Pak Mail Santa Fe

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Packing and Shipping

What’s the Difference between Art Handlers and Art Transportation Services?

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Do you know what the difference between an art handler and art transportation is? The two terms sound familiar right? Well, they are quite different from each other and the people working under it have different responsibilities that are outlined below:

Art Handler

In brief terms, the job of an art handler is to deal with the packaging of the artwork. Other duties include:

  • Inspects artwork to decide when, where and how to pack and deliver the package
  • Selects the proper packaging material that keeps the artwork safe from dirt, water and moisture
  • Properly wraps the artwork for its safety during transport
  • Crates the artwork depending on its size
  • Hires the services of art transportation for shipping the package (optional)
  • Deals with all the paperwork that is necessary for shipping the artwork and may also tell you about insurance (optional)
  • Installs artwork professionally

Art Transportation

This service is concerned with how the artwork is delivered to the buyer.

  • Involves a transporter driving a truck with the art package (the delivery method depends on how far the package needs to go)
  • Delivery pickup
  • Insurance for your artwork is provided (you will need property insurance, which is the most basic type of art insurance that protects from damage caused by the transportation company or theft)

Art transportation involves a couple of transport options:

  • Air Freight Forwarding: delivery around the globe (sea, air, truck)
  • Ocean Freight Forwarding: by ship (full container load, less-than container load)
  • Road and Rail Services: multiple distribution options (less-than container load)
  • Intermodal and Multimodal Transport: the former transport service does domestic delivery by road and rail and the latter transport service optimizes sea, air, rail and land
  • Transload and Cross-Docking: shipping directly to the customer rather than to the warehouse
  • Origin Cargo Management: delivery by eliminating all middle men

Now you know why you need to hire both these services. Where one handles the artwork, the other handles the delivery. Each delivery option has a different price and gives you the benefit of shipping the artwork within your preferred time frame. So, get that artwork packed and leave the rest to an art transportation service.

Why Use Custom Crates

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Shipping furniture, art or other expensive items is worth doing right the first time. You often hear horror stories about how some of the furniture got damaged during the movie or the art transportation that didn’t go so well. Sometimes it’s because of the tiny bumps in the road and other times, it’s because the boxes weren’t placed carefully. That is why we have custom crates!

So, why should you choose custom crates for shipping?

Let’s have a look at some of the benefits of using custom wooden crates:

1. No Worries About Size

Big shipping items such as a pool table, piano, Jacuzzi tubs, and art sculptures cannot be shipped on their own. When it comes to art transportation, you need to be very careful. Even a small nick in the sculpture can cause a loss of thousands of dollars. With custom crates, you have the benefit of getting the exact shape and size for your big items. Moreover, custom crates create very little mess as they do not require excessive padding. The pallet holds the base tightly and the surrounding wooden sides and the lid keep the items secure.

2. Safe and Secure

Custom wooden crates are quite strong, and they offer great protection. Since the sides are screwed or bolted, you can get them removed once the crate arrives. That way, you can easily slide the item right out instead of lifting it.

3. Reuse of Material

Custom wooden crates are a bit more expensive than tradition shipping packages. It makes sense to recycle this crate and use it for some other purpose. You can save it for your next house move or get it reassembled to create a shelf. If you are into DIY, then you will get plenty of ideas on YouTube on how to reuse this crate. A few ideas include bookshelves or decorative wall shelves.

Whether you are going for art transportation or shipping a big furniture item, wooden crates give you the peace of mind that your package will be delivered safe and sound.  Learn about how we make our own custom shipping crates here!

How to Ship Art

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Your $5000 painting will be worth nothing if during shipping it gets destroyed. From water to humidity and hard impacts, anything can damage it leaving it beyond repair. Besides, we all know paintings are the one commodity that if destroyed, can never be restored to its original glory. The frame is equally as important as the painting in the middle.

The good news is, if you want to ship a painting such as pastels, water colors or rolled canvases, you have come to the right place. The process on how to ship canvas art is pretty easy.

We will tell you the right way of how to ship a canvas with a glass frame as well. First of all, let’s look at the basic items you will need for creating the perfect package.

