“I have ADHD and anxiety, which makes shipping gifts to my family back home an absolute nightmare,” Gwen said. “Buying gifts is easy. I love that part. Just this week, I picked up a beautiful glass suncatcher for my Mom. She loves that kind of stuff. But shipping fragile items requires so many steps – and supplies that I somehow never have on hand – that I wind up just putting things to the side and never actually sending them.”
“But then I joined this LinkedIn group that was all about boosting your personal productivity. Nothing too deep, just little hints that other professionals had found worked for them. And that’s where I read: It’s okay to hire people to make your life easier.” Gwen shook her head. “Going to the shipping store is literally hiring somebody to make it easier to get this present to my Mom. I don’t have to do anything. I don’t even have to plan ahead. I just go to the shipping store, give them the item and Mom’s address and they make it happen.”
Gwen laughed. “Do you know how many times I’ve bought bubble wrap just to get caught up on the gifts I was behind on sending? And you have to have tape and boxes and everything else. Forget that. There’s literally an entire industry devoted to making shipping fragile items simple and stress free. Take advantage of this!”
Here are some things to know about shipping fragile items from a pack and ship store. You’ll need to have the shipping address absolutely correct, and it’s very helpful to have the recipient’s phone number as well. Talk to the shipping store staff about your delivery options: if you’re flexible about the delivery timeline, it’s possible to save quite a bit of money on your shipment. It’s always a good idea to ship items in advance of heavy holiday demand windows.