Isn't it frustrating when you send a gift for the holidays and it's delivered on December 26th or even later? Improper packing is a major reason many packages arrive after the holidays. To help ensure that your packages arrive on time and undamaged, Steve Goble -- vice president of marketing communications for Annex Brands -- offers a few packaging and shipping tips for the holidays:
- Shipping sooner rather than later. Packages sent on December 22nd can cost up to five times as much as packages sent earlier.
- Use a new box. Old boxes may break apart in transit, and may display old shipping labels, resulting in the package being delivered back to your own house.
- Don't use brown wrapping paper. If it is torn from the package, the delivery label will go with it, leaving an unlabeled box for the carrier to deal with.
- Put an extra mailing label inside the package. If the delivery label becomes separated from the box, the carrier can still complete delivery if a copy of the delivery address is found inside the box.
- Never use string. It gets caught in sorting machines, mangling packages and their contents.
- Use proper packing materials. Bubble wrap and packing peanuts protect your packages better than newspaper or old t-shirts.
- Fill your box completely with packaging materials. This keeps the flaps from caving in, breaking the tape seal and resulting in contents falling out.
- Use professional grade packaging tape. Don't use duct tape: it loses its adhesiveness in cold weather. Masking and cellophane tape also won't withstand the rigors of the shipping process.
- Don't ship batteries. Batteries are considered hazardous material and therefore not allowed.
- Send perishables in airtight containers. Fill in any gaps inside the container with bubble wrap to keep baked goods from arriving crumbled.
- Send gift cards with tracking. Gift cards cannot always be replaced if they are lost.
For more information, please visit www.annexbrands.com.