Your extended family in France just asked for a family heirloom that they want to display in a wedding. Doesn’t sound that difficult, right? All you need to do is wrap it up and send it to a reliable shipping company. Wrong! Sitting here in the US, you might think that it’s easy but there a lot of things you need to consider before shipping. Mainly – How the packaging should be done.

The heirloom in question, shall we say is a huge glitter globe, one that many have never seen before. We all know how delicate glitter globes are and how a piece of your heart breaks even when a faux one breaks. However, here we are talking about an heirloom that is worth thousands of dollars. So, before you bring out the cardboard boxes and tape, there is one other thing that you need to focus on first:

Insuring Your Antique

Antiques usually require an appraisal, in order to determine that the heirloom in question is worth the money that you have quoted. Once the company has given the word that your antique is one of a kind, you can seek insurance for it from the shipping company. There are various insurance plans such as automobile insurance, dealers insurance, and owners insurance. The insurance gives you a safety net that if the heirloom gets damaged or misplaced during shipping, the company will be responsible for it. They will either pay you back in cash the entire amount or replace it with an equally priced and important antique.

How to Package Antiques

Talking about an antique that has handles attached to, it is one of the most difficult heirlooms to pack. Reason – You cannot overwrap it for extra protection or under-wrap it. The overwrapping will make it difficult for the receiver to open the package and in cutting the layers with a scissor, they might accidentally nick it.

Here are 5 steps on how to package your antique:

1. Wrap individual parts of the antique with bubble wrap and then wrap the whole antique again with bubble wrap

2. Find a box that is just a little bit larger than the antique and stuff it with packing peanuts

3. Place the antique in the middle leaving six inches of space in all directions (make sure that the packing peanuts are stuffed tightly so that the antique does not jostle)

4. Place a bubble wrap on the top and close the lid. Tape it twice from both sides to make sure that the box does not accidentally open

5. Paste a sticker on the top and sides that has the following words written in bold letters:

ANTIQUE – HANDLE WITH CARE

In regard to an antique, shipping is the easy part if you have chosen a reliable company. The hard part is packaging, which can be quite time-consuming. If you feel that you don’t have the right materials and the expertise to pack an antique, it is better to ask your shipping company if they provide packing services too.