Packing and shipping glass is often a delicate part of beauty and cosmetics order fulfillment. Many popular items in the category are often encased in glass: perfumes, colognes, creams, etc. In this article, we briefly explore some best practices for packing and shipping glass-based products.

Best Practices for Packing and Shipping Glass

Whether you are packing and shipping individual units or batches of fragile items, consider these important tips and tricks for helping your product arrive intact to its destination: 

  • Use Adequate Protection: Select a properly-sized box — not a corrugated mailer, bubble mailer, or polymailer. If your box is too small, you may not be able to adequately bubble-wrap your product, which will subject it to breakage; however, if your box is too large, you will need to use additional filler (which is costly) to secure the internal contents and you may also inadvertently cause a material increase in shipping costs (likely due to dimensional or volumetric weight).
  • Keep Products Separated: If you are shipping multiple glass items, utilize corrugated or paperboard dividers between pieces — in addition to at least a layer of bubble around each item — to keep them from chipping, cracking, or shattering.
  • Handle With Care: Consider using “FRAGILE,” “THIS WAY UP,” or “HANDLE WITH CARE” stickers on the outside of your cartons. Although there is no way to control carrier behavior, identifying the contents of your package as breakable can’t do anything but help.
  • Prevent Leakage: If your items contain liquids (perfumes, colognes, creams, etc), be especially cognizant of the need to protect against leakage using adhesive strips, sealed bags, etc. For items which contain alcohol, be sure to review the special packing considerations and regulations unique to your products. 

Need Help?

If you need help with shipping glass-based products, IronLinx can assist with:

  • Selecting protective but cost-efficient packing materials for your products
  • Designing and implementing the best strategies for packing and shipping your delicate orders
  • Navigating the regulatory challenges inherent to shipping alcohol-based products
  • Positioning your business to scale more seamlessly

For more information, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to speaking with you!