Advice on packing and posting large order of mugs

[Jessie]

Hi,

I usually sell 1 to 2 orders for mugs at a time and use the polystyrene single mug mailers but I've had a potential wholesale order enquiry for 100 printed mugs and could do with some advice on how to package and ship them and minimise the chance of any breakages occurring? I'm looking for an alternative to using the single mug mailers.

Also for those who post bulk orders - are your packages covered for breakages - as the couriers (ParcelForce, City Link etc) I have looked at exclude mugs from damages?

Thanks

Jessie

[GoonerGary]

Wholesale orders go back into the boxes they arrived in, so each holds 36 mugs. Don't think many of the carriers cover for ceramic items, but Parcelforce might be ok. DPD and UPS are my favoured carriers, but check their small print.

[purpledragon]

Wholesale orders go back into the boxes they arrived in, so each holds 36 mugs. Don't think many of the carriers cover for ceramic items, but Parcelforce might be ok. DPD and UPS are my favoured carriers, but check their small print.

as gooner gary says use the box they come in , depending on your supplier these should be perfectly adiquate for example BMS mugs come already bubble wrapped . I dont think ive had any breakages when i send my mugs out and i send quite a few by courier. Most courier companies do provide cover but to be honest unless its a whole box of broken mugs i doubt itd be worth jumping through the hoops they ask you to do just for a couple of mugs you really should factor this in to the cost or just take it on the chin . if you cant afford to replace a couple of nmugs from a large order then you are pricing it too cheap !

[pisquee]

As others have said, they go back in the box they ship to you in, and then sent as single boxes, or for bigger orders go on a pallet.
Couriers tend not to offer cover for ceramics, so you take a risk on sending - but we hardly see any breakages with DHL or UPS for parcel deliveries, and none sending by pallet.
The mugs we buy in, come in a high quality double walled box, with all the dividers between the mugs also being double walled cardboard - these boxes come across from Thailand to the UK warehouse on pallets, and then are sent upto us on a pallet, and from us are then printed and shipped back out either just as the boxes, or on the Thai pallets.
One thing we've found through experience, is that the quality of ceramic does have a lot to do with how many breakages you get - a well made, strong ceramic mug from a quality manufacturer fairs better than a cheap bog standard 10oz mug made as cheaply as possible.

[Jessie]

Thanks for the advice on packaging and couriers :-)

I order from BMS so I would be able to repack them back into the original boxes with the bubble wrap. It's good to know that breakages are rare and I can factor in for some possible damage should it occur.

I will also look into the courier recommendations too.