Packing Instructions
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So you're ready to sell your used books to CKY Books. You've entered the ISBNs of your books, received your offers and printed your paperwork. Now you just have to get them to us.
Let's cover a few basic points before we talk about how to properly package your books for shipment. One key point to remember is that even though we have made an offer to buy these books, they remain yours until your payment has been issued. CKY Books generously provides for FREE shipping of your items. However, it is ultimately still your responsibility to ensure that they get shipped within the 48 hour time frame, that they are properly packaged and that they arrive in good condition. I am going to discuss some ideas and give you some tips to help you minimize the chances of loss or damage to your shipments while in transit to us. One of the first things to realize is that you are dealing with United States Postal Service (USPS). While that entity as a whole might profess the greatest regard and concern for your package, the individuals that work there do not have the same feelings. Your shipment to them is simply another box or package in an endless stream of items. So it is up to you to make sure your protect your items from them as much as you can. Let's get started. |
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SELECTING THE RIGHT BOXThe first thing to do is to get your books together and get a feel for how much space they take up. Then you need to find a good sturdy box, the thicker the cardboard the better. If you try to send your books to us in an empty cereal box or shirt box, you might as well kiss your books good bye now.You want a box slightly larger than the books you are mailing. You do not want a box that is too big for several reasons, most of which are common sense but nobody thinks of...until it is too late. First there is the USPS rule on weight, no items over 70lbs. Boxes can not exceed more than 108'' in combined HxLxW. The heavier the box the greater the chance of injury to someone. When loading a truck, you are taught bigger boxes go on the bottom. The bigger the box, the more room you have given the books to shift and break out. We suggest and have found the best results in shipping different sized books comes when you build a book pyramid. The largest book goes on the bottom, the next largest, etc.. etc.. |
 
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PADDING OUT THE EMPTY SPACESo now we have a good sturdy box, not too big, not too small. The books are inside, but we have dead space we need to fill up. Make no mistake - you really NEED to fill this space. We get several boxes a day from customers who just toss their books in a box that is too large with no cushioning to take up the dead space. In the first place they are lucky that their books even show up at all, books are heavy, and if you give them room to shift they will break out the side of your box more often than not. Once a book has broken your box, you now have an escape hatch for the rest of them. Don't hold your breath waiting for the USPS to place your book back in the box and reseal it for you because it is a rare occurrence.Use wadded up newspapers, plastic grocery bags, bubble wrap, or foam to fill in the gaps and the dead space. You want zero room for your books to shift. BAD IDEA: Do not use loose packing peanuts to ship books! You will damage the books every time. The books will shift and then little peanut devils will get between the pages acting as a fulcrum for the first heavy box to be stacked on top of your box. Then the binding of the book will break. CKY Books does not buy books with torn/loose/broken bindings. Now putting those same packing peanuts into a plastic grocery bag and tying it closed to make a large cushion that can be shaped and formed seems to work most of the time. At least until the bag breaks open. Again the whole point here is that you want ZERO space for the books to shift when you seal it. |
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CLOSING IT UPOK. Box. Books. Cushioning. Grab your packing slip and place it on top before you close your box.You've come this far, don't mess up now by closing the box and then taping it shut with Scotch Tape or Invisible Tape. Folding the flaps under and using no tape at all is also a really bad idea! (Yeah it's happened) Use packing tape, or glass strapping tape or even duct tape as a last resort. Don't be afraid to use that tape either. Check each side of the box. Don't assume the box you picked automatically has a good bottom or good sides. All done right? Have you picked it up and shaken it yet? Do you feel your books shifting? If you can shake it and you feel things shift, you probably need to add more cushioning. Once you can shake it and you don't feel things moving you are in pretty good shape. |
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IMPROVING THE ODDSHere are a few things that can help even more to protect your items while in transit and in the "care" of the USPS.Hard edges are good. The more stiff you can make the corners and edges of your box the better off you will be. In our experience there is no such thing as to much tape. Just make sure you have no loose ends as they can get stuck in machinery and rip open. Before affixing the shipping label, write your name and address in ink on the box. If the shipping label gets torn off for some reason at least they have a name. Don't forget to fill in the return address portion of the shipping label. |
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WE SAVED THE BEST FOR LASTAlthough this is not required at all, and we receive thousands and thousands of packages a year without it, we highly recommend you purchase Delivery Confirmation from the Post Office. This currently costs about .75 cents per box and is a very limited form of tracking. They will attach a scannable barcode to your package that will be entered into their system at drop off and at some points along the way usually. We have noticed that the USPS takes a lot more care with the packages that have this on the box.I recommend this to all my friends who use our service if they are selling us more than $20.00 worth of books. Go ahead and invest $1.35 for some postal insurance and some peace of mind. Since I consider all our customers my friends...I recommend it to you also. |
