Shipping questions

[Kim Sallet]

Good Morning -

I have two lava lamps I plan on selling on Ebay - (Dark Knight Rises and Cranky the Clown) while searching for the best way to ship, this forum came up so I thought I would ask the experts:)  I want my customers to receive the lava lamps in perfect condition - but it sounds like these aren't the easiest things to ship.

Can anybody give me some direction - I appreciate any and all help.

Thank you

Kim

[Tim Gill]

What I would probably do is to wrap each item of the lamp indervigulie (globe, base, cap) in plenty of bubble wrap and ideally box them indervigulay packing each box with polystrinine or foam packaging material then put each box in a large enough box.

If only using one box then put the wrapped items in there packed around them with packing material such as foam, polystrine etc.

Use a good quality box and plenty of good quality packing / parcel tape to secure the box and wrapping securely.

That is my suggestions, hopefully others will chip in with there's

[VOXul]

Tim has a well packed plan if you have those components.

If you have a stockpile of plastic shopping bags lying around you can ball them up individually and use them as packing material. Roll them up and loop the bunched up bag into its handle. Pack them in between items and they will hold well if individual boxes and foam are in short supply, still use bubble wrap on each piece though, that is a must. Make sure the bags fill the container tight though in order to prevent the pieces from wiggling too much, causing the bags to unravel flat. I have received a couple of lamps this way and they were nice and firm on arrival. I also recieved the added perk of re-stocking my own supply after unpacking it , beats the static nightmare that Styrofoam pellets tend to unleash once you open it up.

[Carol]

My blue vintage swirl came put together, globe in base, cap on, but shrink wrapped like a mummy and put in a box cradled in a thick piece of white foam.  It looked like the lamp was lying in a casket, no lie!!!  lol!!!  When I took the lamp out it was shrinkwrapped like a mummy to the point where I had to keep unraveling it.  Surprisingly that was the lamp that came with a haze to it too.  It did clear up beautifully though.  I think the haze had to do with the heat because it shipped in August.  My Enchantress came with plenty of bubble wrap around it. 

 

MOST IMPORTANTLY:  I would never suggest you ship 2 lamps in one box.  If you have to ship separately and ask the customer to pay a bit extra or maybe you can work something out, but I just had two 52 oz lamps come in the same box and the globes rolled and completely smashed caps and dented bases.  It was a mess. 

 

Hope my situation can help someone know what NOT to do, lol!!!

[Kim Sallet]

Thank you for the great information!   I haven't listed them yet, but if they sell to the same person, I will ship in two separate boxes.

[Brad]

hey kim - i've shipped and received a lot of lamps, and the best option seems to be individually wrapping the globe and base in bubble wrap with packing tape securing the wrap.  make sure the base and globe don't touch during shipping, especially for the cranky the clown lamp.  then use packing peanuts, plastic shopping bags, etc. to fill the remainder of the space so that there is very little movement when you shake the box.  if you must press the box flaps down and hold to keep them closed while taping the box as the packing materials are pushing back, you're doing it right.  best of luck to you!