Shippping 8 oz mason jar candles?

[karinz40]

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

[kandlekrazy]

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 regional

rate 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 buy

boxes 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 hottest

months regardless of what state they are in.

 

Good Luck!  It's very exciting when you get your first order for shipment!

[TallTayl]

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.

[kandlekrazy]

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 it

10 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 and

you 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 to

weigh whether or not it's cost effective or if bubble is cheaper.

[TallTayl]

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.

[karinz40]

Thanks so much!! That is great information!

Now it is just a matter of pricing the shipping.

[wthomas57]

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?

[bfroberts]

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.

[Guest OldGlory]

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!

 

[wthomas57]

Yah I am a bit torn on this still