Thread of Packaging Excellence

[coelian]

So yesterday I received a Taj Mahal from amazon.uk that was packed badly and basically had the lego box split open from impact. Today I'm pleasantly surprised to receive 4 Slave 1s from amazon uk and it was carefully packed with paper surrounding the boxes at the sides instead of randomly squashed in. I think this is one of the rare times I see something from amazon that is not packed in a rush. 

The exception for packing is from amazon japan, I don't have a picture but those guys really take great care in packing. Your items are placed on top of a cardboard and they have a flim heat shrunk over it so that is stays in the center of the package. The rest of the box is then filled with paper or air bags. Never had anything damaged before from them.

[Banjoman]

Bunch of Diners and Porsches sent via Amazon, all in the individual  brown shipper boxes   Big fan of this

[$20 on joe vs dan]

On 9/10/2020 at 6:48 AM, Banjoman said:

Bunch of Diners and Porsches sent via Amazon, all in the individual  brown shipper boxes   Big fan of this

Did you break the seal on the brown shipper packages?  The label says exactly what it is and ofcourse may fetch a premium as a "mint" set.

[iahawks550]

5 hours ago, $20 on joe vs dan said:

Did you break the seal on the brown shipper packages?  The label says exactly what it is and ofcourse may fetch a premium as a "mint" set.

Playing with fire in that scenario. I've had sets in those boxes come with creases.

[scratchdesk]

Got this box from best buy today.  Had 8 Olafs in it...  Could probably fit around 100 in the size box they sent it in.  Was impressively hilarious.

 

 

[coelian]

Anyone wants some air bags? 😁

[oneknightr]

This begs the question. What do you guys do with extra air pillows? I have a few garbage bags worth, but I still have too many. I would hate to toss them or recycle the plastic.

[MotorCityMuscle]

4 minutes ago, oneknightr said:

This begs the question. What do you guys do with extra air pillows? I have a few garbage bags worth, but I still have too many. I would hate to toss them or recycle the plastic.

i hold onto about a garbage bags worth. i will go through them on occasion to get rid of the ones that have deflated or were **** to begin with. i recycle them with other plastic bags at target or similar store that takes those types of plastic. 

[oneknightr]

1 hour ago, MotorCityMuscle said:

i hold onto about a garbage bags worth. i will go through them on occasion to get rid of the ones that have deflated or were **** to begin with. i recycle them with other plastic bags at target or similar store that takes those types of plastic. 

Thanks. I do the same but I keep like three garbage bags worth. Our local Lucky's (grocery store chain here on the west coast) stopped taking plastic bags due to COVID.

[KingKiwi]

I keep every airbag I get as they're very handy for when my packing boxes are a little too big.

UK BPers..... The most common box size I use for medium sets is 50x40x10cm (20"x16"x4"), but I'm close to running out and can no longer find them.

Does anybody know where I can get this size from in good quality single wall, please?

I don't want to go too big as the exact size will keep most packages just under the magical 2kg, eg. 60080 Spaceport - thanks!

[keymomachine]

I received the 75192 Millennium Falcon I ordered from Harrod's last week. This is how big stuff should be shipped. The Lego shipper inside is immac ulate. And basically 30% off RRP after tax savings and cash back. This is packaging excellence.

[KingKiwi]

18 minutes ago, keymomachine said:

I received the 75192 Millennium Falcon I ordered from Harrod's last week. This is how big stuff should be shipped. The Lego shipper inside is immac ulate. And basically 30% off RRP after tax savings and cash back. This is packaging excellence.

 

OMG... If it's from the UK, what was their discount, 50% off? Or..... was it from a Harrods branch in the US?

They also provide excellent service and shipping in the UK on anything you buy, which is probably how they got to where they are today.

[keymomachine]

13 minutes ago, BorderTerrier said:

OMG... If it's from the UK, what was their discount, 50% off? Or..... was it from a Harrods branch in the US?

They also provide excellent service and shipping in the UK on anything you buy, which is probably how they got to where they are today.

$725 USD with an additional 10% off plus $30 shipping. Then 10% cashback. Luckily I've also got a no Foreign Transaction Fees credit card. Would be about $870 after tax where I live.

[benjamin4172]

17 hours ago, oneknightr said:

This begs the question. What do you guys do with extra air pillows? I have a few garbage bags worth, but I still have too many. I would hate to toss them or recycle the plastic.

