01/05/2005: "Shipping paintings"

So, I had to get a mirror box from the U-hall station in order to mail a 24x30 canvas. I ran out of the normal boxes I use, the ones I get from ordering the frames. So, it ended up being over 108 inches, which made it crazy expensive to send because that's the official oversize limit. So, I had to run around and try to find a smaller box, I was starting to get depressed when I found a place that sells what they call "gallery boxes".

They are incredible, the medium sized one I got weighed close to 13 pounds itself. The way it works is there is a regular box (27x32x5), and two more pieces of cardboard smooshed together in the center of the box pushed inward from the force of accordian folds at the side.

God, this is hard to describe but suffice it to say that the painting gets held tightly in the center of the box with about 2 inches of empty space on either side to protect against punctures etc. Also, the medium sized one comes in right at 107 inches so it's about 40 bucks cheaper to mail. The only down side is that the boxes cost close to 20 bucks and I'm trying to find a place to order some online but I don't know what search terms to use and I can't seem think of anything.

Has anyone else ever used these kinds of boxes and if so, do you know of a place where I could order some online?

Replies: 8 Comments

on Thursday, January 6th, Dave from Nebraska said

Here's a link to a place that sells boxes and packing material.
http://www.uline.com/index.asp
It's cold. 9 degrees and about a foot of snow on the ground down here today.
Take care,
DL

on Thursday, January 6th, Anna L. Conti said

Yeah, I've used Uline before - they're good, and cheap.

Another of my favorite resources for this kind thing is Light Impressions.

You're looking for "Shipping Cases" and they're at:

http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com/servlet/OnlineShopping?Dsp=10000&PCR=30000:180000:186000

on Thursday, January 6th, Anna L. Conti said

Hmmm.. I guess that whole link didn't come through, so just go to

www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

and click on "Portfolios, Carrying Bags, and Cases" in the side bar

on Thursday, January 6th, Elise said

Thanks for the suggestions. The side loaders at uline look good for smaller paintings, especially ones I ship framed.

The ones at light impressions look great from shipping unframed canvases, although they're still pretty spendy...it's good to know about.

I still haven't had luck finding the accordian fold boxes but they're probably going to be similar in cost to the ones I can get here in town so maybe that's ok.

Thanks for letting me know about these two great sites though, as there are lots of other items I could use as well.

on Thursday, January 6th, Megan Froelich said

Elise Happy New Year!! Hey I have used both Fetpack and uline, not sure if Fetpak still carries them but try em out. Hope all is well with you

on Thursday, January 6th, Elise said

Hi Meg! Annie and I were talking about you over the holidays, saying how impressed with are with you. Do you have a website up with your jewlerery on it yet? I'd love to see what you're working on.

on Friday, January 7th, holly said

Elise- it looks like you've already got what you need, but you might also want to keep http://www.gaylord.com in mind, as well. They're slightly more archival/preservation based than Light Impressions (they serve libraries, mainly), but they do have some really handy products. And a catalog the size of a phone book! :D

on Sunday, January 9th, Elise said

Thanks Holly, there's nothing I love more than a *really* giant catalog!
:blush: