Little is as distressing to a buyer than to receive an item long awaited, for which one has paid a significant amount of money to ship, than to open the package and find it broken! Expect negative feedback if you ship items that break in shipment!!!

TO PREVENT BREAKAGE:

• Make certain that your breakable item is not touching the outsides of the box, and that several inches of cush space are allowed around the item.
• Always wrap breakables in bubble wrap, you can sometimes find bubble wrap with large bubbles for heavy items; a wise investment!
• Always provide additional cush using wadded newspapers, packaging peanuts etc. CHECK THIS OUT: Egg cartons, especially the flats, provide awesome cush and add little weight to the packaging materials!
• Styrofoam pieces from the packaging of other items can also give your fragile item an additional layer of protection.
• ALWAYS mark breakable / fragile items as FRAGILE!
• NEVER EVER stack breakable items WITHOUT placing additional protection between them!!! Yards of bubble wrap on the outside will not protect items that are in contact with each other — they WILL BREAK if they have contact! I use cardboard / bubble wrap / file folders and even heavy advertisements etc between each item to ensure that no contact is allowed between breakable items. And don’t overlook potential contact between items that are packaged next to each other!
• Don’t leave hollow spaces in your item; pack newspaper etc inside cups, bowls etc.
• Ensure that your box is well secured; tape any loose contacts with packaging tape; if the item is heavy, I tape EVERY EDGE that might loosen up. And make certain that your box is fully secure before you try fitting items into it: if you have an untaped or less than secure bottom to your box, that item might just fall right through it as you are preparing your shipment!!!
• Lastly, make sure you transport your breakable items in secure bags, boxes etc as you travel to ship your item.