How to Ship Resin Model Horses
How to Ship a Resin
by Jeanne Grunert, President of EquinArt Creations
by Jeanne Grunert, President of EquinArt Creations
Tips for packaging resins properly to avoid
breakages!
breakages!
Here at EquinArt Creations Inc, the model horse company that I founded in
2004, we ship approximately a dozen or more highly breakable resin model
horses each week. And, to date, we have had NO breakages or damaged paint
jobs out of any of the resins that we have shipped. I'd like to share with you
our proven techniques for packaging resins for shipping in the hopes that as
you send your beautiful EquinArt models to be painted, prepped, or to a new
home, you will have just as good a success rate as we have with them.
Although there are many techniques for shipping resin model horses, and
collectors swear by their own unique method of preparing and wrapping
horses for shipping, I feel that our company has really gotten the whole
shipping issue down to a science, and a science that works. We consistently
get high marks on our shipping and packaging. Here is our shipping method.
MATERIALS - This is what we use to ship our resins, and what I
recommend:
1. Start with NEW cartons. Don't skimp on this step. I've received returns
in cartons that are so used and so worn it is a miracle that they arrived in one
piece. Cardboard loses its shape after repeated shipping. The outer carton
is what protects your fragile resin from hard blows and from other boxes in
the delivery truck.
Where do you find boxes? The US Post Office gives you FREE Priority Mail
shipping boxes, but you must ship them using USPS and Priority Mail (in
other words, you can't get their free boxes and then ship it first class or via
UPS). Mailing and packaging stores also carry boxes. Staples direct online,
Viking office products, and other office supply stores also carry boxes. If
you ship a lot of resins, it is worth while to get a case of boxes in a standard
size. It will save you much grief late r on.
2. Use packing peanuts. DO NOT use shredded newspaper or the 'air
bladders' that companies like Amazon use to ship your books. Peanuts can
conform to the shape of your resin and provide a good deal of shock
absorbancy. Shredded newspapers are dreadful for shipping resins. The
only broken resins I've received are ones that were shipped using foam strips
or shredded newspapers. Peanuts can be purchased at Staples, Viking, or
through any shipping service.
3. Use bubble wrap. Get the bubble wrap with small bubbles in it.
4. Toilet paper. We wrap ears, tails and sometimes the entire head in toilet
paper. The plain white kind, like Scott, works best. If you ship painted
models you will want to get one that has a low lint content (rub it against a
soft fabric. If it leaves a trail of little white dots behind, it's high lint.)
HERE'S HOW TO PACKAGE A RESIN FOR SHIPPING
1. First, be sure you have a clean, smooth and soft work space. We wrap
resins on a pile of old blankets folded up to a height that makes it comfortable
for John and I (we are both very tall people!) to work. The soft blankets are
great in case we get 'butter fingers' and drop something.
2. For a Traditional size resin, I count off 5 squares of bubble wrap, rip it off
the roll, then count off 5 more. This is what you will use to wrap the horse.
3. I take my trust roll of toilet paper and rip off a section approximately 2-3
feet long for the head and 2-3 feet long for the tail.
4. Starting with the head, I wrap the toilet paper around the head, covering
the ears in a figure-eight fashion, and wrapping under the jaw and up and
around until the entire head is swaddled in a turban of toilet paper. I use a
tiny bit of tape to secure. I then wrap the tail.
5. Next, take one of your bubble wrap strips (with 5 squares of wrap) and
lay it on your workspace horizontally. Place the resin onto the strip with
about four inches sticking out to the right, beyond the head of the horse. Fold
that strip in. Take the long piece and carefully wrap it around the horse.
Secure with tape.
6. Take your next strip of 5 bubble wrap squares and place this vertically on
the work area. Wrap this around the already bubble wrapped horse until he
is completely wrapped. Use big squares of tape to secure the bubble wrap,
particularly around the head and tail areas.
7. Make sure your shipping carton is large enough so that there will be a
buffer of at least 2-4 inches on all sides of the horse.
8. Fill the box about 1/3 with packing peanuts. NEVER USE NEWSPAPER
OR AIR BLADDERS.
9. Place your now bubble and toilet paper wrapped model in the box. Fill
the rest of the box with packing peanuts, checking to make sure you can close
the top. Fill it a little beyond what you think is right - the more, the better.
10. Place your receipt and box stuffers into the box, secure with tape, tape
on the address label. ALWAYS include "fragile" stickers or hand write
"Fragile" on the box.
BOX STUFFERS
What are box stuffers? In direct marketing parlance, these are marketing flyers
included in outbound orders. Clothing companies always include an
additional catalog in their boxes. Use your outbound shipments to include
flyers about upcoming releases, information about other products for sale,
etc.
SHIPPING METHODS
The two most popular shipping methods are US Post Office and UPS. Both
have pros and cons. Visit their web sites to compare prices. EquinArt uses
only the US Post Office. We have personally had so many bad experiences
with UPS (lost packages, badly damaged boxes coming in from the casting
companies etc) that we will only use US Post Office. I've also had
customers with bad post office experiences, so it's hit or miss. COMPARE
PRICES. Shop around for what works for you.
TAKE THIS ADVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK. And enjoy your beautiful
new resins!
2004, we ship approximately a dozen or more highly breakable resin model
horses each week. And, to date, we have had NO breakages or damaged paint
jobs out of any of the resins that we have shipped. I'd like to share with you
our proven techniques for packaging resins for shipping in the hopes that as
you send your beautiful EquinArt models to be painted, prepped, or to a new
home, you will have just as good a success rate as we have with them.
