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When I sold my bear I didn't tell them it came with an additional case that I painted. It's just going to be a little suprise when they get it.
But I have been putting mine in a wooden box or handstitched fabric bag with drawstring, then put inside a plastic bag and sealed. Not a ziplock grocery bag but a nice stiff cellophane bag with pleats. Then placed in a shipping box with peanuts. Of course, hangtag and business card.
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Great subject!
All of my work gets a custom-themed box for shipping inside the packing box. I like to think that it makes a handy presentation box, storage or display base for the collectors. I don't put them in the photograph as it too is a sort of surprise. Although I did purchase some cloth-covered ones recently with an Asian look - BamBoo Panda is sitting on one.
I like the kraft pare covered tan/brown ones from Hobby Lobby, they come in many shapes and sizes for minis up to about 8". Sometimes I've turned them into rooms and books and closets, but usually just embellish the outside with paints, stains, ribbons, evergreen & pine cones - whatever keeps the theme; I decorate the outside so they match the mood and species of bear.
Being from the Illinois, 'Land of Lincoln', I also include a brand new shiny penny (for non-USAers or penny/cent has Lincoln on the front) and some 1.5" chocolate pennies - chocolate - wrapped in copper colored foil. It took me a year to find the manufacturer after seeing them being made on The Food Network' program 'UnWrapped'.
And a signed Thank you card with one of the auction images on the front.
Oh, and a miniature, 1.5" tall book on either bears, nursery stories or Christmas.
Posts: 8,574I try to wrap special hair dos in tissue paper by themselves, and if they have long necks I take atwist of tissue to go around their necks sepatertly. Then if they have special clothing i put balled up tissue under or over or inbetween layers....
good grief.
I don't have access to boxes like you show-to paint or decorate....oh well
One more thing to search for on the internet....a drawback to living so far away from any hobby type places....but isn't it rather expecnsive? Both inconsideration of your packaging and your buyers postage?
I find that my packaging can run 10-18 dollars----of course the doll doesn't weight that much but wioth all the extra supports and all.....
Packaging.....hmmmm
Very interesting subject. Something i should probably spend a little more time thinking through....your box that is hinged to open on your little kritter is really a very cute idea.
Is it wood-oh yeah-it is I just re-read.....
Hmmmmm Thanks Jennifer- every time this subject comes up I make improvements....
gollyhugs
dilu
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)The PO supplies all sorts of outer box sizes free - does every one else order theirs online too? There are some that cost $$ but all of the sizes I get are free. And they deliver them to your door! How can you beat that!!??
The craft-paper-covered boxes weigh all of an ounce, if that. Even with additional braid and paint and charms/buttons/trims it's a negligible amount of weight in the box. As my work weighs about 1/2 ounce for the largest 4 - 5" size, and the tissue cushioning everything else, I'm well under 1 lb on most boxes.
That's one of the advantages of minis, which is offset by their disadvantage in show displays, when we need to travel with many more Props to fill the 6' and 8' tables!!!
Flying Fur StudiosAaaak, I don't do anything.
Granted I don't sell many bears that need to be shipped, but now that I'm going to start trying I'd better listen up.
I can admit that it's nice to get a beautifully wrapped package in the mail, I just don't know if i have it in me to create one.
Tuppies TeddiesI send my bears in a gift box, try to co-ordinate the colour of the box with the bear.
The bear is in a cellaphane bag and then wrapped in tissue paper. Certificates and tags enclosed as well.
The box is then wrapped in brown paper and sealed securely, most likely the customer gets a bit frustrated trying to gain access to the little critter inside the box..
I am sending one of my bears off to New York tomorrow, Noah has found a new home..
Bears by Jodi
I usually use packing peanuts to soften the ride.... 
.... and wrap the little guy in some tissue paper so as he is like a little gift . Some times I send photos of other work or a picture of that bear and sign it .....in case they think I am famous :crackup: . But they may like to show it to their friends and that way they don't have to drag around the bear. And I always send a thank you letter and remind them to visit my web sight. And a business card. Some times I send a small extra gift If I have any that I have picked up along the way.
