The United States jewelry market is estimated to be worth approximately $60.42 billion. While visiting a brick-and-mortar jewelry store is the common course of action, more and more yearly sales are attributable to online transactions. No matter if you run a jewelry store, you’re an Etsy entrepreneur, or you’re simply gifting some jewelry to a special someone, you need to make sure that your jewelry is safe and secure throughout the entire shipping process. You not only need to prevent your goods from getting damaged, but you also need to conceal these high-value items from potential thieves and vandals. In this article, we will go over 8 steps for how to ship your jewelry safely.

1. Clean the Jewelry

Your parents always said to clean up for appearances and it turns out they were right. Therefore, pick yourself up some jewelry cleaner and make sure your items are spotless. Not only does clean jewelry look better and adds to your customers’ satisfaction, but it also ensures that there are no contaminants or stains that can devalue your jewelry. When you’re done cleaning, lay your pieces of jewelry out on a flat, clean surface and give them time to dry.

2. Use a Poly Bag or Bubble Mailer

Once your jewelry is clean and dry, it’s time to start packing. Jewelry is typically small and lightweight, so you’ll want to begin by placing it inside a small poly bag or bubble mailer. A bag with a bubble wrap lining can offer better protection for jewelry, which can be sensitive to bumps and drops. Whether your bag has a reclosable zipper, a self-sealing adhesive strip, or requires a separate adhesive seal, you want to ensure that your jewelry is properly sealed inside before adding further packaging.

3. Layer Your Package

Like any great onion, your package will need layers. However, there’s no one single way to do this. For instance, you can package your jewelry by stuffing it in layers of increasingly larger bubble mailers. Or you can put your jewelry in a poly bag, put the bag in a kraft mailer, then put the mailer in a small box. Bubble out bags, for example, are an excellent choice for layering as they feature an exterior layer of bubble wrap that absorbs shocks and vibrations. No matter how you do it, you want to make sure that there are multiple layers between the jewelry and the elements. Finally, fill any remaining space with cushioning material, like Styrofoam peanuts or bunched-up newspaper. The less your jewelry moves around in its packaging, the better.

4. Seal the Package

If you’re using a bubble mailer for the outer layer, they often come with an adhesive strip on the flap; simply remove the protective backing and close it with light pressure. If not, you’ll want to seal it with some carton sealing tape. Hot melt tape works for heavy and difficult loads, while acrylic tape is best for loads that will be exposed to the elements. If you’re using a cardboard box as the outer layer, you may want to seal it with kraft tape; gummed paper tape has a water-activated adhesive that’s so strong that it practically fuses with cardboard and paper, creating a strong and tamper-proof seal.

5. Conceal the Contents

One of the worst mistakes you can make when shipping jewelry is telling people that you’re shipping jewelry. The more people that know what’s inside your packaging, the higher the chance of theft. Whether you’re using a mailer or a box, you want to guarantee that there is no way of seeing what’s inside. For extra concealment, wrap your goods in some opaque packaging, like colored stretch wrap. And don’t forget: loose lips sink ship(ment)s. When you’re shipping jewelry, keep it to yourself; that means don’t tell your neighbors, don’t post it on social media, and absolutely DO NOT write it on the packaging. It’s like painting a target on your package.

6. Handle it Personally

Trust is hard to come by, especially in the world of high-value goods. Even if you have a delivery service with a great reputation lined up, you’re probably better off mailing your jewelry yourself. Take your packaged jewelry to the post office and ship it First Class; this is the safest way to ship, but it also takes longer to deliver than the express services. Once you’ve turned in your jewelry to the postal service, request a receipt with a tracking number. When it comes to valuable shipments like jewelry, you need to be “in the know” as much as possible.

7. Get Jewelry Shipping Insurance

Can you get away with shipping jewelry without insurance? Of course. But are you willing to take that risk? Some pieces of jewelry are valued at hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, so that’s a substantial loss should something happen to your jewelry while in transit. Jewelry insurance helps to cover the cost of any repairs or replacements of your goods. Jewelers Mutual is the leading provider of jewelry insurance, covering both personal possessions and business transactions.

8. Make Sure It’s Signed For

The process of shipping jewelry doesn’t end with you dropping off your package at the post office. Your jewelry remains a liability from the moment the postal service accepts it to when it reaches the customer. Protect yourself from wrecking yourself with a signature from the end user. Not only will a signature confirm that your jewelry made it to its destination, but it also formally relieves you from the responsibility of caring for the jewelry; it’s the customer’s jewelry now, so you can take a sigh of relief.

Final Thoughts

A lot sure goes into shipping jewelry! Some pieces of jewelry can be highly fragile and require a lot of packaging, layering, and cushioning to guarantee safe travel. At the same time, jewelry can be extremely valuable and therefore the target of theft and vandalism. It is your responsibility to know how to pack jewelry for shipping so that it makes it to its final destination unscathed. Of course, you simply can’t cover all your bases and a freak incident can always put a wrench in the works. However, if you take the time to pack your jewelry well as well as conceal it, insure it, ship it first class, and demand a signature from the recipient, you can cover most of your bases. And remember: “A ring on the hand may be quite continental, but packaging is a diamond’s best friend.”