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how to ship records...again!


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so today the mailman rang at my door, and cool surprise as usual, he had a record mailer for me. so i take it in my hand and (horror!) i feel the record moving (a lot) inside the mailer. so i hope it hasnt gotten damaged and when i open the mailer i can sigh with relief: it's almost ok. but you know, a double lp, shipped with the two discs inside the cover, without even a bloody plastic sleeve...that's not the way to ship a record! in the end everything is almost ok, but i guess i've been quite lucky too.

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Hey, guys. I am kind of new at shipping/trading and what not. I recently traded and had to ask (what a n00b!!) but I think a sticky of the best way to ship would be great. Break it down into LPs, 7"s, 10"s, gatefolds and whatever else is necessary.

I just think then we can try to cutdown on these problems, just a suggestion.

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I think the basics of mailing records could be summed up as follows:

1. ALWAYS use a record mailer. If you absolutely need to do the "2 slabs of cardboard" trick, make sure it's nice thick cardboard a little bigger than what you're sending. Tape it up WELL and write "do not bend, fragile, etc." on it

2. ALWAYS use a polybag. Labels that ship stuff without polybags...that's just fucking stupid. They're like 2 cents each when you buy them in bulk. I've gotten stuff from big labels that was not shrinkwrapped, yet still not polybagged. So dumb.

3. ALWAYS ship the record outside of the jacket. This prevents it from slicing through the seam

4. ALWAYS make sure the records are securely in the mailer/box/etc. If you have one record in a mailer, chances are you need a slab of cardboard or some bubblewrap or whatever to keep it from sliding around.

5. ALWAYS insist that you can send records via media mail if your post office worker is an idiot.

And really, one that I would recommend is that you should always use delivery confirmation. It's SO easy to just use paypal shipping now, and delivery confirmation is only $.18, and you don't have to fill anything extra out. Plus you don't have to stand in line at the PO. That way you can send the tracking # and not have to hear anything about "did you ship my package" or "my stuff hasn't shown up" etc.

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Actually i find that when sending just 1 Lp, its better to use 2 pieces of cardboard wrapped in postal kraft paper. 1 Lp moves around and gets dented too much in a mailer(even if you add a slab of cardboard). Sure you can add bubble wrap but that adds extra weight which will bring your package to over 1lbs. It'll get expensive, especially when sending international. However if sending anywhere from 2-4 Lps, mailers are way better if you got one.

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