After a moments thought I wondered if the lunacy had rationale. Perhaps they just only stock certain box sizes and then make due. Nah, I have counterexamples. Then it dawned on me. They probably HAVE to ship items in large boxes to accommodate the bags of air. Some treehugger manager probably lobbied against the use of foam peanuts which are much more adaptable for packing things in smaller boxes. But the bags of air can't be fitted into the smaller, more appropriately sized boxes. Hence the overkill. This is all conjecture, I have no intention of researching nor inquiring about their shipping practices. Books thankfully are shipped plastic wrapped to a piece of cardboard and hence can be are sent in more fitted boxes.
Related anxiety
With all of the moving I've done (on average once every 1.5 to 2 years for the past 20 years) I have an ingrained propensity to keep and store every box that comes my way. This is bad. I really don't have room for all of these boxes. I often break down the larger ones at least to flat store them. But then there are the boxes with the enclosed foam casings for appliances, equipment, computer peripherals, etc. These I practically treat as sacrosanct. When I move again I want to pack these things properly. Yet all they do is take up space and serve no intermediate function. It's as if I need storage space to store storage space. Blimey! And I know the minute I swallow my frustration and rid myself of all this cardboard I'll need it. Murphy is always waiting just around the corner.
5 comments:
hee hee... i'm going top send you a giant box of air bags for your birthday! :)
Throw away the boxes. Do it. It's good for you. Yes, you will need them the next day. That's why you work, so you can buy more boxes. It's your way of contributing to civilized society. You help keep box makers in business, so they employ people. These people will turn around and buy stuff and thus the cycle continues.
I can imagine that somewhat larger boxes are easier to ship, Maybe less likely to get lost in transit, easier to stack in trucks?
I've shipped many items and it seems that most of the cost is calculated by weight. So, the airbags are probably okay, just don't pack you items with peanuts. The styrofoam ones are okay, but not actual peanuts, they can get heavy. The biodegradable ones are fun. Toss them on the lawn, sprinkle with water, watch them melt. Fun.
What I wonder is why some Amazon shipments just come wrapped in cardboard, while others get the air treatment? Is it number and weight of items? Maybe peanuts have been proven NOT to protect an item like BAGS or air do? I know how anal some people get with the condition of their deliveries. Hell, I count myself as one of them. I mean, I'm expecting my JLA/Avengers collectors edition hardcover and damnit with the money I spend, it better be scratch-free!!
In fairness and as mentioned, I've noticed they send books differently from other consumer goods. Books I've ordered are tightly plastic wrapped to stiff cardboard and kept rather secure and protected. Hopefully your JLA will arrive in pristine condition.
Hmm... invention idea: peanut sized bags of air... like bubblewrap but with the bubbles cut out individually.
Recently purchased a camera from Shogun. Love it. Ordered some flash memory on-line. I suppose I could've gone to Best Buy or some other like store, but I could wait, and you can't beat free shipping. It came in a box that was (this is an estimate) twice as big as the package. And the package was 4-5x as large as the actual memory card. Perhaps that's a good thing. There was a rather large "dent" in the shipping box.
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