I cut them open and use them as good packing material. The pillows with air in it are like a stone if they get enough pressure.

[coelian]

2 hours ago, benjamin4172 said:

I cut them open and use them as good packing material. The pillows with air in it are like a stone if they get enough pressure.

If you cut them open it's just thin plastic how does that protect the sets? 

[Jackson]

Air pillows are probably great for shipping certain items but not boxed LEGO sets. If there is outer pressure on the shipping box, the air pillows will crush the LEGO box. I've seen this more times than I can count. People think they are doing a good job by cramming as many air pillows into a shipping box as possible.

[benjamin4172]

16 minutes ago, coelian said:

If you cut them open it's just thin plastic how does that protect the sets? 

Of course you´ll need a lot of them- But since every online shop uses them, I have two large Trashbags full and its great packing material.

[coelian]

55 minutes ago, Jackson said:

Air pillows are probably great for shipping certain items but not boxed LEGO sets. If there is outer pressure on the shipping box, the air pillows will crush the LEGO box. I've seen this more times than I can count. People think they are doing a good job by cramming as many air pillows into a shipping box as possible.

I only use air pillows at the sides, on top of sets like you say any pressure on top crushes the boxes. 

50 minutes ago, benjamin4172 said:

Of course you´ll need a lot of them- But since every online shop uses them, I have two large Trashbags full and its great packing material.

I see, usually I use the paper I get from amazon shipments. The shipping weight cutoffs locally is up to 2kg, 10kg then 20kg so usually weight is not an issue. 

[benjamin4172]

3 hours ago, coelian said:

I only use air pillows at the sides, on top of sets like you say any pressure on top crushes the boxes. 

I see, usually I use the paper I get from amazon shipments. The shipping weight cutoffs locally is up to 2kg, 10kg then 20kg so usually weight is not an issue. 

I personally dont use the empty bags because they are leightweight, I use them because they are free and I get a lot of them... 😉

[KingKiwi]

Since the "ideal" box is not as easy to find as it once was, I've being recently buying custom boxes, single-wall for smaller sets and double-wall for larger sets, allowing enough space for 2 layers of bubble-wrap and a nice snug fit. Having the "perfect" box saves a huge amount of packing time as I don't have to scavenge around for bulk-out materials or trim over-sized boxes. There are also postage savings if I can get the package under 2kg. Since I order say, 250 at a time of assorted sizes, I can often get the price down to an average of say, 30p for a small box (CITY articulated vehicle) and £2.00 for the largest (Cargo Train). Not cheap, but it saves me hours on big packing days.

I no longer reuse Amazon boxes as they seem to have made them thinner, even though their 50x40x10cm one is a very useful size. I also put feelers out for free laptop and monitor boxes as they are handy sizes and often very strong. My favourite free box is the one used for 84 sachets of Whiskas cat food that I get free from my local vets and petshops. It's double-walled Royal Mail maximum small parcel size, great for small expensive sets like WALL-E and Steamboat Willie.

I was quite disorganised in the early days, but I now make sure that any set that I have for sale, has the perfect box ready to go.

[Gonkalin]

On 9/26/2020 at 10:57 AM, keymomachine said:

I received the 75192 Millennium Falcon I ordered from Harrod's last week. This is how big stuff should be shipped. The Lego shipper inside is immac ulate. And basically 30% off RRP after tax savings and cash back. This is packaging excellence.

Harrods does it right. I bought a couple Taj's from them months back when there was a shortage of Tajs and they came the same way. Nice and minty.

[KingKiwi]

1 hour ago, Gonkalin said:

Harrods does it right. I bought a couple Taj's from them months back when there was a shortage of Tajs and they came the same way. Nice and minty.

Hamleys has been pretty good too as their packaging is "Hermes proof" and some sets have even come in Lego cartons.

[joneyyy1981]

2 minutes ago, BorderTerrier said:

Hamleys has been pretty good too as their packaging is "Hermes proof" and some sets have even come in Lego cartons.

wouldn't know. everything gets cancelled. shocking comapany.

[joneyyy1981]

all 3 orders from hamleys for apocalypsberg canclled .shower of shite.

[Voltron]

35 minutes ago, joneyyy1981 said:

all 3 orders from hamleys for apocalypsberg canclled .shower of shite.

When did they have a re-stock?