Jodi Falk
Posts: 30i love the ideas!!! and the little wooden box is so great! awesome way to show the customer how much pride you take in your bears, as well as thinking of them. definately something to keep in mind. my little logo is a honey bee, so, i was thinking of honey bee chocolates. we have a fantastic candy store in town, and they said they could give me a "sweet deal". i was thinking of placing them into cute little paper beehive bags that i have. i have also designed the cute little thank you cards as well.
my one question is this... is putting the bear into plastic before placing in the box a good idea? i was thinking with humidity and such, that it would be a bad thing. any advice?
take care!!!!
jen
BrisbaneI would like to make more of a big deal with my packing but I find most of my bears cut it pretty fine when it comes to the weight increments and the shipping doubles whenever you go up an increment 
So I am always pretty practical....bubble wrap, beans business card with a thank you on the back and a good strong box. I am always paranoid that because the have to travel all the way from Aus they will get squashed. I always use plastic so they can't get wet and I tape over the address on the outside so it can't get wet either. But it would be nice to be able to make it prettier!!!
Wow your little wooden box is adorable!!!!
I put my bears inside a nice patterned cellophane bag - so it's kind of fun when you get him or her.
I used to wrap them in colored tissue also.... but then we talked a while back about possible color rub off... so I've stopped doing that (although I had no problems!)
I also enclose a thank you card :)
YES, ALL of my bears travel inside a cellophane bag... just in case! I had a mohair shipment (long time ago) left at my door by UPS in the pouring rain... right underneath a leak in the gutter! (it wasn't raining when he left it LOL!)
All I can say was thank goodness the mohair was well wrapped within a plastic bag! That's when I started wrapping every bear I shipped!
Posts: 30thanks for the info. i was just a little concerned with the plastic issue. i didn't even think of the rain issue!! DUH!!! LOL!!! i will definately use it. soggy bears are not happy ones. thanks again!!!!!
I was just googling today to find boxes for my bears! I haven't packaged any of mine as creatively as every one else, and I've been thinking I should.
The past couple I've sold (and one I *JUST* finished) come with blankets, so I make sure they are all wrapped up nice and warm for their trip to their new homes. But otherwise, just plain shipping boxes. I want to do something neat and this thread is pointing me in the right direction.
Posts: 1,836For my mini's I've always done the same thing....
First the little one gets a tiny piece of cardboard to sit on, white tissue is folded around that to keep him sitting and secure for the ride. Around that I take 2-3 colors of tissue, one is always green. I gather this tissue up and around the white bear pack and tie off with green ribbon curls, creating a bouquet effect. The "bear bouquet" gets a handmade thank you tag tied at the gather. This goes into a plastic food store bag (in case any weather or elements hit the box) and lastly into a shipping box where crumpled up brown bags act as a last cushion between the "bear bouquet" and that shipping box.
It sounds like a lot typed out here, but it's 5 minutes that makes the bear arrival more special for the collector and that means a lot to me too 
Now for larger bears I'll have to figure something else out, but I'll make it just as special.
:hug:
~Chrissi
my one question is this... is putting the bear into plastic before placing in the box a good idea? i was thinking with humidity and such, that it would be a bad thing. any advice?
take care!!!!
jen
When the bear fits snugly into the box I don't put the bear in cellophane. When I wrapped my Nathan and handmade wooden bed, I admit I was a little nervous. I shredded some craft paper (I have like 1,000 foot roll) and padded the bed, then put Nathan in cello bag and the bedding in another cello bag. They all went into a handpainted box, then wrapped again with bubble wrap. My cello-bags aren't air-tight, they are the little cello party bags you buy at Hobby Lobby.
Matilda Huggington-beareI am pretty basic these days. Due to cost and time.
I wrap my critters in tissue paper and line the gift box with tissue paper. I place them into the box with their tags and wee travelling companion. I fold over the tissue paper place my business card onto that then I wrap the box in gift wrapping paper, Print side in. I buy plain box's and personalise them with my logo.
I try to keep the cost down. I have scales in my workroom which I use constantly for the reasons that Sarahjane has mentioned. I do alot of swaps so I really NEED to keep the costs down as much as possible. (I'm talking postage and packaging costs not critter costs. )
I am in the shocking habit of forgetting to plastic bag them. 'I really must remember!.' :redface:
I think placing the whole package into a ziplock bag before the final wrapping or postage bagging would be a good idea. You can expel the air with ziplocks.
