Lisa Sumner sells vintage vinyl on Etsy and spends as much half a day doing nothing but packaging vinyl to ship, one album at a time, to her customers. So it’s safe to say she knows a little bit about safely packaging, wrapping, and shipping vinyl records. And since some of her most lustworthy titles sell for upwards of $45, she’s got a fair amount of passion invested in doing it right, as you’ll read…
After my mailman delivered the SECOND broken record in a week, I was inspired to write a brief how-to on proper record packaging before my roiling anger got the best of me. This is not rocket science, people, and actually quite simple with the proper tools and a teensy, tiny bit of effort:
THE TOOLS:
1. Record Mailers – there are several websites and some record shops that carry them. OK, so they’re not the cheapest thing in the world -44 to 50 cents/ea. – but isn’t it worth the peace of mind that someone’s precious copy of (insert your personal Holy Grail here) is going to arrive in one piece–one SOLID piece?? If you must use pieces of cardboard cut into 13” X 13” squares, make sure to use thick, sturdy cardboard and NOT last night’s pizza box. I’m soo not kidding…
2. Padding/Filler – Bubble wrap, cardboard record mats, Styrofoam and even newspaper are all great fillers, and most of them can be found cheap or even free. Re-using packing materials should be your first choice as long as they’re CLEAN AND STURDY ENOUGH TO HANDLE ANOTHER ROUND OF RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH THE POSTAL SERVICE. Mix and match if you like, but use at least TWO pieces of any of the above.
THE PROCESS:
First of all, I am assuming that your record has a poly outer sleeve on it, and is put together properly with the record in its inner sleeve on top of the cover all within the poly outer sleeve. Do not make an ass out of me (and yourself) by wondering what a poly outer sleeve is…. I am also assuming that if you are on this website to begin with, you know what the essentials are.
If your vinyl is still sealed, then of course you should leave it that way unless the recipient has requested that you open it before shipping. It will still be well protected inside the cover. Why take the record out at all, you say? I asked this question in the beginning too; it’s to prevent the vinyl from shifting in transit and possibly slicing through one of the seams of the cover. And yes, I have seen this happen.
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