Selling your work · Packing and shipping

The step that turns a first online sale into a refund and a bad review.

Double boxing, where the padding goes, and what handles and rims need. Two boxes, with two inches of padding on every side of the inner one, is the method this page teaches, and the three rules around it are that handles get filled, rims get wrapped first, and nothing rattles when you shake the box hard.

Four steps with a tick list at each: the wrap, the inner box, the outer box, and the label and the price. Six things that go wrong, most of them a refund, and six videos of people packing pottery for shipping.

This is the short version: the wrap, the inner box, the outer box, the label, each with a tick list. The plate and bowl detail, the pricing notes and the questions are in the comprehensive version.

x2Boxes. The outer takes the drop; the inner feels far less of it
2″Of crumpled paper between them, on every side
x6Videos, from people who have nothing to do with us
x4Steps, each with a tick list you can work off
Jump to a section
Why this page has words and video The whole idea in three lines The method in six moves What you need on the packing table 1. The wrap 2. The inner box 3. The outer box 4. The label and the price Six videos, six ways to pack The one video to watch When it goes wrong How it works at The Clay Hole Questions people actually ask Related lessons
A potter lowering a glazed bowl into an open cardboard box lined with a white foam sheet, with a roll of kraft paper, a tape dispenser, crumpled paper, bubble wrap and a scale on the packing table

Every step, the plate and bowl detail, the pricing notes and six videos.

Read it, then watch it

Why this is written down and filmed, both.

Packing is one method and three rules. The method is two boxes with two inches of padding all round the inner one, and the rules are that handles get filled, rims get wrapped first, and nothing rattles. That is a list, and a list belongs on a page next to the tape. What a page cannot show is a mug becoming a solid lump in bubble wrap, or the way someone who packs pottery all the time tapes a box, and that is the videos, from people who pack and ship ceramics themselves.

Use both, in this order

Read the method and the three rules. Watch one mug packed. Pack the first one with the tick list open, shake it hard, and send it to yourself first.

The whole idea

Two boxes, two inches between them, handles filled, rims wrapped first, nothing rattles.

Stuff the handle, band the rim, wrap the pot into one solid lump. A small inner box with padding on every side. An outer box four inches bigger in every direction, so two inches of crumpled paper surround the inner box, packed until nothing moves when you shake it hard. A printed label with a return address, and the packed box weighed before the price is set. Day to day the studio does not ship.

The five-minute version

The whole method in six moves.

If you have posted anything fragile before and you just want the shape of it, this is the shape of it. Everything below is these six moves, slowed down and with the places they fail marked.

1Fill the handle, band the rimA wad of paper inside the handle so it cannot flex. A band of bubble wrap round the rim before anything else.
2Wrap the pot into one solid lumpBubble wrap or paper round the whole pot, handle included, taped, so it is one shape with no edges.
3Inner box that fits, padded all roundA box the pot nearly fills, padding on every side, no rattle.
4Outer box four inches biggerIn every direction, which leaves two inches of paper on every side. The inner box floats in it. Shake it hard; nothing moves.
5Plates on edge, bowls one per boxPlates stand like files with a sheet between each. Bowls nest only with a full wrap between.
6Weigh, measure, price, printThe packed box into the carrier’s calculator before listing. A printed label with a return address.

Before the first parcel

What you need on the packing table.

Six things, and the boxes in three sizes are the decision that prevents most breakages before the padding is even out.

Three inner box sizes and three outerMug, bowl, plate, and an outer four inches bigger than each. Bought in tens.
Bubble wrap, or paperThe shock absorber round the pot. Paper alone can work too; Kara Leigh Ford’s video is about shipping without plastic.
Crumpled kraft paperThe gap filler and the two inches between the boxes. Not peanuts, which settle.
Tape, and a lot of itEvery seam of both boxes. A box that opens in the truck is a box that lost.
A scale and a tape measureFor the packed box, before the price. Carriers charge by size as well as weight.
A printed labelWith the tracking number sent to the buyer and a return address so it can come home.

Boxes in three sizes, bubble wrap or paper, crumpled kraft paper, tape, a scale and a tape measure, and a printed label.

1

Step one

Fill the handle, wrap the rim, then make the pot one solid lump.

Handles and rims are what break. A handle is a lever; a rim is the thinnest edge on the pot. So the handle gets a wad of paper stuffed inside its loop until it cannot flex, and the rim gets a band of bubble wrap before anything touches the body.

Then the body: bubble wrap, or several layers of paper, round the whole pot, handle included, taped, until it is one solid shape with no edges sticking out. A wrapped mug should look like a lump, not a mug. Florian Gadsby’s video below is twenty-three minutes of wrapping and packing.

Plates and bowls are rims all the way round. A band of padding round every rim first, then the wrap, then a sheet of foam or card between neighbors. Plates travel on edge, standing like files, never flat in a stack, because the weight of the whole stack rests on the bottom plate and one knock can break it. Bowls nest only with a full wrap between each, and a bowl that matters gets its own inner box.

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2

Step two

A small inner box the pot nearly fills, padded on every side.

