The below guidelines were written by the Club’s late Auction Secretary, Ted Bond. With over 30 year’s experience running the Club’s then monthly auction, there wasn’t much he couldn’t tell you about how to ensure the safe postage of your precious china. The title Ted originally used for these instructions was “How to pack a parcel safely enough to play football with it”. Going by that, you can see that he had a good sense of humour, although we wouldn’t advocate putting his suggestion to the test! Having said that, his advice is just as relevant today as it was when he first wrote it and we thought it may be helpful:

I have posted several thousand pieces of Goss China and less than a handful have come to any harm, and even then it was only because I took shortcuts with my own advice which I offer below:

  1. Even with increases in postal charges it is still, relatively, cheap and to try and reduce costs by taking shortcuts will save little but risk a lot.
  2. A good strong box, of ample size for the contents, is a first requirement and I would recommend a spirits box, usually readily available from a local off licence/supermarket this gives a strong outer layer of protection; whilst a wine box may be strong enough a shoe box is very unlikely to be suitable. The ultimate aim is to pack a parcel that you can put on the floor in front of you and kick across the room – if you hesitate start again. The ‘Post Boxes’ sold at Post Offices are not rigid enough and should not be used.
  3. Firstly wrap contents individually in tissue paper, ensuring that lids and bases are treated as separate items and dealt with as separate pieces. Then the ideal is ‘bubble wrap’ but do ensure that at least two layers cover any part and preferably more for vulnerable parts such as chimneys and ears etc.
  4. Do not sellotape around the ‘bubble wrap’ as damage can be inflicted trying to get the wrapping off when received. Keeping the bubble wrap in place with rubber bands is preferable. If you do not have access to suitable ‘bubble wrap’ then newspaper can be used, remember the tissue paper as first layer; but do ensure that you use sufficient to produce a formless bundle
  5. Do not overpack/try to get too many pieces in any one box, (see no.1) and if at all possible, use polystyrene flakes or similar SOFT void filler between the pieces and ensure that sufficient is utilised to slightly overfill the box so that SLIGHT pressure is needed to close the lid. This prevents items migrating around the box and damaging each other in the process.
  6. Seal the package with strong parcel/sellotape and use ‘Fragile’ labels, available free at your Post Office. Try not to post on a day that will lead to the package spending a weekend in a postage sack somewhere – it could just end up at the bottom of a considerable pile!
  7. If you wish to be advised of safe receipt please enclose your email address or a stamped addressed postcard/ envelope although parcels are only opened when it is an appropriate time to process the contents, which may be a considerable time after receipt.
  8. And finally: Please remember that what you put on the bottom will have to bear the weight of all above it; thus keep parcels down to a reasonable size otherwise crushing becomes a real and potentially expensive problem. What is on the top will be on the bottom if the parcel is turned upside down!

The Goss Collectors’ Club does not accept any liability for any loss or damage that may occur when following these guidelines.