All fragile items should be double-boxed with at least 3 in. of padding all around between the boxes. Many conscientious sellers do so as a matter of course; but others don’t bother. What the latter don’t always realize is that double-boxing is not only the most basic precaution for fragile items, but also the most elementary and essential USPS packing guideline for such objects, so that failure to follow it will almost certainly result in the USPS refusing to honor an insurance claim in case of damage (as some sellers I bought from have learned the hard way). In other words, if an insured fragile object is not double-boxed, insurance will cover the package’s total loss but, for all practical purposes, most likely not any damage to the goods. It may thus be prudent for a fragile item’s potential buyer to make a pre-bid inquiry to confirm that the seller will double-box: a seller’s assurance in a listing that items are well packed without further detail can be misleading as some mistakenly consider that a fragile item can still be well-packed without a double-box.