{"id":612,"date":"2020-02-10T18:41:05","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T18:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-ship-fragile-items\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T14:41:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:41:38","slug":"how-to-ship-fragile-items","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-ship-fragile-items\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Ship Fragile Items & Minimise Breakage During Fulfilment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Breakage: an ecommerce brand\u2019s worst enemy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What items are most likely to be damaged during shipping\ufeff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why ecommerce businesses need to be careful fulfilling fragile items<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to ship fragile items: a step-by-step guide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How different couriers handle fragile items<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimise breakage & fulfil fragile orders with ShipBob<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fragile fulfilment FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What do you want to learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Ship Fragile Items Myself<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
How ShipBob Ships Fragile Items<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Request Fulfilment Pricing from ShipBob<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

You break it, you buy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Known as \u2018The Pottery Barn rule,\u2019 the notion of holding a shopper responsible for any broken merchandise they knock over or drop may give you flashbacks to a stressful childhood incident in a store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this motto has long been a policy of many brick-and-mortar stores, the world of ecommerce has created new complications for selling and shipping fragile items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when items are in a box full of dunnage<\/a> and their product packaging, fragile items can break while in transit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your customers are regularly receiving broken products, it can lead to a loss of inventory, profits, and reputation of your ecommerce business. Preventing 100% of damages is nearly impossible when shipping fragile items, but in this post, you\u2019ll learn how to prevent shipping damages<\/a> and keep your customers happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breakage: an ecommerce brand\u2019s worst enemy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fragile products \u2014 such as glassware, musical instruments, technology products, and other delicate items \u2014 are especially prone to breaking while in transit. Couriers toss them into gaylords, onto trucks, drop them, and boxes generally move around while being transported. That\u2019s just the nature of ecommerce shipping<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you can always purchase shipping insurance,<\/a> that doesn\u2019t solve the problem at hand. Ecommerce businesses can lose a lot of money due to broken products: You have an increase in customer service inquiries, you have to pay the cost of the re-shipment (and potentially the returned item as well depending on your return policy<\/a>), eat the cost of the unsellable inventory<\/a>, and potentially lose that customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news: much of the shipping damage is avoidable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes breakage is unavoidable, but this is the exception and not the norm. If your fragile items are properly packaged using the correct materials, then breakage should be uncommon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What items are most likely to be damaged during shipping\ufeff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When most people think about fragile items, the first thing that comes to their mind are items made out of glass, crystal, or porcelain. While it’s true that these items break easily, almost any item can get damaged in transport (even when shipping heavy items<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything from musical instruments to furniture can be chipped or broken. Because of this, different types of products have other protection requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why ecommerce businesses need to be careful fulfilling fragile items<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Broken products cost a lot of money (and much more money for ecommerce brands than brick-and-mortar retail). Here are even more reasons that damaged fragile items can harm your business\u2019s profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When working to resolve a damaged shipment complaint from a customer, at a minimum, you\u2019ll have to pay for the reshipment<\/a> of an undamaged item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have more specific requirements for returns, such as requiring a shipment back of the damaged item so you can inspect it, someone will have to pay for that return label<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your shipping policy<\/a> states that you offer free returns, then that\u2019s an additional cost for you. If your customer has to pay for it, this will likely anger them even more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this scenario, not only did they get a damaged product and now have to wait longer for a new one, but they also had to go to USPS or a carrier\u2019s store and pay the shipping cost<\/a>. Be prepared for some backlash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lost business<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not every customer is willing to wait for a new product. Some customers will simply ask for a refund, and likely won\u2019t purchase again from your brand. Not only did you lose the sale from the customer you probably had to pay to acquire, but you also lost on their future business because now they think you can\u2019t deliver products undamaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bad reviews<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Bad customer reviews<\/a> can make or break your business\u2019s success. When a customer is excited for their product to arrive but opens a box to find a broken item, they may leave a negative review \u2014 even if you cover all costs for them and send out a new one, fast.
<\/a>\nThis can be devastating in ecommerce. A free product or a discount on their next order can go a long way. If you make it right, don\u2019t be afraid to ask them to edit their review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to ship fragile items: a step-by-step guide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fragile items may sound complicated to ship, but the process can be simple. Here are some best practices on how to ship fragile items the right way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Choose a box that\u2019s only slightly larger than the item<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t want to use boxes that have too much space in them, causing the contents to shift around. Using a slightly bigger box than the product allows any remaining empty space to be filled with dunnage to keep everything in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While poly mailers<\/a> can be cheaper to ship than boxes, they are not a good option for fragile, breakable products as they can be smashed easily. While poly bags come with bubble wrap padding, these don\u2019t eliminate the breakage of fragile items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Wrap the item in cushioning material<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If your products aren\u2019t manufactured with supportive packaging and are stored loose (i.e., you have a glass makeup tube to ship<\/a> with no small box around it), then you will need to wrap them in a lot of dunnage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. If necessary, encase the item in foam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For very expensive or fragile items, you may want to make a foam enclosure for the package that is molded to its specific measurements. This is obviously not a very scalable solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Use air pillows or packing peanuts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If there is empty space in the box, be sure to fill the space with airbags, packing peanuts, or crinkle paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Add a \u201cfragile\u201d label to the box<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A fragile sticker or label will let the shipping carrier(s) know that they need to handle the box with care. You can even use multiple stickers to ensure it\u2019s seen by couriers as long as it doesn\u2019t cover the shipping label<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Affix a tilt or impact detector<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

These devices are typically used for shipments that need to remain upright and require very delicate handling. While they are rare for parcel shipments and are very expensive, they not only let you know when a fragile item may have been damaged but also encourage the handlers to be extra careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How different couriers handle fragile items<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All major couriers accept fragile items. They have different rules and regulations you need to follow to prevent any issues from happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UPS doesn’t charge extra for handling fragile items. If you don’t ship many fragile items, you can utilise their packaging service. The service packs and ships your order using UPS materials, ensuring your items arrive intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FedEx<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Similarly to UPS, FedEx doesn\u2019t charge extra for handling fragile items. Unlike UPS, they don\u2019t offer the option to pack your items, but they do offer tips for packing breakable items<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USPS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unlike UPS and FedEx, USPS offers a special service for shipping fragile items called Special Handling-Fragile<\/a>. It currently costs $12.15, needs to be purchased in person, and works with multiple USPS services, including Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service-Commercial, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minimise breakage & fulfil fragile orders with ShipBob<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At ShipBob, we work with ecommerce businesses to store their inventory and get their fragile items delivered without breaking. Our fulfilment centres offer specialized services, and our warehousing<\/a> experts are trained on your brand so you won\u2019t have to worry about products being damaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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