Ship Shape: Boxing lessons

Part 2: To box, or not to box - that is the question!

We love the United States Postal Service, and I say that with absolutely NO sarcasm or even a half-smirk, and here's why:

Shipping a small package across the country in 3 days is AMAZING. Shipping a small package across the country for under $5 is A FRICKEN' MIRACLE.

I don't even understand how it happens. I seriously don't. The number of people between us and you who have to handle the package, all managing to like each other well enough to hand off your package, sometimes to addresses that are confusing or unclear... it's bonkers.

Side note: Many years ago, I worked for The Big Cheese... yeah, THE Bossmouse... Disney. But you know what I wanted to do? I wanted to work for the United States Postal Service. So my saintly boss gave me the day off to go take the postal worker's exam in Anaheim because I so badly wanted to work for the postal service.

All that said, the other day I was at the post office and I was surprised to see one of the workers huck a package about 20 feet from one bin to another. And it wasn't a small package, it was a box.

So when items periodically come back to us damaged, they usually arrive in a battered box that looks like someone accidentally drove over it.

However, in some inexplicable paradox, usually the items shipped in envelopes survive the journey without incident. Maybe it's because the little envelopes float to the top? Or maybe it's because they're slippery?

Heck, I don't know.

But we decided to give it a try shipping some of our packages that we'd ordinarily box in some padded envelopes.

I actually did a little informal cost evaluation and found that the costs are pretty much even, so it's equal from a cost perspective.

As usual, please let us know how it works for ya!

Leave a comment