For artists and gallery owners, art shipping without damage is essential to building a lucrative business. Artwork provides unique challenges to shipping. In addition to temperature sensitivities, paintings may shift during shipping, making extra packaging essential.
Neglecting even a minor detail in art shipping can lead to significant damage. While you can’t prevent all carrier errors or damage, choosing the right carrier is the first step to preventing damage in transit.
When shipping paintings, you’ll want to balance safety, professionalism and cost. Here’s everything you need to know to ship paintings, including key steps and materials.
The Cost of Shipping a Painting
How much does it cost to ship paintings? The cost of shipping a painting depends on how you ship it, the painting’s size and weight, including whether it’s framed or unframed, as well as the shipping location and final destination.
Larger artwork will cost more, especially if it is oversized. A small rolled tube sent via USPS can cost as little as $5 to $10, while a large painting mounted or framed painting sent internationally may cost hundreds of dollars.
Is it Worth it to Ship a Painting?
For high-value items, it is usually worth it to ship a painting. In addition, with the rise of e-commerce, art shipping is a way for artists and galleries to expand their customer base and increase profitability.
6 Steps for How to Ship Paintings
If you’re ready to ship a painting, follow the steps below for art shipping to ensure it is well packaged and arrives safely.
Step 1: Determine What Tools are Needed to Ship
This point focuses on safety and professionalism. You’ll want to select packaging that protects the painting and looks professional to the end customer. Different types of artwork will require different packaging. For example, mounted or framed artwork needs boxes, whereas non-mounted artwork can be rolled inside a shipping tube.
Generally, a shipping tube will have lower shipping costs. You’ll want to select the packaging and determine the approximate weight for art shipping to get a shipping quote online.
Step 2: Get Shipping Quotes
You’ll want to get shipping quotes from different couriers and compare the offers for art shipping. The best option for your needs will balance cost, insurance (if needed) and reliability. Here are typical shipping options for USPS, FedEx and UPS:
USPS Shipping Options
- First Class Mail: delivery in 1-5 business days
- Priority Mail: delivery within 1 day
- Priority Mail Express: delivery within 2 working days
- Flat Rate Priority Mail: delivery in 1-3 working days.
FedEx Shipping Options
- FedEx Ground: delivery within 1-5 days
- FedEx Overnight: delivery the next day by 8 a.m.
- FedEx Priority Overnight: delivery the next day by 10 a.m.
- FedEx Standard Overnight: delivery the next day by 3 p.m.
UPS Shipping Options
- UPS Ground: delivery in 1-5 days
- UPS 3 Day Select: delivery in 1-3 business days
- UPS Next Day Air: delivery the next business day by 10:30 a.m.
- UPS 2nd Day Air: delivery within 1-2 business days
Step 3: Make Sure the Painting is Protected
Depending on the type of painting, you’ll need a variety of materials to protect the painting. Keep in mind the paint type (oil, acrylic), the distance it’s being shipped, the need for fragile labels, acid-free paper and gallery art pouches (to avoid bubble wrap touching art). Here is a list of items you may need:
- Foam boards
- Cardboard corner protectors
- Sturdy cardboard boxes, rigid mailers, or crates
- Paper tubes
- Acid-free glassine paper
- Shrink-wrap/cling film
- Heavyweight plastic bag
- Painters tape or washi tape
- Packing paper
- Bubble wrap (or an eco-friendly bubble wrap alternatives)
- Fragile stickers
- Scissors
- Tape measure
- Gloves
- Packing tape (for shipping paintings, avoid duct tape, masking tape, or scotch tape)
Other helpful items include:
- T-Square
- Tape gun
- Sharpies
- Box sizer
When you start packaging for art shipping, you’ll want to wrap the paper in archival-quality glassine paper or acid-free tissue paper. You’ll secure that with painter’s tape or washi tape before wrapping it in packing paper or a heavyweight plastic bag and then bubble wrap. While you don’t need everything on the list above, if you plan to regularly ship paintings, it’s worth having supplies on hand.
Step 4: Pack With Caution and Care
Packing with care is essential for art shipping. If you’re rolling a painting, you’ll still want to protect it with archival-quality glassine paper before packing it into a shipping tube. Be sure to carefully protect the ends.
In the case of shipping a mounted or framed painting, you’ll want to create layers of protection — from the archival paper to a heavy-duty plastic bag (to protect from water damage) to bubble wrap and flat cardboard.
You can use an old cardboard box cut up or flattened to build layers of protection. You can even alternate layers of bubble wrap and cardboard, especially if the painting is framed with glass. With each layer, you’ll want to secure it with painter’s tape or (packing tape for the outer layers) before putting it into the final box.
Step 5: Set Your Pickup Location
Once you have your painting ready for shipping, you can set your pickup location with the carrier of your choice. Depending on the source and destination, some couriers may require you to drop the package at a pickup location, especially for valuable art shipping.
Once you’ve set the pickup location and time, it’s time to get the package out the door. Insurance is recommended, so you’ll likely need to sign to confirm package pickup and then be able to track the package every step of the way.
Step 6: Shipping Insurance is Highly Recommended
Shipping insurance is essential to protect yourself against loss, damage and mistakes that could happen on the road with any type of art shipping. Shipping insurance is essential. Many carriers provide base insurance of $50 to $150. If the painting you’re shipping is more valuable, it’s worth the additional cost of insurance for peace of mind and protection. If the worst should happen, you’re protected.
Summary of How to Ship a Painting
Whether you’re lending a painting to a gallery or sending it to a new owner, art shipping can open new avenues of income for artists and galleries. Suddenly, the whole world becomes a potential customer. The main points to remember for shipping paintings are proper packaging, insurance and a reliable courier. With the right supplies on hand, you can safely ship paintings of all sizes to any destination.
FAQ
UPS is known for art shipping and packaging fragile or high-value items at UPS packing points. For this reason, many people prefer shipping artwork via UPS. However, both shippers are reliable options, as long as the artwork is properly packaged.
Yes, you can bring art to a UPS store, and the associates there will help you pack and prepare the art for shipping. It offers a range of packing materials and box sizes and can create custom boxes or crates for larger pieces.
You can protect your art when shipping by first wrapping it in acid-free paper. You’ll want to protect it with layers of cardboard and bubble wrap if it is already mounted or framed. Don’t forget the fragile labels on the final packaging, and be sure to insure it.
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