Supplies You Will Need

  • Plastic wrap
  • Glassine paper
  • Bubble wrap
  • Packing tape
  • Knife
  • Cardboard box
  • Cardboard sheet
  • Pair of scissors
  • Packing peanuts (optional)

Let’s begin, shall we:

  • The first order of business is to measure the dimensions of the painting with the wooden frame. Then get the next size up in a shipping box.
  • Lay down the plastic wrap and place your painting face down it. Stretch it from two corners and tape them at the back. The next step is a little bit tricky: you need to stretch the remaining two corners as tightly as possible so the front doesn’t have any bunches. Secure them with the tape and then nick the corners with a knife to let the painting breathe.
  • Wrap the painting with glassine paper and fashion out corners from it, so the painting corners slide right in.
  • Take the cardboard sheet and fashion a box out of it. Place the painting in the middle and then tape the sides by pinching them together.
  • Use the bubble wrap twice around the cardboard sheet box and secure it with the tape.
  • Finally, slide the wrapped painting in the cardboard and tape down the lids.

Note: If there is still space left in the cardboard box and you see your painting shaking a little loose, then stuff the empty space with packing peanuts. Often people ask the question: How to ship a large painting? Well the answer is do the same… follow these steps and use packing peanuts to create a cushion.

  • For extra protection, use a tape gun to get a hold on the tension while taping. Start from one end and then make your way to the order. Make sure the tape is not applied haphazardly or the receiver might get frustrated while opening the box and accidentally damage the painting.

Shipping Glass Art

Shipping glass art follows the same steps, except before applying the plastic wrap, the painting is wrapped in masking tape. If the glass does break, the shards will stick to the tape and prevent the painting from getting scratched. If you’re shipping over fragile glass valuables, check out our post on how to ship fine china here.

And this is how you pack your painting for shipping. Don’t forget to get insurance for it as well!

Shipping Artwork: What Materials to Use?

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Quality artwork is coveted around the globe, and no boundary or distance can keep collectors from getting the best work. However, the concerns of logistics can be a major barrier while buying art. There are common questions regarding how the artwork would be shipped after the purchase.

Shipping artwork has remained one of the challenges for the collectors, because they do not want them to incur any damage during the trip. This concern can be effectively addressed by utilizing the right artwork packaging supplies.

There are several materials that can help you with packaging for art prints. Here are a few:

Packing Tape

Packing tape is a must for any and all sorts of shipping and moving. High-quality packaging tape ensures your package is securely closed throughout the transit.  This minimizes the risk of the artwork getting damaged. Additionally, when you secure the artwork using packing tape, it makes sure no moisture is able to enter the package and spoil your artwork.

When packaging for art prints, high quality tap is a must. If you choose a lower quality one, it may not be as adhesive and come off during the transit. This can expose your art to substantial damage.

Bubble Wrap

If you want to make sure your artwork reaches its destination with maximum protection, bubble wrap has to be your ultimate priority while choosing artwork packaging supplies. When you cover your painting with bubble wrap, it ensures there is an equal amount of pressure distributed across the artwork. This helps fill in any empty spaces in the packaging, which minimizes movement. Bubble wrap, among the artwork packaging supplies, can serve as padding. You can easily cover them up with other outer packaging material.  In case you’re interested, here’s a look into the history of bubble wrap.

Foam Board

A foam board is one of the artwork packaging supplies that is appropriate for all flat artworks. It can come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses and is easily available at almost all artwork supply outlets. You can purchase them in bulk as well if you want to ship a large amount of artwork. The ideal thickness for foam board is half an inch. This is an additional layer of protection around your artwork.

PVC Pipe

To keep your statue in place during transit, or to protect the rolled up canvas, pvc pipes can be extremely helpful. You can find them at any hardware store, and they are pretty inexpensive.  The pipes serve as a framework to keep your artwork in one position. Keep in mind, though they are not designed to be an artwork packaging supply, securing the ends and adding bubble wrap will make your package sturdy, durable, and padded.  The perfect balance!

If you want to make sure your artwork reaches its destination securely, just make sure to use artwork packaging supplies that offer optimum security. The selection of material for packaging for art prints hugely depends on the length of transit, mode of transit, and the nature and size of the artwork. So, choose the materials suiting your artwork’s requirements the best.

Mailing vs. Shipping: What’s the Difference?

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Pack ship mail Santa Fe

The terms mailing and shipping are often used interchangeably. Most people don’t feel the need to differentiate between the two because, really, what’s the difference? In both cases, you simply hand over your packages for delivery. So, what’s the big issue with what you call them?

