Calling All Beer Traders: Lets See Your Package

Twelve bottle wine shippers are the way to go.

 

I have a new packing system that I am working on right now, never seen it mentioned before. It's more work, so it's not for everyone. Basically, you take a bomber and you wrap it in 1-2 layers of the small bubble bubble-wrap. Tape that secure. Next, you find a piece of cardboard that is long and taller than the bottle by about 3". What you do is, you "wrap" the bottle in what usually ends up being an octagon of carboard. Put a full wrap of Heavy duty shipping tape at the top and the bottom of this cylinder-octagon looking thing. You only need about 1-2" of overlap. So now the bottle is inside 1-2 layers of bubble wrap an is inside it's own "box". Note that cardboard only "rolls" in one direction, so you have to keep that in mind.

With this, these "pods" have ~1" of dead space above and below the bottle, so that the cap and the bottom are never touching anything else. I've used these a couple times with no issues.

 

I wrap each bottle in a FedEx Padded Pak (they're free!), and just ensure everything is snug and protected with no dead space. I usually use either packing peanuts or bubble wrap. Never had a single problem. It's not rocket science!

 

Depends on what I'm shipping. I really like using Spirited Shipper boxes and sleeves, but they're expensive.

 

I have never done it myself, but I have heard of doing the same thing, but using off-cut pieces of 4" pvc plumbing / drainage pipe. Probably only worth it for super expensive / rare bottles, but I would imagine it is basically bomb proof if you leave a few inches of excess pipe and pack the ends with bubble wrap.

 

That sounds like a shitload of work for what amounts to more or less the same protection as a molded wine bottle shipper. I would also think that extra packaging adds to the weight.

But it does sound like you could drop it from a 3-story building...

 

If everyone would just use styros as the op posted it would make everyones life so much easier. My ass is lazy (ie i have better things to do with my time than cut cardboard, bubble wrap bottles, etc) and its way easier to just drop bottles in a styro and send it out

For whats it worth someone sent me a 6 bottle styro. As i was pulling in my driveway i see the fed ex guy just completely drop the box off his shoulder onto the ground. All bottles survived.

True story. I went sky diving with a 12 bottle styro and dropped it by accident and the beers didnt break

TL;DR Styros = easiest and safest way to ship

 

Agree with what everyone has said. One thing that a lot of people forget to do is to either bag each bottle individually, or before you slide the whole styrofoam packer into the box, put it inside a heavy duty trash bag and tie a knot in the bag and tape it shut. Almost lost a 12 bottle shipper coming to me from Oregon last winter because one DG Hose burst and Fedex stopped the package. Luckily it was only 30 minutes from my house at the facility, and they were cool and let me come pick it up, but it could have been a total loss all because of 1 frozen bottle.

Also, there is no such thing as too much bubble wrap

 

@PJ_ takes the prize for this one.

 

I use these guys. I like the horizontal shipping rather than vertical. However, I always keep in mind that with FedEx or UPS, a side can always become the top or bottom of a box.

http://www.winepacks.com/

 

Thanks @ryansako, but yours was virtually the same! I don't have any pictures but it goes like:

Bottle/can > ziploc > bubble (at least 2-3 full spins) > box > trash bag >bubble/newspaper/any padding > bigger box

I like to reuse boxes from breweries or the free ones from USPS for the inside box. The outer one is almost always either the 14x14x14 or the 12x12x10.5 "Duck" brand from Walmart. Never had any issues with them and they sell for less than $1. Also, Dollar Tree bubble wrap is where is at. One dollar for a 6' x 12" roll, good enough for 2 bombers or 3 smalls.

Credit where credit is due. I learned this from @77apm. I'm glad it was the second box of all my trading so I was able to see a superior packaging job early on.

 

Ive been called many things....... but amazing packages are what im proud of @Bobbyk503

 

Could you elaborate on this? How do I get a bunch of these? Thanks.

 

Its all about wrapping the bottles, if you don't go with a 2-6-12 shippers, even with them, light bubble wrap is preferred. Make sure to wrap the tops and bottles well and fill the dead space with whatever you have available.

 

Lots and lots of rubber bands. The only tape I use is on my boxes.
-Roll each bottle in a sheet of newspaper.
-Place in ziplock.
-Roll in 2 to 3 sheets of bubble wrap.
-Lay flat in a box lined with a garbage bag and bubble wrap; making sure all seams and corners are taped. Alternate ends and bottom of bottles.
-After finishing a layer, fill any gaps with newspaper or other stuffing.
-Once box is filled, tie garbage bag and tape shut.
-Place box in a larger box, filling the gaps with styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap or other stuffing. Seal box taping all corners and seams. I also place a shipping label on inner box as well as outer box.
-Proceed to throw box and/or drop box from 6 feet.

It usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour to pack a box of 12 bottles this way.
These boxes travel down a lot of conveyors, go through a lot of bumps, drops, tosses, and pass through many hands on their way from me to you. I also don't want to depend on the kindness of an employee to repack a box. So far, I've been fortunate and not experienced a failure or discovery of contents. Sure, it's overkill. It adds a little extra to the weight, but the peace of mind and end results have been well worth it to me.

 

I would love to be able to find a source for really strong double-walled boxes. I like to raid the dumpster behind one of my favorite bottle shops, they occasionally have really nice boxes in there. They don't mind, in fact they suggested it to me.

 

I use the same method and also line the sides, top and bottom with extra cardboard to ensure more stability. Currently shipping around 15 (maybe more) bottles in one box, around 50 lbs. Really nervous as I await UPS coming down my driveway. Everything was nice and secure so I should be good. Shipping from myself to myself so if all fails it's a loss loss for me!

 

Shipping to yourself is pretty clever. I shipped a couple of boxes to family, before I dove in to trading. It made for great practice and happy relatives.