How to Ship Artwork Safely: Packing, Carriers, and Insurance

Every online sale, gallery consignment, juried show, and commission eventually turns into a box on a loading dock. Bad packing costs you the piece, the payment, and usually the relationship that produced the sale.

Below: what to pack with, how to pack each kind of work, how the carriers actually differ, and what changes the moment a shipment crosses a border.

Packing Materials Essentials

Buy these before you need them, because the day you need them is the day something sold.

Acid-free glassine paper goes against the paint surface. Bubble wrap goes over that, at least two layers, bubbles facing out so they don't emboss the work. Cardboard corners protect the edges, double-wall corrugated boxes protect everything else, and clear 2-3 inch packing tape holds it together. Fragile stickers are worth the dollar even though handlers ignore half of them.

Never Use

• Newspaper (ink transfers, acidic)
• Packing peanuts touching art (static, residue)
• Masking tape or duct tape (residue, weak)
• Bags directly on paint surface (sticking)
• Single-wall cardboard for heavy items

Packing Paintings and Works on Canvas

Step-by-Step Process

1. Document condition

   • Photograph front, back, all sides
   • Note any existing damage
   • Save photos for insurance claims

2. Protect the surface

   • Cover face with glassine paper
   • Tape glassine to stretcher bars (not to painting)
   • For oil paintings, add spacer (foam) if still curing

3. Wrap in bubble wrap

   • Bubble side OUT (prevents impressions)
   • Minimum 2 layers
   • Tape securely

4. Add cardboard protection

   • Cardboard corners on all four corners
   • Flat cardboard on front and back
   • Cut to size from larger sheets

5. Box selection

   • Box should be 3-4 inches larger than painting on all sides
   • Use telescoping boxes for custom fit
   • Or build box from flat cardboard

6. Final packing

   • Place wrapped painting in center of box
   • Fill ALL gaps with bubble wrap or paper
   • Painting should not move when box is shaken
   • Seal with tape on all seams

That first step matters more than it looks. Shoot the condition photos with the same care you'd use for documentation, because they double as your insurance evidence and, if the work is new, as portfolio images. The artwork photography guide covers lighting and color accuracy.

Mirror Boxes for Framed Work

Glass is the single biggest source of shipping loss. Tape an X across the face to contain a shatter, or ship the piece without glass and replace it at the destination, which is what many artists do for anything traveling far. Art-specific boxes with foam inserts are the third option. If you are deciding whether to ship framed at all, framing options and costs breaks down what the frame is doing for the work and what it adds in weight.

Packing Prints and Works on Paper

Works on paper are delicate but pack relatively simply:

1. Interleaving

   • Place acid-free tissue between prints if stacking
   • Never stack too many (weight damages)

2. Protection

   • Sandwich between acid-free cardboard
   • Or use print sleeves

3. Tubes (for larger prints)

   • Minimum 3-inch diameter
   • Roll with print facing OUT
   • Interleave with tissue
   • Cap and seal both ends

4. Flat mailers

   • For smaller prints, use rigid mailers
   • Add DO NOT BEND stickers
   • Consider cardboard stiffeners

Print volume is where shipping economics get decided. If you are selling editions, the per-piece packing cost belongs in the price from the start; edition sizing and print sales covers how to build it in.

Packing Sculpture and 3D Work

Three-dimensional work requires custom solutions:

For valuable or complex sculpture, build a wooden crate with foam inserts or hire a professional art crating company. Document condition extensively either way, and price the crating into the sale rather than absorbing it.

Choosing a Carrier

UPS and FedEx both cap declared value at $50,000 and both cost accordingly. UPS handles large boxes better and has the more forgiving size limits; FedEx is the one to pick when a delivery date is a real constraint, and the stricter of the two about how a package is prepared. Either is a reasonable default for a medium or large painting.

USPS is cheaper, more convenient, and caps insurance at $5,000. That makes it the sensible choice for prints, small works, and anything where the replacement cost is low enough that the cap doesn't matter. It is the wrong choice for anything large.

Specialist shippers like Masterpak, UOVO, and Cadogan Tate do white-glove handling, museum-grade crating, and custom solutions for work that can't be replaced. They are very expensive, and for a museum loan or a major collector they are still the right answer.

Insurance

Standard carrier coverage is thinner than it sounds. UPS and FedEx let you declare up to $50,000 and USPS up to $5,000, but reimbursement depends on documentation the claims department will ask for and you will not have unless you prepared it in advance.

For work worth insuring properly, look at third-party art coverage from Berkley Asset Protection or Huntington T. Block; your existing studio policy may already cover shipments, which is worth checking before you buy a second one. Our art insurance guide covers the policy types and what each one actually pays out on.

Documenting for Claims

Before the box is sealed, have condition photos from multiple angles, a signed condition report, proof of value (invoice or appraisal), and somewhere you keep receipts and tracking numbers. A claim without these is a conversation you lose.

International Shipping

Crossing a border adds paperwork, time, and a second set of rules.

Customs

Declare accurately. Art often qualifies for reduced duties, some countries restrict imports outright, and for anything valuable a customs broker earns their fee on the first shipment they keep out of a warehouse.

Duties and Taxes

The buyer typically pays import duties, but only if you told them so before the sale. VAT applies across EU countries. Research the destination country rather than assuming it works like the last one. If you are shipping abroad regularly for shows and residencies, working internationally as an artist covers the wider logistics.

International Carriers

DHL is often the strongest option for art crossing borders. FedEx International is reliable and expensive. USPS Priority Mail International is the budget route, with the reliability that implies.

Paperwork

Expect to produce a commercial invoice, a packing list, and a customs declaration, plus a certificate of authenticity for some destinations and a proforma invoice above certain values.

Shipping Costs Strategy

Three ways to handle the cost, and the right one depends on your buyers more than your math.

Building an average shipping cost into every price is simplest, lets you advertise free shipping, and is what most successful online sellers do. Calculating at checkout is accurate and adds a number at the exact moment a buyer is deciding. Flat rates by size (roughly $25 small, $50 medium, $100+ large) sit in between; set yours from your own average actual costs, not from these figures.

Whichever you pick, the number has to come out of a price you set deliberately. How to price your artwork covers the formulas, and selling art online covers how platform commission stacks on top of shipping before anything reaches you.

Shipping is also a deadline problem, not only a cost problem. Juried shows and commissioned work come with delivery windows that are set by someone else, and art fairs come with a hard install date. If you are shipping to shows regularly, keep the ship-by dates next to the application dates in your application tracker so a packing week never lands on top of an entry deadline. Exhibiting at art fairs covers the freight side of getting a booth's worth of work into a hall.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Short Version

Pack for the worst handler in the chain, photograph the work before it goes in the box, declare a real value, and keep every receipt. Proper materials cost a fraction of one destroyed painting.

Getting good at this pays off well beyond sales. Once shipping stops being the scary part, applying to shows in other cities and countries becomes a logistics question instead of a reason to stay local. Browse open calls and exhibition opportunities when you're ready, and create a free Artsume profile to keep inventory, deadlines, and application records in one place.