The inner box is the pot’s own room. A box the wrapped pot nearly fills, paper on the bottom, down every side and over the top, lid taped. Shake it. If anything moves, fill the gap. A pot that can move is a pot that will hit something.

Too big a box is the common mistake. A mug in a bowl’s box has four inches of nothing on one side, the paper settles in transit, and the mug slides into the wall. Three inner box sizes, one for mugs, one for bowls, one for plates, bought in tens, is the cheapest decision in shipping and the one that stops most rattles before they start. Matthew Kelly’s video below is one potter’s routine, from materials to shipping.

Two mugs in one inner box is fine if each is a solid lump and there is paper between them so they cannot touch; a set of plates on edge with sheets between is fine in one inner box. Bowls nested inside each other are fine only with a full wrap between each. Anything you would be sorry to lose gets its own room.

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3

Step three

An outer box four inches bigger in every direction. The inner box floats in two inches of paper.

The outer box takes the drop, and any parcel can be dropped. An outer box four inches bigger than the inner in every direction: two inches of crumpled paper under, around and over the inner box, every seam taped. The inner box floats and feels far less of the shock the outer box takes.

Crumpled kraft paper is the right filler for the gap: it springs back, it does not settle the way peanuts do, and it is cheap. Bubble wrap is the shock absorber round the pot; paper is the space between. Both, in their places. Then shake the whole thing hard, listen, and if anything shifts, open it and fill it. A box you can shake is a box that is not packed.

This is the whole method. A single box with a lot of padding is a pot in a box, and a drop puts the shock straight through the padding into the pot. BlueRainGallery’s three minutes below shows a gallery doing the same double box, with a two inch cushion all round.

Why two inches

Two inches of padding on every side is a common rule of thumb for double boxing, and the BlueRainGallery video below uses it too. It leaves the paper room to crush before the inner box meets the outer wall. Much less and a hard drop can carry the shock through to the inner box; much more is weight and postage for nothing.

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4

Step four

Weigh it, measure it, price it, print the label, and send the first one to yourself.

The packed box is what the carrier charges for. Weigh and measure it packed and put those numbers into the carrier’s calculator before the pot is listed; carriers charge by size as well as weight. Price the shipping into the pot or as a real line; a guessed flat rate is how shipping costs more than the pot.

Then a printed label, not a hand-written one, with a return address so it can come home, and the tracking number sent to the buyer the day it ships. Fragile on the outside is a courtesy, not a strategy; the double box is the strategy. Old Forge Creations’ video below packs mugs for international shipping, with a label printer at the end.

And send the first one to yourself, or to a friend across the country, before you send one to a stranger. Open it. If the mug is fine, that is a good sign for the method. If it is not, fix the method before it costs a review. When one does break anyway, and one will, refund fast, apologize once, and ship the replacement double boxed; the review is decided by the recovery, not the breakage.

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Watch it done

Now watch six people pack a pot.

Watch this one, then go buy boxes in three sizes.

None of these people work here or know we exist. Between them they cover wrapping a beaker, mugs, a teapot, bowls, a jar and a vase, one potter’s routine, shipping without plastic, tea cups, a gallery’s double box and mugs going far. Nothing but the still frame loads until you press play.

Twenty-three minutes of packing pottery for shipping, by the chapter list: preparing boxes, then a beaker, mugs, a teapot, bowls and a vase, then labels and customs forms. The other five videos are in the comprehensive version.

Start here: the thorough one How to Package Pottery SAFELY for Shipping Florian Gadsby
Twenty-three minutes of packing pottery for shipping, by the chapter list: preparing boxes, then wrapping a beaker, mugs, a teapot, bowls and a vase, then labels and customs forms. Watch on YouTube
One potter’s routine Packing and Shipping Pottery Sold Online Matthew Kelly Pottery
Twenty minutes of one potter’s way of packing, by the chapter list: tips, materials, then shipping. The description says plainly that it is not the only way. Watch on YouTube
Shipping without plastic How to Ship Pottery (without plastic) and Never Have a Breakage! Kara Leigh Ford
Seven minutes on shipping pottery without plastic, from a potter who says in the description that years went into getting the packing right. Watch on YouTube
Small and fragile How to Protect, Pack and Ship Ceramic Tea Cups The Motley Mix Merchant
Twenty minutes on a pair of tea cups and saucers, by the chapter list: wrapping the saucers, protecting the cups, securing everything, boxing and cushioning, then sealing and the cost. Watch on YouTube
How a gallery does it Art Handling 101: Safely Packing Ceramics for Shipping BlueRainGallery
Under three minutes from Blue Rain Gallery on double boxing a painted ceramic piece with foam, bubble wrap and packing peanuts, with a 2-inch cushion all round. Watch on YouTube
Mugs, going far Packaging Ceramic Mugs for International Shipping + New Label Printer MUNBYN 403B Old Forge Creations
Fourteen minutes on packing mugs for international shipping, with the last stretch on a label printer. Watch on YouTube

When it goes wrong

Six ways it goes wrong, and what to do about each.

Three breakages to know.

