Paper survives a hundred years on a shelf and three days in a bad parcel. Everything below is about those three days.
The two failures
Movement. A book that can slide inside its box arrives with bumped corners and a bruised spine. The box should be close to the size of the book, with the gaps filled so nothing shifts.
Damp. Cardboard takes water out of the air and holds it against the paper. A sealed plastic bag inside the box is the whole defence, and it costs almost nothing.
What good looks like
- Book in a plastic bag, taped shut
- Corner protection — folded card over each corner for anything valuable
- Stiff board front and back, slightly larger than the book
- The whole thing in a box close to its size, voids filled
- Tape across every seam, because a box that opens is a box that gets wet
A padded envelope is fine for a paperback and wrong for a hardback. The spine takes the impact.
Films
Tape the case shut. A case that pops open in transit lets the hub release, and then the disc is loose in the box with its own case rattling against it. Put the case in bubble, not loose in a jiffy bag.
Several books together
Flat, spines alternating, the stack wrapped as one block. A loose pile in a big box grinds against itself for the whole journey.
Before you post
Weigh it. Books are heavier than people expect, and a wrong weight comes off your own balance rather than the buyer's. How delivery is charged, and setting up delivery.
Questions people ask
Can I post books in a padded envelope?
Paperbacks yes, hardbacks no. The spine needs a flat surface behind it.
Is a plastic bag really necessary?
In an Indian monsoon, yes. It is the cheapest insurance on this page. What humidity does to stock.
What if the buyer says it arrived damp?
Photograph every parcel before it goes. That photograph is what settles it. How returns work.