However, this is not the case. While an average user may not realize it, mailing and shipping are two different things. Although they are similar to some extent, they still have a number of features making them different from each other.

Using these words interchangeably is like referring to oranges as mandarins. While individuals and even small businesses hardly pay attention to what terms they use, using the right word (shipping or mailing) is a big deal for people who actually overlook these processes.    

Yes, it is common to confuse the two terms but it’s time you understand the difference between them. Scroll down to get to know what makes mailing different from shipping.

What is Mailing?

Have you ever mailed a package to one of your friends or a family member? Well, it might come as a surprise but mailing is just the act of sending a message. According to logistics experts, there is no such thing as “mailing a package”.

Mailing strictly refers to sending letters and invitations in a standard envelope. Furthermore, the envelope is also picked exclusively by the postal services company. This means, technically, you cannot mail something using services like FedEx or UPS. Crazy, right?      

What is Shipping?

The term shipping dates back to the time when parcels were transported through ships. At that time, the term shipping meant sending a parcel through a ship. However, technology touched every part of our lives and changed the way things used to be. Now, we use a lot more than just ships to transport our stuff.

In around the 1800s, the term ‘shipping’ evolved and people started to use it for describing “moving cargo” – irrespective of the type of transport used for carrying it.

To sum it up, shipping is used for transporting cargo and goods from point A to point B. On the other hand, mailing is reserved for letters. Meaning, you cannot receive a package in the mail and you can never ship a letter to a friend!  

Why is it Important?

At this point, you may be wondering what’s so important about differentiating between “mailing” and “shipping’. Well, while we don’t usually realize it, people often mistakenly associate courier companies with shipping and mailing.

For example, it is a common misconception that mail is exclusive to Postal Service Function while shipping is reserved for companies like UPS and FedEx. This misapprehension often leads to confusion and a number of people fail to realize they can ship packages with Postal Service!

It may sound simple enough, but such misconceptions can limit your shipping options by making you believe only certain courier companies offer to ship. Now you know you can ship packages through Postal Service, what are you going to ship first?

If you have any question, let us know! We are happy to help!

Things You Didn’t Know You Could Mail

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It’s always exciting to receive a package in the mail, especially when you are not expecting it. However, most of the times, an unexpected mail holds the most expected objects, like a card from an old friend, a letter, a wedding invitation, or perhaps a gift from your mom.

pack ship and mail santa fe

Does it make you wish you could send around a bunch of ‘unconventional’ items through the mail? Well, you most certainly can!

Generally, when you mail a package through a post office, you are required to answer a list of questions usually sounding like: does your package contain liquids? Does it contain fragile goods? etc.

The good news is, as long as your item fits all the mandatory conditions and is not perishable or potentially hazardous, you can mail it anytime you want. Scroll down to read about some of the craziest things you never thought you could mail.

1.    A Piñata

Say, for whatever reason, you had to miss out the birthday party of your favorite person, well do not worry, you can make it up by sending them a piñata! It may not have crossed your mind but piñatas make an excellent birthday gift. Whether it is for a child or for your best friend, a piñata in the mail is definitely going to surprise the receiver; plus, bring a broad smile on their face!

2.    Candies & Chocolates

It’s easier to mail chocolates and candies than you may have thought. Mostly, the weight of the package is written on the box. As long as it’s less than 13 ounces, all you need to do is get a first-class stamp on it and pop it in the mailbox! Whether you send a pack of chocolates to your loved ones or a box of candies to your favorite colleague, it is surely going to be a sweet treat for them!

3.    A Potato

Why someone would want to mail a potato? Beats us! But don’t you just love knowing you can, in fact, mail a potato to anyone at anytime you want? It is a crazy idea but you can mail a potato to a friend or a loved one as a harmless, adorable prank. It’s probably the easiest way of taking someone by surprise. After all, who’d expect to receive a potato in the mail!

4.    Bottles

Sending a letter in a bottle may be a thing of the past but it’s not definitely obsolete! No, we are not talking about throwing a bottle into the ocean. We are simply suggesting mailing one! Yes, you can mail bottles to your friends and family but only the plastic ones. Glass bottles are fragile and needs to be packaged before you can mail them.

However, this is not the case with plastic bottles. All you need to do is put a stamp on it and ship it off! In fact, invitation in a bottle is a common thing nowadays. The trend has emerged as a fun and unique way of inviting your loved ones to a special event.

So, what crazy stuff are you going to mail first?