Veritas Ninja Turtles Selling and packing advice needed

[sash501]

Hi guys, I'm selling a statue on eBay that was a custom without a box. Do any of you have any advise on packing something like this up?

I was thinking I could buy some foam that I could grout out to help secure the statue, but I looked at Michaels, Home Depot and Office Depot and no one has any. Does anyone know of a decent material I could use and where to get it? Any other suggestions for me other than double boxing?

Thanks

[ZenLogikos]

I have experience shipping other items, but not statues.

For what it's worth, the first thing that pops into my head would be to wrap it in tissue paper, tape it, then wrap the pieces in small bubble bubblewrap (not too tightly taped), then use enough packing peanuts so the statue doesn't have a chance to move toward the sides of the box.

[sash501]

Thanks!

Anyone else have a suggestion? Foam options?

[sash501]

Anyone?

[sash501]

Bump . . . just anxious as the auction will end soon and I need to ship it within a few days to the bidder.

Thanks guys,

[johnclone]

What ZenLogikos said is very good.

If there is a really thin fragile part of the statue like for example, a tail, or fingers, try to wrap it in some tissue paper or something similar and then put a little bubble wrap sleeve over that. Newspaper may not be a good wrapping option as it might actually wind up breaking the thing you wrapped it with. It really depends on what you are shipping.

The most important thing in my opinion when shipping something fragile is use a big enough box and plenty of packing peanuts. If you can hear anything at all shaking/moving/sliding around in the box that means you didn't use enough peanuts. It should really be as silent as possible. The object should be completely immobilized. No part of the object should be touching the walls (**including the bottom and top) of the box. Make sure your box is big enough so there is plenty of space around your object and then fill all that space with peanuts, nice and tight but don't overstuff it either. If you have several pieces in the same box, make sure that they won't rub against each other.

Over the years of purchasing things I've seen some horrible packing jobs and several broken statues. Most of the time, I think the shipper didn't realize that things were not going to stay the way they were in the box when he/she handed it off to the shipper. Expect a lot of jostling of your box, picking it up and putting it down, even dropping it, if your box is not as secure as possible inside, the item will move all around and crash against the sides of the box. The sad things I've seen because all that was done is a few pieces of newspaper and bubble wrap were thrown in with a statue in a tiny little box.

Mark FRAGILE all over the box and be sure that your shipper knows this item is fragile. And good luck!

[Enforcer]

After my house burned down one of the first things I bought to regain my collection was another ghostbusters 2 echo 1 hot wheels elite. The original has reached such ridiculous prices that i may never buy that again. It doubled in ebay value in less than a year, probably because the anni release was so expensive. Now you may as well buy the anni version..........

Anyway, the seller was selling the 'used' car as part of someone's estate supposedly. They tossed it in a box with one sheet of bubble wrap and it arrived damaged. Practically no protection whatsoever. No original box. I repaired most of it but yeah....that's not how you want to do it.

Like the others said, pack it until you can't pack it no more. The statue will never move. I would go overboard with oversized box and pack it tight to give room for the box being crushed or spiked during shipment. Whatever is reasonable for the price paid. I'd surround it with bubble wrap after taking care of wrapping parts individually then fill in the box with peanuts making sure statue is in the middle. Fill it in 1/3 the way, put in statue, fill it to the top and on the sides.

If the piece warrants it I'd do a tiny box just big enough for the piece, fill it up, seal it up, and put that in another box twice the size, fill it up with nuts then send it on it's way. I'd do that THEN sell it though, in the future. Shipping prices can be unexpectedly high at times if you don't know in advance. Stings when you promise free shipping...

[ReplicantSavior]

Just go to the UPS Store and let them do it. If it's damaged it's on them.

But like some said, you want to pack it with enough peanuts in the center of the box. And with bubblewrap. Also fragile everywhere on the box. Double box as well if it's really expensive.

[sash501]

Thanks guys!