SHIPPING TUTORIAL PART 3: Flat Shipping Bulk Posters

Thanks for following up on the shipping tutorial/demos I have been doing. You are all making the world a better place for posters everywhere.

Here are the other videos in case you’d like a recap:

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Two point five:

At this point, I have thoroughly covered shipping one poster rolled inside a tube. Sometimes, you may need to ship a stack of posters or a thick print/painting that can’t be rolled. I gave a demo on shipping small prints in flat packages, but when the contents have considerable weight and thickness, there are extra steps that need to be considered.

I frequently need to ship large stacks of posters to venues and wholesale buyers, so I have spent some time thinking about the most reliable, cheapest, and quickest way to package posters. I really think it’s important to credit Lad at PosterCaberet.com because he is the one who introduced me to this method of packing and it has definitely saved me time, money, and hassle.

Here are some concepts to consider about shipping before watching the video I put together:

1. Buy your supplies in bulk and DON’T use them sparingly. When you are shipping a stack of, let’s say 50 posters, each one valued at, let’s say $20, you are putting $1000 at potential risk (carriers are terrible). It takes 15 minutes and about $5 to adequately package a stack of posters, don’t be a fool, do it right. Do… it… right.

2. Padding like bubble wrap or foam sheets are an illusion of protection and wasteful as far as the environment is concerned. Some people buy a pre-built cardboard box (you French Paper Box reusers know who you are) and attempt to use padding to cushion the posters. The problem with padding is that it can shift around. The top, bottom, and sides of the posters are actually really durable when the posters are stacked and wrapped, it’s the corners that are vulnerable. It certainly is slightly less work though, so pick your battle. The method I am going to show you allows you to fully reuse the materials.

3. I am using material dimensions that work best with the size of posters I make. I will share links, but consider your own posters. My posters are usually 18 x 24 inches.

HERE’S PART THREE:

As far as materials go, everything can be ordered from Uline in bulk:
- 4 mil thickness 20 x 30 inch polybags
- 30 x 40 inch corrugated cardboard flats
- 2″ x 55′ Uline Industrial Packing Tape, 2.6 mil

When taping your package up, the most important things are:
1.The cardboard flats are at least 6 inches larger on all sides than your posters.
2. Make sure the stack is wrapped tightly in the bag.
3. Make sure the wrapped stack is taped tightly to the cardboard flats.
4. Make sure the cardboard flats are taped together very tightly.
5. Use lots of tapes and make sure the tape is tight, no open parts or air bubbles (as best you can).

If you are shipping different sizes of posters, then wrap each size of poster in a polybag, then tape all those wrapped stacks together, then tape that to the flats.

The system I am proposing can handle about 50-60 posters max. Beyond that, consider shipping separate packages. If you try to cram a thick stack inside one package, there will be more pressure, which could lead to the tape giving way, making the whole thing burst open.

You can reuse this package after you cut it open. Just flip the flats around to hide the old shipping marks and labels and re tape it.

Happyfunsmileshinytimes await you.