LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Home > Guides > Fragile package shipping
Ship a fragile item in a box with room for cushioning on all sides, wrap the item itself before it goes in, and pack it so nothing moves when you shake the box. Marking a parcel fragile helps handlers take care, but it does not replace packing: carriers sort parcels by machine, and a fragile sticker cannot protect an item that rattles loose inside its box.
Use a new, double-walled box when the item is heavy, valuable, or oddly shaped. A single-walled box that held groceries or books may look fine but can crush under a stack of parcels, and a box that has already been shipped once has already used up some of its strength. Size matters as much as strength: a box that fits the item exactly leaves no room for cushioning, so the item takes every knock directly. A box a few inches larger on each side, filled with cushioning, absorbs those knocks instead.
For very fragile items, the box-in-box method is the gold standard. Pack the item in a smaller box with cushioning, then place that box inside a larger box with more cushioning around it. The outer box takes the drops and stacking pressure, and the inner box takes what gets through. It costs more in materials and weight, but for glass, ceramics, or electronics with screens, it is the difference between arriving intact and arriving in pieces.
| Item type | Packing that works | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Glass or ceramic | Wrap each piece separately, then cushion between pieces | Stacking unwrapped pieces together so they chip each other |
| Electronics with a screen | Screen protector or cardboard face, then bubble wrap, then box | Packing the screen against a hard object with no face protection |
| Bottles of liquid | Seal in a plastic bag, then cushion, then box | Skipping the bag, so one break soaks the whole parcel |
A fragile marking tells human handlers to take care, and it is worth adding, but it has limits. Much of a parcel's journey is automated: conveyor belts, sorting machines, and stacked cages do not read stickers. A fragile label does not slow a belt or lighten the parcel stacked on top of yours. Treat the label as a bonus on top of good packing, never as the packing itself. If you would not drop the parcel from waist height onto a hard floor, it is not packed well enough, sticker or not.
Photograph the item before packing, the packing as you build it, and the sealed parcel with its label. If the item arrives broken, the recipient should photograph the damage before throwing anything away, including the box and cushioning, since carriers often inspect the packing when a claim is filed. Keep the label and tracking details, and file promptly: claim windows close, and a claim filed weeks later with no photos is hard to prove. Good packing notes also help you pack the next one better, since you can see exactly where the protection failed.
With LetterAgent, you get a Canada Post Xpresspost shipping label by asking your AI assistant. You get a per-label quote, approve the exact price, pay once through Stripe, and receive a label PDF. Labels are Canada-only, flat-rate Xpresspost, with a 5 kg maximum. That limit shapes several of the choices below.
Ready to ship it? Get a shipping label with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and get your label.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
Need help? Ask your assistant: it can check a job's status any time. If it ever can't handle something: hello@getletteragent.com