Poker Chip Shipping Tips and Tricks (8 Viewers)

[horseshoez]

Question:
What’s the best way to package chips (by the hundreds) when you don’t have warneke boxes?

There are a few different ways to tackle this without Warneke boxes on hand. If time is of the essence and purchasing and waiting for them to ship isn't an option, the following methods work well:

1) USPS Priority Padded Mailer Method
A USPS Priority Padded Mailer can comfortably fit two barrels laid flat at the bottom. Roll them up tightly and secure them with painter’s tape. Then, place the mailer inside a snug-fitting box, and finally into the main shipping box—whether that's an MFRB, LFRB, or whatever size is most appropriate.

2) No Padded Mailers? Use Saran Wrap + SFRB
If padded mailers aren’t available, tightly wrap the barrels in Saran Wrap and place them inside a Small Flat Rate Box (SFRB). You can safely fit 3 barrels across and 2 barrels high. Add some packing peanuts, bubble wrap, or other cushioning material to prevent movement. For added protection, place the SFRB inside another box.

Painters tape to secure insides, packing tape to securing the PACKAGING. Not sure how many times I can repeat this.

 

[pltrgyst]

1) USPS Priority Padded Mailer Method
A USPS Priority Padded Mailer can comfortably fit two barrels laid flat at the bottom. Roll them up tightly and secure them with painter’s tape.

Mine fit three barrels, perfectly. I put three in, roll the mailer just enough to secure them, add another row of three barrels, roll the rest of the way, and secure with the mailer's adhesive strip. Then insert that package into a second mailer (rotated 90 degrees) and tape that shut. 120 chips bundled safe and sound. Easy to fit four of these into an MFRB.

 

[horseshoez]

I was going to say three but I know some people aren't comfortable with their goodies being that close to the edge.

 

[upNdown]

Question:
What’s the best way to package chips (by the hundreds) when you don’t have warneke boxes?

I just fill the bottom of a big ziplock bag with as many as will fit, then roll it up into a giant chip log. Then wrap each giant chip log with a little bubble wrap. Throw all the logs into a box with enough padding materials to keep everything tight in place.

 

[Taghkanic]

Appreciate the feedback. In my honest opinion, any use of a knife—whether it's an X-Acto or anything else—should be completely unnecessary when opening a chip shipment. I’ve tried going slow, even with care, and in some cases, that still doesn’t help. There are just too many layers packed in a way that makes access unreasonably difficult.

My main point is this: when wrapping chips, you have to consider what you're actually trying to achieve. While this may not apply to this specific shipment, I’ve seen plenty packed with five layers of plastic wrap, sealed tightly with packing tape, then wrapped again in bubble wrap with more packing tape on top. At that point, only a knife or sharp blade is going to work—and that’s where the risk of damaging chips, or even injuring myself, becomes very real.

So what’s the goal? If it’s anti-theft, let’s be honest—once someone has the box, they’re going to get into it regardless. That defeats the purpose. Which means the only valid objective is protection. And I’m all for protection—wrap it in ten layers if you want. Just please, use painter’s tape. That way it can be unrolled by hand, no tools necessary, and there’s zero risk to the chips or to whoever’s opening the box.

It’s really that simple.

Three separate concerns seem to be at play here:

1) Avoiding damage or loss during shipping;

2) Damaging chips while opening a package;

3) Having to spend too much time unwrapping/unboxing chip shipments.

For (1), given that boxes do sometimes come apart, get wet, or get messed with en route, it does seem important to wrap things well enough that nothing can slip out, or get damp, or present a temptation to a thief.

For (2), there are methods which offer reasonable padding and protection without going totally nuts. I favor using rolls of saran-grade wrap to tighten and seal boxes. Several wraps really firm things up but are easy to cut… Then followed by some bubble wrap or one layer of bubble mailer. Sometimes I’ll add a surrounding Tyvek-type envelope as well.

For (3), I guess the question is how much is too much? If too many layers of protection are used, it can be annoying, sure. But I much rather someone go overboard than be sloppy.

 

[Taghkanic]

P.S. I have a cheap vacuum sealing machine. I sometimes use this for small batches of a barrel or less. Usually I’ll lay them flat, seal them, then sandwich the sealed chips between cardboard.

 

[horseshoez]

More so about dangerous to the contents than annoying. Even if you were to take your time and open them up very slowly with a brand new razor/X-Acto, things can go wrong. There should be zero reason whatsoever to have to use those tools. I've ordered very expensive items in the mail and have never had to pull out something that put possibly land me in the ER or damage the contents to get to contents. People just need to stop doing that. It's useless.

 

[Taghkanic]

More so about dangerous to the contents than annoying. Even if you were to take your time and open them up very slowly with a brand new razor/X-Acto, things can go wrong. There should be zero reason whatsoever to have to use those tools. I've ordered very expensive items in the mail and have never had to pull out something that put possibly land me in the ER or damage the contents to get to contents. People just need to stop doing that. It's useless.

On rolls like the ones you originally showed, I also like to use some quality scissors and squeeze/pinch the ends until I get an hold of enough material to safely cut. It may take a couple cuts. Then remove the sleeve and progress to the next layer.

 

[horseshoez]

On rolls like the ones you originally showed, I also like to use some quality scissors and squeeze/pinch the ends until I get an hold of enough material to safely cut. It may take a couple cuts. Then remove the sleeve and progress to the next layer.

Once again, unnecessary. Swiss watches aren't even shipped using this method and you're talking about $10-$15k+ in a single package.

 

[arch3r]

I need to be clear: issues like this will be addressed immediately moving forward. If I receive another shipment packed this way, I’ll refuse it and return it to the sender.

Stop wrapping chips in a manner that increases the risk of damage when cutting open the packing material, or that makes the package unnecessarily difficult to open. If it’s wrapped so tightly that I need a knife or scissors just to access it, I won’t hesitate to send it right back. This needs to stop. The chips are not made of ultra-thin glass and will shatter at the smallest movement. Just stop.

I use the padded mailer to help protect chips all the time but I also use painters tape to allow it to be unrolled with ease, not completely wrap it up with more tape that needs cutting with a sharp object. This is nonsense.

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Challenge accepted!



But seriously, I agree. Packing tape should only be used for sealing the box. Painters tape is more than enough for securing the chips within the box.

 

[horseshoez]

Challenge accepted!



But seriously, I agree. Packing tape should only be used for sealing the box. Painters tape is more than enough for securing the chips within the box.

Preach brother, preach!