Once you’ve secured a sale or finished new works for an exhibition or a gallery, you’ll need to package them ready for transport.
I’m not going to recommend specifics on packing art as it depends on so many criteria. You must be aware packaging something securely that you’ve poured your heart into is imperative if it’s going to survive transportation safely.
That said I do have a few pointers for smaller paintings:
- If your work is glazed, make sure it has some card placed against the glass so if it does shatter, the glass doesn’t shake around in the package, scratching the frames and the painting. If you like, stick tape over the glass so it can’t scatter in the package if broken. But if you do this, let the customer know in advance, as they’ll need to use solvent to get the glue off the glass when it arrives.
- Make sure the corners are well protected. They are the most vulnerable areas so will damage easily if the package is dropped on its edge.
- If unglazed, place tissue paper over the painting to protect the artwork in case something in the pack comes loose.
- Make sure the artwork is secure and not moving around inside the packaging.
In my experience, despite the horror stories we see on the internet, most reputable courier services are respectful of our goods. Personally I’d avoid couriers on the cheaper end of the market that use self-employed staff to collect and deliver parcels, but that’s your call.
One thing I would suggest using, though, is one of the many parcel comparison websites. www.parcel2go.com or www.parcelhero.com are great for getting the most competitive prices for your package but beware of the insurance additions which can bump the price hugely and are almost pushed upon you at the checkout.
More on the insurance side of things later, but before we get on to that, let’s get into sourcing of packing materials.
Being a former environmentalist, I push myself to find the most eco-friendly options when it comes to packing. I did pay the extra for biodegradable bubble wrap, but recently I discovered an even better way, reducing both my own costs and another company’s waste: reuse!
I discovered a local company that had large goods delivered to them in one-meter wide bubble wrap that they were disposing of… at a cost. They also had large, heavy-duty cardboard boxes that they had no use for which, for me, was perfect!
So, what I have now is a win|win partnership with that company. They get to improve their eco credentials by passing on their waste to me and I get to reuse their waste, which would have ended up in landfill. Not only that, we’ve both saved money!
Why not find a company close by that wants to partner with you? It could be a courier company, printers or even funeral directors and it could even develop into a marketing partnership for both of you (see my Working With Partners section).
Right, so you’ve got your artwork packaged up and raring to go. The next question you have to ask yourself is: insurance or no insurance.
This is a question only you can answer as many couriers don’t cover in-transit art. And even if it isn’t one of their ‘small print’ uninsured items, they’d probably only cover to a minimal amount like £20, so not much use to you if you’re sending works that are worth more than that.
I know some artists like to self-insure. This means if the package goes awry, they repair/redo a piece for the customer, as their physical costs are only the artwork’s medium, canvas and framing. But they would lose out on being compensated for their time.
If you do decide to insure your works in transit, though, and you think/hope you’ll do a fair amount of sending via courier (either to customers or gallery) then I would highly recommend taking out an annual in-transit insurance.
Buying insurance for every individual painting when booking through a courier can be costly; usually around 5% of the artwork’s on-the-wall price. So if you were intending on sending multiple paintings throughout a year, each worth hundreds of pounds, it would very quickly add up.
I have cover for any piece of work I sell through www.britishcontemporary.art. My cover will insure me for any works in-transit worth up to £10,000 per item for a whole year. This costs me under £300. But bearing in mind this is a specialised insurance because of my business practices, you may well be able to beat that.
If you have studio insurance anyway, you may find in-transit cover is included. If not, it might be worth asking a broker to quote for that as an extra. It would be cheaper than a stand-alone insurance. And if you’re part of an art group or society, maybe you could get cover through or with them, making it far cheaper for all.
Whatever you do, don’t assume your art is covered. It will only end in heartache and distress and in my experience, couriers just aren’t interested in complaints about damaged items when they feel they have no liability. Insuring your art yourself or getting your own cover is far simpler and stress-free to administer if/when things go wrong.
Lastly, always respectfully ask the customer to let you know the moment the artwork has arrived safely. If you follow the tracking number and see that it’s been delivered and hear nothing, it’s worth nudging them. Many insurers will only cover you if they know about the damage within 24 hours of delivery so don’t get caught out by not reporting the problem in time.
If you want to be 100% covered, take a photo of the unpackaged and packaged artwork before it leaves you so if there is a problem, you have proof of how it went out. And if there is an issue, make sure you get photographic proof from the customer as well, both from the inside and outside of the package, to compare with your own photos.
As for larger artworks, I would recommend an art courier. Although more expensive, you would be fully insured if anything goes wrong and the risk is too great of serious damage when using a traditional courier for larger packages.
As for international artworks, this is where your own annual cover comes into its own, but do check you are covered for international transportation.
Personally, I like to create my own bespoke packing cases for larger or multiple artworks. Although made of plywood so much heavier, the courier costs aren’t that expensive and in most cases you would pass on any charges to the customer anyway.
And when you do pass on that cost, remember to add on something for the annual insurance you’ve bought and the time it takes you to pack the items. They are all legitimate costs of sending items and should be charged for.