Fulfilment
Most vinyl damage in the post isn't the carrier's fault — it's a record that was allowed to move inside its own jacket. Get the packing order right and even rough handling rarely touches what's inside.
Take the record out of its jacket before you ship it. A record left inside its jacket can shift during transit, and its edge presses outward against the inside of the jacket seam — that pressure is what causes a seam split, one of the most common and most preventable forms of shipping damage. This one habit, on its own, prevents more damage than almost anything else in this guide.
The record travels in its own inner sleeve, separated from the jacket, and both are packed back together in a way that stops them rubbing or pressing against each other.
This whole stack then goes into a snugly-sized mailer or box — not a plain bubble mailer or poly mailer, which flex too easily to stop a corner strike on their own.
This is the step that prevents the majority of shipping damage — don't skip it even for a quick, local sale.
Use a clean poly-lined or anti-static inner sleeve. If the original inner is a thin paper or picture sleeve, consider shipping the record in a sturdier sleeve and returning it to the original afterward — thin paper inners split easily under transit pressure.
Protects the artwork from moisture, scuffing, and friction against everything else in the package.
Rigid stiffener, then jacket, then the record in its sleeve, then a second stiffener — nothing in the stack should be able to shift independently of anything else.
Corners take the brunt of drops and rough sorting. Corner protectors or extra card at each corner meaningfully cut down on crushed or bent corners.
Too loose and the package can move and impact internally; too tight and the corners take direct pressure. A dedicated record mailer sized to the format is worth the small extra cost over generic packaging.
Seal every seam of the mailer with proper parcel tape. Never put tape directly on the record jacket — household and packing tape both yellow, peel, and can strip the print layer off when removed.
An inner box holding the sandwich, placed inside a second outer box with its own padding, absorbs impact that a single box passes straight through — commonly used for rare or long-haul shipments.
Some plastic outer sleeves are made from PVC rather than polyethylene or polypropylene. PVC contains plasticizers that can off-gas over time, especially in heat, leaving a hazy film on the vinyl that doesn't clean off. It's primarily a long-term storage risk rather than a one-off shipping risk — but since you're choosing sleeve material at the packing stage anyway, reaching for polyethylene or polypropylene sleeves costs nothing extra and avoids the problem entirely.
| Damage | Typical cause | Prevented by |
|---|---|---|
| Seam split | Record left inside the jacket shifts and presses the seam open from the inside during transit. | Removing the record from the jacket before packing — the single biggest fix. |
| Corner crush / dings | An undersized or overstuffed box puts direct pressure on the jacket's most exposed point. | A correctly-sized mailer plus dedicated corner protection. |
| Warping | Heat exposure in transit — a hot delivery vehicle, a mailbox in direct sun, or a slow summer route. | Rigid stiffeners resist some heat-softening, but avoiding shipping into known heat waves is the real fix. |
| Vinyl breaking | Insufficient rigidity in the package lets the box flex enough for the disc to crack under a drop or impact. | The stiffener sandwich, plus not overstuffing a multi-record box. |
| Water damage | An unsealed seam on the outer mailer in wet transit conditions. | Fully taping every seam, not just the main closure. |
Sturdy record boxes can hold a large stack safely, but overstuffing defeats the purpose — records need to sit snugly upright with no room to shift, not be wedged in under pressure. Leave the stack square and supported, not compressed.
Tracking protects you as much as the buyer — it's your evidence of delivery if a dispute comes up later. For genuinely valuable records, insurance is worth the extra cost against a lost or badly damaged parcel.
Warping risk rises sharply in hot weather, particularly for parcels sitting in a hot vehicle, depot, or mailbox. If you're shipping into a heatwave, it's worth flagging to the buyer or choosing a faster service.
Customs declarations that are vague or inaccurate are a common cause of delay, and delay itself is a damage risk — the longer a parcel sits in transit or storage, the more chances for rough handling or heat exposure.