When mailing gifts, it’s easy to ship your parcels and walk away, while checking off one of the items on your holiday to-do list. However, a lot can happen after a package leaves your hands. Here are some tips to keep in mind before shipping your holiday gifts and packages to friends and loved ones:
Schedule accordingly. Remember, this is the season for package deliveries — and package thefts. Before you send, consider your recipient’s lifestyle and schedule. They may work daytime jobs or they may be planning a getaway trip to paradise you’re not aware of. You certainly don’t want your well-chosen gifts just sitting outside unguarded for hours or days. Before you fill out the packing slip, give them a heads-up about their special delivery and get the OK to send it to their place.
Pack carefully. Bubble wrap is always the trusted go-to in keeping just about everything in one piece. To keep smaller gifts from getting overlooked in the box, tape all the gifts together. Before you seal the shipping box with packing tape, close the lid and give the box a shake. If things are moving around in there too much, add more crunched-up newspaper or packing pellets.
Backup plan. Things can happen on the trip over. Just to be safe, put an extra mailing label inside the box. If the outer label gets wet, torn or otherwise illegible, this gives postal workers a backup so they can get your box to the right place.
Get insured. Look into what your carrier offers for insurance protection. Just remember that many parcels are already covered, as long as they’re valued under a certain dollar amount. Check with your carrier and consider purchasing additional shipping coverage if needed. Read the fine print, take photographs of the items and hang on to the receipts until the package is safely delivered.
This article brought to you by our friends at Erie Insurance. Miller’s would like to extend it’s gratitude to Erie Insurance for both being a wonderful business ally and for letting us use the articles found on their blog, Eriesense.
