Let's Talk About Packaging Artwork

Shipping a piece of artwork still gives me so much anxiety. I don’t think that will ever go away. It’s probably because that’s when the welfare of your piece is out of your hands. So it’s important to package your art in a way where you feel you did your best.

That being said I’m constantly updating how I package my work, because my art business is updating as well. The size of the artwork that I sell is increasing. Or perhaps I find a better method or product. So I encourage you to keep searching for better ways of packaging and ask/listen for feedback from your buyer.

You all know that I paint with soft pastels. So all my pieces are now framed when I ship them. I have glass or a hybrid to consider. I’ve been shipping small to medium sized works.

Here is what I have been doing when it comes shipping my artwork:

Presentation is important. This is why I gift wrap all my paintings and include a handwritten note. Your clients feel like they are opening a present and feel extra special. Plus, the wrapping paper adds another layer of protection for the glass of the frame, if you don’t have a piece of film for protection. I do recommend putting a piece of film or waxed paper over your glass to prevent scratching. The handwritten note for me also acts as a certificate of authenticity. The note has the artist's personal sentiment, which connects that piece to the collector.

Bubble wrap and newsprint paper are your best friends. If you are shipping a piece of artwork that will fit in a USPS priority mail box, then newsprint is just fine to pad your work. I bubble wrap and stuff newsprint around the artwork in such a way that the artwork does not move inside the box.

Literally, I will shake my box with the artwork inside to test this out. And I mean a good hard shake down. Your packaged artwork is going to be bounced around so bad when you ship it, so get groovy with it my friends. When you don’t hear any shuffling, you know the painting won't move around inside the box and you can seal it up.?

I prefer boxes that open up like a pizza box rather than the ones you have to stick your hands into to pull out the art. Again, for presentation purposes. They can be difficult to find and if a piece of art fits into a USPS priority mail box with ease, then keep it simple. However, you want to make sure you find boxes that are corrugated and not flimsy. Also, you want to find boxes that are slender rather than a huge cube. The less padding you need to add, the better. I find most of my boxes now at UPS. My bubble wrap too. So notice I use USPS and UPS interchangeably.

I avoid boxes that have off branding like UHAUL or something. I choose a box with either nothing on it, or it has the mailing service brand on it.?When your art business grows, you can get specially made and brand printed boxes if you want.

If you are handwriting an address on a box, put a piece of clear box tape over it. This will prevent the ink getting wet and smearing or becoming difficult to read.

I do take out insurance to cover the cost of materials at the very least (packaging and art materials).?

I also have a money back guarantee for my buyer, just in case anything goes wrong.?

I’m lucky that I have not had any issues.

One thing that I have discovered in my shipping journey is that UPS will professionally package your art for you. I normally package everything myself, but this is a good option if you don’t have time or produce larger works. And now that the size of my work is increasing, I will be using UPS to professionally package and ship my larger works.?

I got a quote from them to package a smaller framed piece “14in X 16in”. It was around $25. That’s not bad folks.

I realize that to package a larger work is going to be more expensive. However, to safely package a large piece of original art for shipping, that someone likely is paying THOUSANDS for, is well worth the investment. Depending on the size it can be anywhere between $100 - $1000 for this packaging service. They may need to build a crate for your piece (I don’t know if UPS does that). And I’m not building any kind of crate. No thanks.

So price your artwork accordingly…meaning this should be included in your price of a larger piece and not an out of pocket expense to you the artist. Do your research for packaging services in your local area.

Now that’s just for packaging your artwork. You have to consider the cost of shipping your artwork. So stay tuned for part 2