hi guys and welcome to today's video
which is all about how to package and
ship your artwork I've sold over 650
paintings so here's just some tips from
an Etsy seller about how to package your
paintings effectively I also uploaded a
vlog not too long ago showing you guys
how I package all of your orders up so
if you've not seen that you can go and
check that out and also I do have a
playlist all about selling your artwork
with all different sort of tips on there
so also our link to that in the
description box one of the best tips I
ever heard was would you let a three
year old toddler carry that package down
the road if not then maybe you will want
to trust the shipping guys with it too
and that is genuinely something I always
think to myself once I've packaged up a
painting I think okay would I be happy
for a small child to carry this all the
way to the post office tripping up on it
and dropping it falling onto it all that
sort of stuff and would it survive would
it be harmed and if the answer's no then
you've done a good job also you really
don't want to skip on packaging
materials to make sure that your
painting is safe so make sure that you
charge enough when you're charging for
either the painting or the shipping on
top of that make sure that you're
putting in the packaging as in to that
price as well and not just what the
shipping carrier will charge because it
is quite expensive to get all the bits
and bobs that you need to make sure that
that package is safe wherever possible
it's a really good idea to use a signed
for delivery service and also to add
additional insurance on your painting to
cover the price of the artwork the sign
for just make sure that you have proof
that it's got to the customer and also
it will give you a tracking number which
you can then track and see whereabouts
your package is in the world and
obviously the insurance is a no brainer
but make sure with the individual
shipping carrier that you use that
artwork is included on that insurance
because a few times
like with a few different services they
don't actually insure artwork and
especially glass I'm pretty sure at
least in the UK that nobody really
ensures anything with glass in it so if
you're selling one within a frame then
generally you won't be able to get
insurance for that parcel okay so moving
on to the supplies that I use for my
packages and these are my go-to
materials that I use for every single
package and ensure that it gets there
safely
so the first supply I use is acid-free
tissue paper this just coats the
painting in a really nice protective
layer that will just mostly protect it
from like other markings but it also
makes it look really nice and look
almost like a little gift when the
consumer opens it for my big paintings I
buy extra extra large tissue paper to
make sure that it covers the whole side
also it's a really nice idea to add some
little embellishments so I use twine
around my paintings and also some little
thank-you note cards business cards
stickers just little things to make it
unique and almost just like give it like
that brand look so the next thing is a
foam board which is this like
polystyrene cardboard stuff it's really
lightweight which is what makes it
perfect for packaging paintings and and
I just find it a lot better than putting
loads of cardboard in a package
cardboard can bend very easily and it's
also difficult to get nice sheets of
cardboard because I use a lot of
recycled packaging so it usually has
like you know brand names on and that
sort of thing whereas this is really
nice clean white professional and it's
really difficult to bend you can get
different thicknesses as well this is
what I will generally put in all my
packages of paintings and foam board is
great because it stops the painting
becoming bent or if you're packaging a
large canvas it can stop like puncture
wounds so if something
punctures the box it gives just another
layer to just stop that puncture
reaching the painting the next thing for
big canvas is this is cardboard corners
now these are super sturdy corners that
will go around obviously each corner and
just to give it that protection really
really great when you're using framed
canvases like the one behind me so I'll
wrap it in the tissue paper wrap it in
bubble wrap and then I'll pop these on
before it goes in a box I actually save
these for when I get things online like
bits of furniture and I will any any
great packaging supplies I will just
keep and putting the left to use for my
own packages and but you can probably
also download a template online to
create your own as well using cardboard
and but these are really fantastic and
definitely help towards a canvas getting
there safely
another go-to material is obviously
bubble wrap now unfortunately bubble
wrap obviously isn't very good for the
environment but I haven't found another
alternative as of yet and so bubble wrap
is something that I use in all my
packages to obviously make sure that the
artwork itself doesn't get damaged I
also use one of these which is a
lifesaver
especially when there's only one of you
to package all these paintings up and it
basically just gives you a spare hand so
you can sort of like attach it onto the
cardboard and then just pull and rip it
off and I use these a lot in my old jobs
so I was like very used to using one of
these it can take a bit of getting used
to if you don't use them already and but
they are really handy when packaging up
boxes and also I do use fragile tape
which just makes it really obvious to
the shipping provider that your package
is fragile something I use with my like
watercolor paintings and flat art works
is these I think these are
they called book envelopes and that have
been designed to put books into but I
found them the best ones for shipping
paintings in because they're really
sturdy and they also have this lovely
little peel off and fold over feature
and which I really like and I think that
these are a lot sturdier than the please
do not bend ones so I usually just write
on please do not bend and pop on some
fragile tape as well I also sometimes
get questions regarding addresses on
parcels and whether I write the address
on or print it on or what so I actually
use like labels that I print onto from
my computer and especially if I have
quite a few orders it's very easy just
to copy and paste into the document and
then print all those labels off then
just pop the right one on the right path
oh and when it comes to doing a bigger
artwork like this rather than having a
small tiny label what I will do is just
print off the address on like an a4
sheet of paper just normal paper and
fold that over and then just sellotape
that onto the parcel and just make sure
that it's taped down really securely ok
so last but not least talking about
shipping providers in the UK the ones
that I use the most are Royal Mail and
parcel force and occasionally DPD
obviously it will be different to
whatever country you live in
some shipping providers have like reward
schemes so for example parcel force in
the UK if you use it a lot they do a
rewards for you card which gives you
just a little bit of money off each time
you use it so that can be really handy
especially if you get into the habit of
sending a lot of parcels it can really
save a lot of money as I've mentioned
before as well make sure that the
provider does insure artwork and get
that insurance bumped up to whatever
price that artwork is make sure that you
obtain a tracking number so that you can
inform the buyer of where the parcel is
and that will just help you keep track
of it where it is in any one moment some
parcels can get stuck in customs so that
a really important thing to remember and
it doesn't mean you've done anything
wrong it's just one of those things that
can happen and sometimes a package can
get held up for I think it's up to six
weeks so it's quite a long time I don't
think that's ever happened to me for
that long they've definitely held my
parcels for sometimes like one to two
weeks
which is really frustrating and it can
be upsetting for the buyer but
unfortunately there's just nothing you
can do but it is important to remember
that so if a customer hasn't got their
painting don't just be really fast to
give them a refund because it might
still be on its way to them most of all
it's so important to remember that there
will always be a risk when shipping your
painting there is no 100% guarantee that
it will get there safely and sometimes
you do have to take a loss if that
painting does arrive damaged and but I
think I've only ever had one painting
out of all the paintings I've ever sent
have a very small amount of damage done
to it and it worked out fine because the
buyer returned to me I fixed the
painting and then sent it back to them
you know it was just a tiny little bit
of paint that had come off and so out of
all the paintings I've ever sold it's
worked out absolutely fine so there is
an element of just trust in the process
and going with it and letting go and
knowing that there is no guarantee and
it could always become damaged and it is
an important thing to remember and but
yeah that's all my tips for you guys
today I hope that those have been
helpful again it depends so much on the
type of artwork you sell where you live
all these sorts of things and but I hope
that this is just gave you guys a little
bit of clarity into the way that I do
things and maybe giving you some good
ideas okay thank you so so much guys and
I'll see you in the next video bye
you