Although there are many techniques for shipping resin model horses, and
collectors swear by their own unique method of preparing and wrapping
horses for shipping, I feel that our company has really gotten the whole
shipping issue down to a science, and a science that works. We consistently
get high marks on our shipping and packaging. Here is our shipping method.
MATERIALS - This is what we use to ship our resins, and what I
recommend:
1. Start with NEW cartons. Don't skimp on this step. I've received returns
in cartons that are so used and so worn it is a miracle that they arrived in one
piece. Cardboard loses its shape after repeated shipping. The outer carton
is what protects your fragile resin from hard blows and from other boxes in
the delivery truck.
Where do you find boxes? The US Post Office gives you FREE Priority Mail
shipping boxes, but you must ship them using USPS and Priority Mail (in
other words, you can't get their free boxes and then ship it first class or via
UPS). Mailing and packaging stores also carry boxes. Staples direct online,
Viking office products, and other office supply stores also carry boxes. If
you ship a lot of resins, it is worth while to get a case of boxes in a standard
size. It will save you much grief late r on.
2. Use packing peanuts. DO NOT use shredded newspaper or the 'air
bladders' that companies like Amazon use to ship your books. Peanuts can
conform to the shape of your resin and provide a good deal of shock
absorbancy. Shredded newspapers are dreadful for shipping resins. The
only broken resins I've received are ones that were shipped using foam strips
or shredded newspapers. Peanuts can be purchased at Staples, Viking, or
through any shipping service.
3. Use bubble wrap. Get the bubble wrap with small bubbles in it.
4. Toilet paper. We wrap ears, tails and sometimes the entire head in toilet
paper. The plain white kind, like Scott, works best. If you ship painted
models you will want to get one that has a low lint content (rub it against a
soft fabric. If it leaves a trail of little white dots behind, it's high lint.)
HERE'S HOW TO PACKAGE A RESIN FOR SHIPPING
1. First, be sure you have a clean, smooth and soft work space. We wrap
resins on a pile of old blankets folded up to a height that makes it comfortable
for John and I (we are both very tall people!) to work. The soft blankets are
great in case we get 'butter fingers' and drop something.
2. For a Traditional size resin, I count off 5 squares of bubble wrap, rip it off
the roll, then count off 5 more. This is what you will use to wrap the horse.
3. I take my trust roll of toilet paper and rip off a section approximately 2-3
feet long for the head and 2-3 feet long for the tail.
4. Starting with the head, I wrap the toilet paper around the head, covering
the ears in a figure-eight fashion, and wrapping under the jaw and up and
around until the entire head is swaddled in a turban of toilet paper. I use a
tiny bit of tape to secure. I then wrap the tail.
5. Next, take one of your bubble wrap strips (with 5 squares of wrap) and
lay it on your workspace horizontally. Place the resin onto the strip with
about four inches sticking out to the right, beyond the head of the horse. Fold
that strip in. Take the long piece and carefully wrap it around the horse.
Secure with tape.
6. Take your next strip of 5 bubble wrap squares and place this vertically on
the work area. Wrap this around the already bubble wrapped horse until he
is completely wrapped. Use big squares of tape to secure the bubble wrap,
particularly around the head and tail areas.
7. Make sure your shipping carton is large enough so that there will be a
buffer of at least 2-4 inches on all sides of the horse.
8. Fill the box about 1/3 with packing peanuts. NEVER USE NEWSPAPER
OR AIR BLADDERS.
9. Place your now bubble and toilet paper wrapped model in the box. Fill
the rest of the box with packing peanuts, checking to make sure you can close
the top. Fill it a little beyond what you think is right - the more, the better.
10. Place your receipt and box stuffers into the box, secure with tape, tape
on the address label. ALWAYS include "fragile" stickers or hand write
"Fragile" on the box.
BOX STUFFERS
What are box stuffers? In direct marketing parlance, these are marketing flyers
included in outbound orders. Clothing companies always include an
additional catalog in their boxes. Use your outbound shipments to include
flyers about upcoming releases, information about other products for sale,
etc.
SHIPPING METHODS
The two most popular shipping methods are US Post Office and UPS. Both
have pros and cons. Visit their web sites to compare prices. EquinArt uses
only the US Post Office. We have personally had so many bad experiences
with UPS (lost packages, badly damaged boxes coming in from the casting
companies etc) that we will only use US Post Office. I've also had
customers with bad post office experiences, so it's hit or miss. COMPARE
PRICES. Shop around for what works for you.
TAKE THIS ADVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK. And enjoy your beautiful
new resins!
This is a typical Friday night at
our house, showing a week's
worth of orders packed and
ready to ship. Aside from the cat
dancing on the boxes (which I
don't recommend, but which I
am sure you will know is
unavoidable if you are a cat
lover!) note the NEW Priority Mail
boxes from the post office.
These are free and can be
ordered over the web sites.
New boxes offer more protection
than reused boxes.
our house, showing a week's
worth of orders packed and
ready to ship. Aside from the cat
dancing on the boxes (which I
don't recommend, but which I
am sure you will know is
unavoidable if you are a cat
lover!) note the NEW Priority Mail
boxes from the post office.
These are free and can be
ordered over the web sites.
New boxes offer more protection
than reused boxes.
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| NEW ADDRESS AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2007 1220 Hixburg Road (Rt 627), Prospect, VA 23960 General email equinartcreations@yahoo.com Visit us online at www.equinartcreations.com Telephone: NEW PHONE NUMBER 434-574-6253 FAX: 801-331-1432 |