Ok thats how I do it.
BrisbaneI try to keep the cost down. I have scales in my workroom which I use constantly for the reasons that Sarahjane has mentioned.
I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who tried really hard to keep the cost down 
....although I think our postage over here is really expensive!!!
aaww Jennifer, I love you boxes 
I have been trying to find papier mache boxes in the UK that i can paint but can i find them in bulk..nope! 
I currently package mine
Small carboard base
Wrap in florist cellophane
fold over at top and add ribbon
add my Label
pack in a too larger box full of biodegradable packaging
it's not how I want it to be but trying to find the right thing is a nightmare 
Honeypothollow
I wonder when it gets reallllyyy hot in the summertime if chocolates would still be a good idea?.... might want to switch to hard candy then.......
Don't want any melting onto your bears fluff!
I totally understand about keeping costs down. I am fortunate in that area because my bears are so small. I got the wood boxes for 50ยข each. Also, the larger boxes were $1.50 because I had a coupon. I really love the wood cylinder boxes which I can get for about $1.25 with coupons. And my largest item (Nathan) was only 1 lb. 4 oz. when all was said and done at the post office. I think I do a lot of quirky packaging because I am just obsessed with doo-dads. Honestly, its me.
Burlison BearsAll the Burlison Bears are minis and I've always put them in their own painted travel trunk made out of paper mache. Sometimes I add vintage-looking luggage label stickers all over the trunk to make it look like they've traveled the world before finding their new owner. With my circus bear he had his own circus themed travel trunk with vintage-looking circus stickers and tickets all over it. It was really adorable. (My Burlison Bear pawprint logo is on the inside of the trunks, and the bear rests comfortably on tissue packing paper folded inside.) I've had a lot of positive response from my buyers with my travel trunks.
But for my holiday bears I put them in plain paper mache boxes and tie them up with ribbons.
I always wondered how everyone else package their bears. Very interesting.
Eliza
Because my bears range in size from 5 inches to 25 inches, I have to keep lots of cellophane bags, ribbon and boxes on hand. They're all packaged pretty much the same way though. Bears are seated in their cello bag. The top is tied with a sumptuously wide satin ribbon and usually a spray of millinery flowers is tucked into the bow as well. Attached to that is my handmade envelope with enclosed picture and vital statistics of the bear or bears. At this stage they look rather like a gift basket! The whole kit and kaboodle is settled into a box and ghost poo is added to the box to fill 'er up.
I used to double box my bears but the added cost for shipping the large bears was just too much to ask a collector to pay for. That's why I switched to cello bags.
Warmest bear hugs, :hug:
Aleta
P.S. Finding a source for shipping large bears has been a challenge. I just can't seem to find boxes that will accomodate a bear laying down in all the sizes of bears I make. Most companies require buying 25 boxes at a time in order to get a good price on custom made boxes. When you make as many sizes and shapes of bears as I do it would require deep pockets and a big warehouse for storage.
Aleta.... have you tried some moving and packing companies? They have all sizes and shapes of boxes..usually they are flat and must be folded out so easily stored... not sure on cost.. but perhaps an option.
aerBearsWhere do you get nice cellophane bags? I have been looking for something like this but so far have been unsuccessful.
Aerianna
Storytime BearsI must say Aleta , when I received a bear that I bought from you a long time ago, it was wonderful, how you had it packed, you had the thank you card folded so neat with a black checked ribbon on it, I loved it!!!!!!! Michelle Lamb and I were just talking about you, we were saying we would love to win the lottery and open a bear museum, and we would want you to design a little scene, like a wonderful tea party, it would be beautiful.
You guys are good, I must say packing the item to be shipped is like torture for me, I need to do a better job, I just make sure it doesn't get damaged, no bells or whistles, I need to be more creative, you guys all have such great ideas, it inspires me to do something different.
Storytime BearsAerianna, If you look on the net , go to google and type in bags for retail stores , I used to own a toy shop and you can order big bulk supplies from those type companies at a lot lower cost, one company is www.papermart.com since you have your own business thru ebay i am sure you would be able to buy wholesale.
Hugs
Jodi
