Shipping your records to The Vinyl Archivist

Proper packaging of records is essential to their safety during transit. I know most of you are familiar with the process, but I will outline the best practices here as a refresher or a guide to new collectors.

What you will need:

• A proper cardboard mailer designed specifically for records
• Two or more cardboard inserts for stability
• Polysleeves or plastic bags to seal the records
• (optional) cardboard spacers and/or bubble wrap to fill in any gaps

Make sure each record is in its own innersleeve. Put the records and/or covers in a poly outersleeve. When shipping, I prefer to use the ones with the sealable flap to completely cover the records. If you are also shipping the cover, be sure to take the record out of the sleeve to prevent sleeve splits.

Sandwich the records between two pieces of cardboard (add additional cardboard in-between if you are shipping many records). Make sure each piece has the grain (lines) going in the same direction.

Put the stack of records into the mailer with the grain opposite to the grain of the mailer. This is important as it provides strength and prevents any possible bend of the package.

If only shipping records, there will likely be some extra space on the sides (standard mailer size is 12 1/4 inches to accommodate the sleeve). Cut some small pieces of cardboard to add extra protection in the empty space between the records and the walls of the mailer.

If there is still extra space, pad this out with bubble wrap or more cardboard. Seal the package tightly and send it to me.