karinz40 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Hi all, I am thinking of selling some of the 8 oz mason jar candles make.I now sell them at craft shows so there is no shipping. But I need to see what is the best choice for boxes, bubble wrap etc to price these correctly and what about breakage in shipping? Any suggestions would be helpful Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 The 1" bubble wrap completely around the jar and either peanuts or paper below, above and to fill in between jars. If you're going to use USPS you can get free priority and regionalrate boxes delivered right to your location. Regional rate is cheapest but you need to print your own postage/label. If you're going to use Fedex or UPS then you have to either buyboxes or come up with your own. I always save whatever boxes I feel will work for my candles when I place orders of fo or anything I have delivered. The biggest issue with shipping is heat and melting, especially since you're in AZ. There are things you can do to help with that but I know some don't ship in the hottestmonths regardless of what state they are in. Good Luck! It's very exciting when you get your first order for shipment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 Shipping glass, your biggest challenge is packing tightly so nothing inside moves. When i ship anything - especially glass and ceramics - i usually use a bit of cushion (foam, bubble wrap, wadded paper) all around to protect the surface of the item. Then the item goes into an inner box that is padded against the outer shipping box with more bubble or peanuts or heavy wadded paper as dunnage packed tightly enough so NOTHING inside moves when shaking really, really hard. If any movement it gets more dunnage. You need to be able to drop the box from counter height onto concrete without any movement or fear. The automated machines in the sorting depots can have significant drops from belt to belt. Packages can also get knocked off belts to the floor. Plan for it to prevent headaches.The whole key is to ensure absolutely nothing moves inside the outer shipping box. And that the box is large enough to allow for the inner cushion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandlekrazy Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 The automated machines in the sorting depots can have significant drops from belt to belt. Packages can also get knocked off belts to the floor. Plan for it to prevent headaches.I had to smile when I read this, it's very true but even worse are the workers. I have family members and friends that work for Fedex and Ups both, they tell me when something is marked "Fragile" they throw it10 feet instead of 20 feet. You're absolutely right, nothing can move in the box, glass banging against glass causes breakage. In 15 years I've had 1 glass jar break and it was one of those big glass heart dishes that Libbey makes.I sent several of them to IL from CA for my Aunt and Cousins for Valentines day and 1 one broke. Made me even more neurotic about packaging! I wanted to add that they also make this corregated sleeve if you end up shipping a lot. I haven't used them but get them when I order glass jars from a company I buy health supplies from. I think it comes in a roll andyou cut the length to size. They work great for heavy jars I order so I think it would be great for candles. I think you can get them at places like Uline or Store supply warehouse. I don't know the cost so you'd have toweigh whether or not it's cost effective or if bubble is cheaper. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 This same topics just came up on the ceramics arts daily board. One guy who ships heavy, fragile pieces uses egg cartons between the inner and outer box. Another uses actual popcorn packed super snugly. The common theme is nothing, absolutely nothing can shift in the box.Those sleeves sound neat KK. Personally never saw someone doing anything deliberately, especially since they have so darned many pieces to move there's no time to make those decisions. Either way, if it is packed well the damage should not be much of an issue. When figuring out how best to pack i sacrificed glass bottles and jars to drop tests onto my concrete shop floor. I HAVE had a box driven over. You could see the tire marks. It was the only loss of product to shipping damage in the last several years. I honestly believe it fell off the cargo wagon and was not intentional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karinz40 Posted December 8, 2015 Author Share Posted December 8, 2015 Thanks so much!! That is great information!Now it is just a matter of pricing the shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wthomas57 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Solving shipping issues in summer and heat is the critic issue with candles. Anyone have any tips to enable successful summer shipping rather just not shipping during the summer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfroberts Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 The way I look at it, big name retailers ship during summer months, so why shouldn't we? Just pack as securely as possible (I use bubble wrap and foam peanuts and there is a small measure of insulation with that). Supply tracking info so the customer knows when the item will arrive. You might want to add a little blurb saying "wax can become soft or melt when exposed to high temps" or something to that effect in the shipping notification. Otherwise, I don't worry about it, and it's never been an issue for me. I have seen several small businesses post reminders on their FB page about retrieving packages as quickly as possible to prevent melted product, so you might want to do something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest OldGlory Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I am one of those who used to ship in the summer but had too many complaints so I stopped. One poor candle was left on someone's porch in Arizona during the day, must have been in direct sunlight because the candle was mostly liquid and had escaped the lid. That customer was really ticked off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wthomas57 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Yah I am a bit torn on this still Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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