How to Ship Antiques
Whether it’s a unique family relic or a treasure you found in a flea market, antiques frequently have tremendous sentimental and monetary worth. Because of this, while moving antique furniture, adequate packaging should be your top priority.
Since most antique items date back several generations, they are no longer as durable as they once were. It’s not uncommon to hear stories of people who lost a lot of money while shipping antique furniture because there weren’t adequate packaging precautions used. If you’re thinking of exporting antique furniture, whether it’s valuable or just inherited, the care should be beyond dispute. The goal should be to keep the quality high and prevent breaking.
Read on for advice from experts on how to protect your antiques if you’re worried about losing, breaking, or degrading them. You can count on finding useful knowledge that will arm you with the greatest strategies for exporting antiques.
Tips on Shipping Antiques
Although there are many options for shipping antiques, including using special shipping services, it doesn’t hurt to learn how to handle it yourself. Always think about all the dangers involved with moving. For instance, you run the risk of being exposed to wetness or may experience a bumpy road that damages your possessions.
Start by imagining or assuming the potential causes of damage during transit and work your way towards potential fixes. You can be ready for the unexpected in this way. Also, keep in mind that although shipping is crucial, you should spend more time and effort packing your antiques. The actions you must take when shipping your antiques are listed below:
Keep Everyone on the Loop
First, it is important to contact the seller and provide accurate information about the size, condition and value of the old furniture. This includes:
- Taking Photos
This is an easy-to-use way for gathering and exchanging data on your antiques. Photos show the condition of your possessions before delivery, allowing for comparison once they’ve been delivered. Additionally, it helps you remember everything you packed.
- Labelling
If your antique is a piece that has been assembled, labelling each component is crucial. But make sure your labelling is exact, precise, and clean. Maintaining cleanliness might help keep your antiques’ quality high. You can’t just grab a pen and begin drawing numbers all over a piece that is many decades old, if you think about it. Instead, think about paper-wrapping the item before labelling it.
- Create awareness of fragile items
Antiques are naturally fragile objects, but some need special handling. It can assist to lower the chance of damage if you let the shippers know about some of the more delicate antiques. Based on their expertise and accepted practises in the business, the leading shipping companies for antiques, like Elite Shipping, come up with the ideal option.
Packing
Once you’ve labelled, photographed, and made people aware of the delicate items—and you feel confident—start packing your antiques. We provide smart packing tips for you. Various items require different packaging methods. However, in general, the following guidelines should be followed to ensure optimal safety when transporting antique furniture:
- Avoid furniture tapping:
However, furniture should not be held together with tape. You shouldn’t tape your antiques because they will eventually be disassembled. When you decide to remove the tape off them after taping them, the clear varnish you applied to them can peel off. This is why you ought to think about using shipping services for antiques. This is because they are experts in these approaches, which lowers the chance of such simple events.
- Use crating services:
The greatest approach to safeguard your belongings is to do this. You can order crates from shipping firms if you are handling the shipping yourself. All your crate needs are frequently met if you choose to work with experienced antique shippers like Elite Shipping.
- Use boxes:
If you can’t afford the crates, packing your antiques in boxes is also a smart suggestion. However, be cautious when deciding on the box size. To accommodate padding, you will need to pick a size that is just a little bit larger than your furniture. To accurately determine the size you need, you might also think about measuring your furniture.
Shipping
It’s time to ship once you have finished packing your antiques, and of course you are happy with your work. This procedure normally starts when you begin packing your belongings into the intended mode of transportation. There are main procedure in save money in shipping. Here are some options for exporting your antique furniture:
- Consolidated freight:
Likewise called a multi-stop truckload. It requires travelling together with other movers in the same vehicle. For those who mail fewer products, this strategy works well. Due to the fact that you only pay for the space your antique takes up, it is also a very cost-effective solution. Consolidated goods may take more time, though, due to the numerous stops and deliveries that must be made along the road.
- Ship yourself:
Your antiques are packed by you, transported by a truck that you rent. Looking for a good reason to do this? Well, we fervently respect those who enjoy having control over their surroundings. However, there are a lot of drawbacks to this kind of transportation, including full liability for any damage to your antiques or even the rental truck. For long-distance moves, it can also be highly expensive.
- Hire professional movers:
Possibly the safest and most practical method of exporting antiques is this one. Your antiques are handled by experts with shipping knowledge. They take the utmost care in all they do, from packaging to shipping. The only drawback to this strategy is how expensive it is, particularly for lengthy moves. However, you must always put your antiques’ safety first, right?
Conclusion
As soon as you have mastered the art of shipping antique furniture, team up with a shipper who has your best interests in mind. Spend some time researching the top antique shipping businesses. The business should arrive with nothing but the utmost respect for you and your antiquities. Elite Shipping assures you that your goods will arrive safely. We focus on giving your antiques the finest care possible, from packaging to shipping—all based on extensive experience. Choose Elite Shipping and ship your antiques the smart way.