How do you ship an oversized painting?

Shipping Oversized Artwork 101: an article that will help you not to learn the hard way, like I did!

There's more to online oversized art purchasing and shipping that, believe me, you don't want to be caught off-guard with. Consider this article as an oversized shipping 101 crash-course for anyone wondering what it takes to ship oversize artwork across borders.

I had set up my online store with my artwork, and I could hardly believe it when I saw the notification - "Your order has been confirmed!" I had sold my largest piece yet, and to someone in Hollywood! I was so stoked, it was a surreal moment of pure elation, and I was very excited to get the painting to my customer's door. Then I realized - wow, I have to actually get this huge painting to Los Angeles.

Luckily I was able to recruit my handy father to help me out in packaging this large piece, and constructing a wooden crate to ensure the paintings protection while in transit. For the packing materials, first we wrapped the painting in cellophane to protect the artwork from dust and other possible dirt in transit. Then we wrapped it in a layer of bubble wrap and taped it down. Then we created corner protectors with cardboard, cutting and bending it to the exact size of the corners, and secured it with tape. Now that we were confident it was properly sealed with no concern for the bumpy road ahead affecting the canvas, we proceeded to craft a wooden crate with covers. We visited Home Hardware and selected six 12x4s, cut them in half, and got two huge firm sheets for covering. We then went to work in the workshop at home, cutting the pieces to size and nailing them together around the canvas, firmly securing it in place. We were proud of our handy work and knew that it would take a miracle for someone to damage it at this point. We cut the hard sheets to size as well and used a staple gun to secure it. Of course, before this I added a personal touch with a packaged mini-canvas thanking my client for their purchase. The little personal touches always make a difference.

I hadn't realized before I started that regular postal services would not be an option for me, at the size and weight of this packaged painting. At a canvas size of 60x48x2" (HxLxW), which was 63x51x5" and 50lbs when packaged carefully and crated, I researched and discovered that my only option would be to freight it. I had absolutely no idea what the incoming process and associated costs would be - a classic noob move. First piece of advice: know your shipping method and estimate the costs before you sell.

So then I called about every postal service I knew for information, Canada Post, Fedex, UPS, you name it and I called it. This is how I found out that I would actually require a freight service, which I had never worked with before. However, apparently at this size, there are only several companies that have a contract to freight personal artwork. That's right, these companies not only need to be able to transport your oversized canvas but they need to be allowed by contract to do so. This largely limited my options. In the end, the companies that I know and trust that were also within a decently reasonable price range, who could also ship artwork, was Fedex and DHL. I ended up selecting DHL as a result of the overall price, although I am sure both are just as reliable as the other. With some effort we managed to get a same-day pick-up. Another few fun facts about transporting this artwork to the US was having the paperwork in order so that my client did not have to pay customs. I discovered that due to trading agreements in North America, you can fill out a free original works of art statement for duty entry form that will permit your client to not have to pay customs or duties, which is a major bonus. This form was absolutely necessary, so here is my second piece of advice: have your paperwork in order. Check what paperwork you need before shipping your work.

Later that evening, a truck arrived to pick up the large package. After that, it was in the fates - and DHL's - hands. I am thrilled to report that the artwork arrived safely to its destination, and I was very impressed with the speed of delivery.

Here is my parting advice for you: make sure you check your shipping settings on your online store and add your shipping costs to your product offering. After this shipping experience extravaganza, I was prompted to check how I received this order from Los Angeles. In this process, I realized that anyone from around the world could have bought this oversize piece due to the shipping settings that I had not updated from the automatic settings that allows purchases to be made from anywhere around the world. For a piece that can go through regular post this would not really be an issue, however, with something this large my shipping costs could have far outweighed the work itself if someone far abroad had purchased it. I thanked the heavens that I was so lucky to have an awesome buyer from Hollywood, a neighbour to Canada, rather than having to ship this via air to some location that could have costed me greatly. I am lucky to have learned the hard/not-so-hard way, and I hope that this article helps you not have to learn the hard way, too.

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