Packaging your goods securely is vital to avoid any financial loss that could result from potential damages that your shipment might incur as it gets transported from one place to another. 

Several claims are denied by insurance companies due to improper packaging or closure failure, so your supplier needs to properly package your goods.

Boxes 

Use high-quality double wall boxes. These boxes should be able to securely hold the weight of their contents. 

Taping boxes

For light boxes, use a durable plastic tape that is at least 2-3 inches in width. For heavy boxes, use reinforced tape that is at least 3 inches in width. Do not use household scotch tape, masking tape, duct tape, or kraft paper tape.

Inner cartons

Products should always be safely contained within a box, carton, crate, or other protective carton.

Fragile items should be wrapped individually in bubble wrap or foam padding with at least two inches of thickness around each item. 

Items should not touch the walls of the inner cartons. Use at least two inches of padding (foam, popcorn, kraft paper, inflated air bags, etc.) to protect the items and to fill in gaps in the box and prevent movement during transit. 

Do not overpack the box. 

Preventing moisture damage

Any goods that might be affected by dirt or wet conditions should be wrapped inside a plastic bag. 

Any goods, like textiles, that might be damaged as a result of humidity in a container (e.g. mold growth) should be packaged with a moisture-absorbing product, like dessiccants.

Master cartons

Sharp edges or protrusions on irregular-shaped items should be wrapped and taped. 

Fill up any empty space in the master carton with packaging material to prevent movement, and so that the packaging instead of the goods themselves absorb any kind of shock the shipment might encounter. 

Master cartons should be structurally strong and able to absorb the weight of other cartons (if they are stacked) or survive drops (if they fall off a truck). If you are working with a fulfillment center, the fulfillment center may have guidelines as to how corrugated the the carton walls should be. If possible, play it safe and use cartons with as highly corrugated walls as possible. 

Pallets

If your shipment is being palletized, boxes should be stacked squarely on durable pallets without any hanging over the edge of the pallet. Evenly distribute weight on the pallet and make sure the top surface is flat to minimize the chances of damaged boxes. 

All cartons should be labeled before they are stacked on a pallet. 

Note that pallets delivering to an Amazon FBA warehouse must meet Amazon’s specifications.