"Packaging figures I want to sell. " Topic

Hello,
I am planning on selling a whole bunch of my 28mm figures online but don't know how to package them correctly so they don't get destroyed in transit to the purchaser (who may well be overseas).
More than likely the first figures will be Victrix Carthagians and Romans.

No one likes broken figures!
Thanks
p.s I am in New Zealand

I do as Alternative Armies does and wrap the minis in layers of bubble wrap.

At least for unpainted 15s from the UK to US that works.

Depending on the size of the order they use either boxes or padded mailers.

I would presume with the 28s that a box would be preferred.

The answer would depend whether they are unbased/singularly based or group based on stands. Lightweight packaging such as plastic bags and bubble wrap in a sturdy box or box within box would be the order of the day but bear in mind customs officials may wish to inspect the contents which makes things slightly trickier.

My advice would be to be careful with the bubble wrap; often minis can get damaged when bubble wrap is put around them too tightly and, with plastic, the fragile spears and standards will be at risk. Once bubble-wrapped they will need to be immobilised within a stout box, perhaps immersed in styrofoam balls…

I use one layer of bubble wrap on bottom of the box, stand the figures upright on their bases and cover in puffed rice. The cheap non sugary kind. You can get a huge bag of it for about a buck in most grocery stores. Normally, if it will fit I then put another layer of bubble wrap on top, though they should ship fine without the upper layer.

Depending on the volume of figures you have to sell, check out a commercial office supplier for card boxes, bubble wrap envelopes and as others have stated bubble wrap.

I get card boxes of different sizes, usually boxes of 10 of varying depths that are designed to go through the (UK) postal system economically and safely. One I sent to Spain, which was returned uncollected, re-sent and the miniatures were safe and sound.

Boxes of 100 or so bubble wrapped envelopes are also much cheaper this way.

A roll of bubble wrap is also much cheaper.

Of course, if you're lucky, you also have a local curry house that uses small plastic boxes for take outs, and these are really useful You can also pick up these dead cheap by again going to catering firm suppliers.

Don't wrap the bubble wrap too tight as others have commented, there needs to be enough "give" for figures to move around as they get bounced around the postal system, which is why boxing them is a good idea.

Again, horses for courses.

HTH.

Use boxes never use Jiffy bags and put in bubble wrap to stop them being bounced around

Mike

Are they painted? I wrap the figures in toilet paper, and put them into jiffy bags, wrap the jiffy bag with some packing tape and them place them about in a shipping box filled with puffed wheat. The real key is to make certain that the figures individually and the bags don't move. So whatever you pack with make certain that when you are done there is nothing moving about in the box. You should be able to shake the box after packing and notice nothing moving.

Good advice on the shaking – I have gotten a couple of shipments which used puffed wheat or rice or packing peanuts to cushion the figures.

The old 25mm Hinchliffe elephants (3) in the box with just puffed wheat took a beating – they had been assembled and primed previously and two were disassembled in shipping.

In a couple of other instances there was enough movement to allow significant damage. Worst problem is that a larger figure impacts and damages smaller figures – painnted and based Warmaster Chaos dragon breaking heads and riders off of the painted and based Splintered Light Undead dwarf cavalry (I ended up getting that HOTT army for peanuts after the seller refunded most of the purchase price – but then several of the mounts are still missing heads).

If you can feel motion after packing, open and add more padding. Not hearing back from the recipient that he got a handful of twisted metal or plastic bits will more than make up for the extra effort.

All good advice above.

Assume the miniatures are made from china or crystal, machine gorillas at the post office handle all mail, that zealous customs inspection will ruin all your work, therefore plan accordingly.
As mentioned, prevent the miniatures from shifting about within the box. Heavy items need to be separated from lighter object by a strong wall or bubble wrap so the two cannot mix.

For wargame figs I put them in 2X3 inch plastic zipbag, individually. They are then placed in a cardboard BOX with packing peanuts. Yep, shake the box to ensure no movement.

My thanks to all of you for your assistance, it has given me great food for thought.

Go to Walmart and buy the cheap 3 dollar pillow, the inside is basically teddy bear stuffing and then pack them in firm so there is no movement inside package, this is the best I've ever found, no damage, the puffed rice stuff is a disaster, the weight of metal miniatures inside the box turns it to dust then the minis get damaged.