Shipping art....

[rjs1162]

The only issue I have had was art sent from the Philippines. it was packaged well enough,but must have changed many hands before arriving to my doorstep. Other than that good fortune for me so far.

[Scion009]

Worst package I've received so far, was an 11x14 piece put into a 12x15 yellow envelope, with a stamp stuck on it, and that was it. It also must have taken a trip down a river, because it was all soggy...the art inside was so wet, the paper actually pretty much disintegrated and fell apart.

[carlito1978]

I know I’m preaching to the choir here but wouldn’t mind having a link that I can shoot off to artists / ebay sellers etc on shipping, so bear with me. Hopefully it will save someone some time / headaches etc by avoiding having to deal with damaged art. If you have more shipping do’s and don’ts please feel free to add.

Mailing art DON’TS

If I am buying art from you, please please please tell me beforehand if you plan on shipping the art in any of the below manners so that I can either 1) cancel my order or 2) send additional $ for proper shipping:

1) Mailing tube. Paper art and rolling tubes do not mix.
2) Plain manila envelope.
3) Flattened old liquor boxes or any flattened box that has creases or folds imbedded in them.
4) Loose art with nothing to support its form.

[carlito1978]

Below are some of my favorite ways that people have shipped art to me. They aren’t fool proof as we all know anything can happen in transit.


1. Art in between two thick completely flat cardboard sheets

Two reasons why I love when I win Brett Booth’s sketch Saturday’s: 1) the awesome art and 2) the awesome packaging! This shipping method is my favorite and is nearly impenetrable unless someone is intentionally trying to be malicious. Art is wrapped in plastic, secured to the cardboard and the cardboard sheets are completely wrapped by tape. I recycle a few of these by flipping the boards around and is my preferred way of shipping my jam pieces to friends or artists for their help / contributions. I even encourage them to resend these given how much I like this shipping method.

Materials needed:
 Two flat cardboard sheets (about 1inch to 1 and ½ inches thick)
 Art
 Plastic sleeve
 Tape
 UPS packages and ships their artwork this way if you want to go through them

Easy way to pack:
 Place art inside plastic sleeve.
 Tape top, bottom, and sides of plastic sleeve that art is in to one cardboard sheet
 Place second cardboard sheet ontop of art
 Tape both cardboards together thoroughly around the sides

[carlito1978]

2. Art in padded envelope with art supported by durable material that fully supports the artwork (ie masonite board)

Whenever I get artwork from the comicart crew, this is the way its shipped. And it works great. I once had a postal worker leave one of their packages outside of my door in a rain storm and the art had absolutely no damage despite the package being soggy. This to me is the most efficient and easiest way to ship art if you have a material like masonite. I’m not 100% sure where to get masonite, all I know is that any piece that they ship I hold onto the masonite in case I need to ship something out in this manner.

Materials needed:
 Large padded envelope
 Very rigid material (ie masonite – I don’t think regular cardboard is enough)
 Art
 Plastic sleeve
 Tape

Easy way to pack:
 Place art inside plastic sleeve.
 Tape top, bottom, and sides of plastic sleeve that art is in to masonite.
 If you like place a cover to front of plastic sleeve (ie a piece of cardboard is fine here)
 Insert masonite to padded envelope
 Seal envelope (feel free to add some tape to seal it)

[Underdog07]

If you intend to send to artists you should put a positive spin on it - please send as follows instead of don't do the following.

Maybe make it simplistic and request they ship in Masonite and explain you go to Home Depot and for $12 get enough 12x18 pieces for 8? Shipments of art? They cut it for you etc. use it to educate and not irritate

[BaronV]

Worst packaging I've gotten was an 11x17 comic art page just placed by itself in a flat cardboard box. Corner bent. Didn't even put the OA page in plastic or inside an envelope, it was just flopping around the cardboard box not taped down at all so it was bouncing around the whole time. Sad.

I've got a cover one time (old post) shipped from one state over in between two flattened priority boxes, usually this is the way to go. But unfortunately it was during Christmas shipping season and it got stabbed in the middle by some very heavy item causing a big ol' hole right through the packaging and through the middle of the cover art.

So far the best bullet-proof I've gotten so far is those sent via Masonite and placed within a plastic sleeve.

When it rains and the delivery person just places a package outside the door in the rain, I get nervous since some sellers just place items in a box without thinking it may get rained and AND right through it!

[Simplyrob]

the last commission i ordered had this exact problem. i still framed the art because its badass, but, every time i look at it, i see the crease.

i think all art should be sent in masonite. no question, best shipping option for art.

[Underdog07]

Thinking abot this subject as i have been selling a lot o fthings on eBay lately - art, comics, statues, trades, toys, junk (which may include the above as well). Shipping art, statues, and comics is really a skill. You cant just slap a label on them or stick them in an envelope or even a box. You need shipping supplies of various sorts - foam peanuts, bubble wrap, paper, boxes, envelopes, mylars, plastic bags, Masonite, tape etc. most of that cost money and there are those that skimp to save that 25 cents to the detriment of us the purchasers. It can be really irritating.

At the same time, those who complain about paying shipping charges annoy me. I now include "free" shipping for virtually everything I sell and I just move that cost over into what I will sell the item for. I would rather someone think they got shipping for "free" then argue with me that the $10 shipping charge is excessive because the stamp only cost $8.00 (nevermind the Mylar, Masonite, tape and ebay 10% cut). Of course that still leads to people low balling offers where the offer wouldn't even cover the shipping. Sigh.

So that's a thought I. Was having today mixed with a semi rant.

[Wookiee]

I cringe when I see cardboard when I stop to pick up art at the post office. It's typically 60-40 that it's not screwed up. I know it's cheap and easy and available anywhere, but please... if I'm gonna spend ($$ or $$$ or $$$$) on art, I will definitely spend $$ on shipping properly!