15 Tips on Packaging and Shipping Paintings

These tips are for Canadian artists who want to package and ship their own small to medium-sized paintings.  (Of course, other people may benefit from this post as well.)

1. For fragile paintings, especially oil paintings, put a piece of acid-free glassine paper on top of the painted part of the canvas, wrap the painting with bubble wrap, then put two pieces of foam or cardboard on the top and bottom of the canvas, and wrap another layer of bubble wrap around the painting. Make sure the painting fits snugly into the box.  Do not use packing peanuts.
2. I buy my boxes and packing material online at staples.ca.  I buy the 22″ x 18″ x 12″ white boxes (they look really nice) and I custom fit them for my paintings with a simple exacto knife and packing tape.  For savings, you can join the easyRewards Savings program.  I usually get $20 off every $150 I spend at staples.  Plus, I get bonus coupons every 3 months.
3. Put a copy of the sale invoice, the certificate of authenticity and a few business cards in the package.
4. You can ship valuable or extremely fragile paintings using wooden crates.  You can visit your nearest UPS store for more information.
5. Find Canada Post’s shipping rates and delivery times to different parts of Canada, the USA, and the globe online.
6. Both Canada Post’s Expedited and Xpresspost shipping are great for deliveries in Canada and the USA.  Expedited delivery times are not guaranteed, while Xpresspost delivery times are much faster and guaranteed.  Expedited shipping from Canada to the USA can sometimes take up to 12 business days or more.  If you ship to countries outside of Canada and the USA, Xpresspost is the better option;  this shipping service may cost more, but the Expedited shipping (known as International-Parcel) may take over a month to deliver.  (I once shipped a painting to Australia using International-Parcel and it took almost 2 months to arrive.)
7. There are maximum size and weight restrictions for different shipping services at the Canada Post:  Domestic Regular/Expedited Shipping, Domestic Xpresspost Shipping, Expedited-USA Shipping, Xpresspost-USA Shipping, Xpresspost-International Shipping (after clicking on the links, see “#4. Size and Weight”).
8. For larger paintings, visit the nearest UPS store.
9. If you’re a small business, sign up for a Venture One Card to get discounts at the Canada Post Office.  You will also get domestic expedited shipping for the same price as regular shipping.
10. If you ship your painting to the USA or Internationally, don’t forget to bring the addressee’s phone number.  It is required for international shipping labels.
11. Write ‘DO NOT SAFE DROP’ on the package with a bright colored marker.  This is so the delivery person won’t leave your painting at the addressee’s door, patio or apartment entrance.  Since I’ve been putting ‘DO NOT SAFE DROP’ on my packages, I haven’t lost one painting. *knock on wood*
12. If your painting is really fragile, mark ‘FRAGILE’ on the package with a red colored marker.
13. It’s better to print out clearly typed letters, rather than write, the addresses on the package.  Spell out the province/state (“Florida” instead of “FL”), and put lots of packing tape on top of the addresses to make sure the labels are secure.
14. If you ship paintings regularly, it’s OK to ask the Post Office employee to give you Expedited-USA, Xpresspost-USA, and Xpresspost-International shipping labels to bring home.  Then, you can fill out the labels at home.
15. If you’re shipping a parcel to the USA, then try your tracking number on both www.canadapost.ca and www.usps.com.  Sometimes, one website will have more recent tracking updates than the other.