How To Safely Ship Your Books To Dealers, Collectors
Packaging And Insuring Books For Shipment
As soon as you sell your first book a strange thing will happen. You will have to ship it to your customer. It’s not quite as easy as just throwing it into a book, slapping a label on it and sending it off with a prayer.
Packaging a book for shipment is an art. And I have seen some dealers who definitely shouldn’t even be allowed to hold a tape dispenser!
Here’s how I do it. It works for me and I have never had a complaint that the book wasn’t safe and secure when it arrived. In fact, I often get praise for the book being well packaged, believe it or not!
STEP 1: Make sure the book is clean and dust free. This may seem obvious but if a book has been sitting on the shelf a while you could get some dust buildup on the top edge. Use hairdryer on ‘cool-low’ setting to blow it off or if you’re brave you can blow it off yourself. NEVER attempt to dust it off with a dust rag or cloth. In most cases you will simply be rubbing the dirt into the top edges of the paper and make a mess of it.
STEP 2: Wrap the book in a plastic cover of some kind. Some dealers use 2 mil thick plastic bags and tape them close. When I first started I used a 1 gallon ‘freezer bag’ that didn’t have the zip lock on it that I got from the grocery store. Its open ended on the top. I slipped the book in and then taped it down into place. The reason you place the book in plastic is to secure it from the possibility of water or moisture damage during shipment.
Now I use 2 mil thick plastic bags from a company called Fidelity. The 9″ X 12″ are sufficient for most books. They come in 1000 qty per carton and cost about 4.5 cents per bag (order # FT22021). Don’t forget to include an invoice or receipt for the book in the bag before taping it closed!
STEP 3: Next I wrap the book in white news paper or real newspaper. If you don’t want to order supplies right away you can simply wrap the book in newspaper leftover from your morning read. Wrap it up just like you’re wrapping a Christmas present. If you want the ‘nicer’, cleaner look Fidelity also makes white ‘butcher’ paper that you can use. An 18″ wide X 1100′ foot roll costs $38.95. You can wrap a lot of books with that! (order # FT5353) An optional single roll paper cutter stand is $22.95. (FT53239)
STEP 4: If the book is larger than the box your using you can use packing ‘peanuts’ or bubble wrap to fill the gap between the book and the edge of the box. You don’t want to allow the book too much movement within the box, it could get damaged that way. I use both at times. It depends on what I have around the house. Here’s a money saving tip: When you order something from another company, save the packaging materials- box, foam peanuts, wrapping materials, etc. I have mine organized by material type in the basement and I use them. My advice is to re-use those materials as much as possible.
STEP 5: Use a wide clear tape like the 3M #375 available at any hardware, office supply or Wal-Mart to close the box . I print labels directly off my printer and tape them over when I close the box up so there is no chance of them getting loose in transit.
THAT’S IT! WERE DONE…ALMOST!
Now you have to decide where to take it!
I use the good ‘ol United States Post Office almost exclusively. Why?
Its convenient. I have two offices within 1/2 mile of my home.
They have FREE boxes!! If you ship Priority (which I do) they will give you the box free as long as you use it to ship Priority (which I do)!
You don’t even have to go to the post office to get your box supplies. Just call them at 1-800-THE-USPS, ext 1372 and they will send a Priority Mail Small Business Supply Kit. They have insurance, return receipts, registered mail and Express if I need it
If the shipment is in large boxes or is very heavy I use UPS. In one case I sent an entire set of the 11th edition of the encyclopedia Britannica to a customer in three large boxes and it was very heavy!
About insured shipping:
The USPS charges $1.10 per $100 of stated value. I usually don’t insure books for less than $50. Anything over $50 I insure. I don’t mind eating $49 and sending them the refund if the customer never gets the book, but at $50 I draw the line. You decide what your risk tolerance is. It’s different for everyone.
© 2010, Work At Home Covert Opps!. All rights reserved.
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