Three great boxes to try.
Safely ship your art in a sturdy cardboard box. Three stand out boxes are available if you seek a shipping box to keep your artwork safe while in transit.
For whatever reason, building a custom wooden crate may not be an option and I totally understand. This was the case for me for some time. I ship primarily with custom built wooden crates now, however, when I did not have the means, I still wanted to ship work in a high quality box that had a professional appearance and protected my work at a reasonable price point.
I have looked for art shipping boxes sold through companies such as Fedex, UPS, USPS, Uhaul, Amazon. They all sell shipping boxes, but none compare to the quality and professional appearance of the shipping boxes by Masterpak, Airfloat and Uline.
The “Must Have” Features of a Good Box.
Masterpak, AirFloat and Uline all have these “Must Haves”.
- Double wall carton construction
- Heavy duty plastic-lined top and bottom to prevent punctures.
- Removable foam
- Perforated foam insert to customize the fit
- Approved by most major air and ground carriers, including UPS and FedEx®.
- Sturdy enough to reuse.
1) Masterpak
I have always been happy with MasterPak’s shipping boxes. Inevitably I purchase through Masterpak because it is consistently the least expensive of the three box manufacturer. You will need to do your own price comparison to get a better idea if that’s your case as well.
I highly recommend their boxes for shipping artwork at a fraction of the cost of building a wooden crate. They are incredibly strong. Especially if you purchase their upgraded and heavier duty cardboard boxes. Masterpak is a New York Based Company – Made in the USA.
Watch the video at the end of this article to see me introduce this Masterpak box I purchased in 2018 to ship work to a show. – http://www.masterpak-usa.com/
2) AirFloat
I want to be honest here. I have never used Airfloat’s Strongbox, but I do know a few artist’s that have used them. Their prices are in line with MasterPak, and the boxes appear well made and professionally designed. One nice benefit to their boxes is the handle. So if that’s an important thing to you, I would check them out.
I will certainly be giving Airfloat’s StrongBox a try on my next small shipment.
AirFloat boxes are made in the USA.
- AirFloat Website
- First time using a StrongBox? Check out their step-by-step guide and video.
Uline
I have not had an opportunity to try Uline’s art shipping box yet, due in part to the cost. They are often the most expensive option on this list. Though I have never used their art shipping boxes, I use Uline to ship my limited edition prints and book. I can attest to their trustworthy as a business. They are a large family owned and been around for over 40 years.
Made in the USA.
Uline – Deluxe Artwork Shippers – Website
Hello,
I just would like to say thank you for this article, it meant a lot of help to me and the museum I work for.
I am arranging the international transport of a painting. First, I have found Airfloatsystems on the web but unfortunatelly, their customer service didn’t reply to my emails regarding invoicing. We tried to place the order regardless, but the debit card payment didn’t go through for some reason and even though we offered to pay by bank transfer, still no reply plus we were running out of time. That was the time when I found your article and it provided us with alternatives (even after quite a lot of browsing, I hadn’t come across these companies before). Our strongbox order is now complete with Masterpak. They replied super fast and provided us with the invoice.
So thank you for sharing this!
I’m so glad the article helped out. Masterpack has always been very reliable for me, and I’m glad to hear you have them a try. I’ve never used their boxes to ship internationally, but I have no doubt their strong box will work well.