especially on e bay only pay the cheapest postage possible and more packaging means a bigger package and more money to ship one extra piece of cardboard can send a package into the next level from being classed as a large envelope to a small parcel here in the UK that can make a big difference to the price you pay at the post office ,if a seller offered different shipping rates how many would choose anything but the cheapest option

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Permalink Reply by JXE on July 16, 2016 at 9:03am

That's a big problem, in my opinion. The biggest investment in person collectors put in is time. The monetary value of the photos they're selling is representative of the time they put in. The second biggest expense is shipping (because photos can be printed affordably now). Cutting back on that expense when someone just paid you a lot of money for a photo (essentially, your time in obtaining it) does not help a seller in the long run. Like I said, there are some sellers out there that I will not buy from unless I absolutely have to because I know they will not ship things properly to save a buck or two.

Receiving items from the UK always terrifies me. Many sellers use one piece of cardboard that amounts to the thickness of a cereal box, and they wrap paper around the front side of it and send it. They might as well just stick a stamp on the photo and plop it into a mailbox. In my personal experience, the bigger UK dealers seem to be better about shipping materials than the "one man operations". I guess the same thing can be said about US sellers too, although I've never seen anyone in the US use the method I've described above. The cheapest US sellers steal a bunch of priority mail envelopes and then cut them up and use them for reinforcement inside of another envelope. The problem is, those things are flimsy and cheap and cannot protect a photo from even the slightest damage.

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Permalink Reply by James on July 13, 2016 at 9:43pm

Whenever I sell something, which isn't very often (I'm a collector first), I take it to the UPS Store. I have a disability which makes getting around harder for me, and the UPS Store has been great for me. I find they package things up very nicely and securely. Most of my buyers comment on how well I packaged their item. I just smile to myself and reply your welcome! So I'm thankful that the UPS Store makes me look good.