Pick the one that looks like the photo the buyer sent. The first three are the box, the handle and the rim. The last three are the rattle, the price and the label.

Pick the one that looks like the photo the buyer sent.

How it works here

At The Clay Hole, the pickup shelf is the last thing we touch.

This page is written for potters everywhere. A few things are specific to our building.

Things to know here

Day to day the studio does not sell or ship members’ work; studio sales and showcases like Gallery Night are the exception. Fired work is collected from the pickup shelves within two weeks, and the packing happens after that, at home. Run a fingertip round the foot first, and if it catches, take it down wet over a bucket, with safety glasses and an N95 or better, before it goes in the box. Everything you make here is yours to sell and yours to ship.

Day to day, we do not ship

The pickup shelf is where the studio’s part ends. The box, the label, the carrier and the refund are the maker’s, and so is the sale. Studio sales and showcases, like Gallery Night, are the exception, and each has its own terms. Bring boxes from home; pack at home.

Getting it home first

Fired pots off the pickup shelf go home in a padded box or a bag with something between them, because a fired pot chipped in a car is as chipped as one broken in the post. Collect within two weeks; the shelves are shared.

Before the box

Every fired foot gets a fingertip and, if it catches, the diamond pad (bring your own), used wet over a bucket, with safety glasses and an N95 or better, per the sanding lesson. Then the photograph, per the photographing lesson, so the pot in the box matches the pot in the listing.

The price

Boxes, paper and tape are packaging, which goes on the month in the costs lesson, divided by the pots you finish. Postage is priced from the packed box, as in step four. A mug that ships costs more to sell than a mug that is handed over at a market, and the price should know that.

Questions people actually ask

The ones that come up every week.

What does double boxing mean?

The pot is wrapped and padded inside a small box that fits it closely. That inner box is placed inside a larger box with at least two inches of padding on every side, so it floats. The outer box takes the drop and the inner box feels far less of it. It is the method this page teaches.

What padding?

Bubble wrap for the shock absorber round the pot, crumpled kraft paper for filling gaps and for the two inches between the boxes. Packing peanuts settle and leave gaps. Foam sheets and corner protectors for plates. If you would rather not ship plastic, Kara Leigh Ford’s video below is about shipping without plastic.

How do I pack a mug?

Stuff the handle with a wad of paper so nothing can flex it. Wrap the rim with a band of bubble wrap. Wrap the whole mug, handle included, into one solid lump. Inner box with padding on all sides, no rattle. Outer box four inches bigger than the inner, which leaves two inches of paper on every side. The handle and the rim are the two things that break, and each gets its own layer before the body does.

How do I pack a plate or a bowl?

Plates on edge, never flat, each in its own wrap with a foam sheet or card between neighbors, standing in the inner box like files. Bowls nested only with a full wrap between each, or one per inner box. Rims are the whole problem for both; a band of padding round each rim first.

What box sizes?

Three. A mug size, a bowl size, a plate size, and outer boxes four inches bigger in every direction than each, for two inches of padding on every side. Buying boxes in tens is cheaper than any other packing decision. Do not ship a mug in a bowl’s box; the extra space is the extra rattle.

How do I price the shipping?

Weigh and measure the packed box, not the pot, and put those numbers into the carrier’s calculator before you list. Carriers charge by size as well as weight, and a double-boxed mug is bigger than people expect. Either price the shipping into the pot or show it as a real line; a guessed flat rate is how shipping costs more than the pot.

Does The Clay Hole ship?

Day to day, no. The studio does not ship members’ work or sell it for you; your pot, your box, your label. Studio sales and showcases like Gallery Night are the exception, and each has its own terms. Bring boxes from home, pack at home, and take a packed box to the carrier. The pickup shelf is where the pot is collected, and the packing happens after that, somewhere with a table and a roll of tape.

Related lessons

Six lessons that sit next to this one.

Three to read next.

Shipping is the last step of a sale and the first thing a buyer judges. These are the pages before it.

Selling your workHow to Start Selling Your PotteryThe first sale this page keeps in one piece. Selling your workWhat a Pot Actually Costs You to MakePackaging and fees go on the month, not on the pot. Firing and fixingScouring, Sanding and GrindingTaking the bump off a fired foot, wet. Selling your workPhotographing Your PotterySo the pot in the box matches the listing. Selling your workSelling Pottery at Craft Fairs and MarketsWhere a pot is handed over in person instead of posted. Trimming, handles and dryingHow to Pull HandlesHow a handle is attached so it stays on.

That is the whole method

Fill the handle. Band the rim. One lump. Inner box. Outer box, four inches bigger. Shake it. Print the label.

Your first parcel is the one to double box, shake and send to yourself. After that, every parcel gets the same two boxes. Potters who pack well have very few breakages, and two boxes is the method this page teaches.

If you want the plate and bowl detail, the box-size notes, the pricing arithmetic and the answers to the questions everybody asks, switch to the comprehensive version at the top. Otherwise, go buy boxes in three sizes.

Back to Clay Hole University The sale this keeps in one piece

Written for potters everywhere. Where our studio does things differently, the page says so.