Packing large doll bundle for courier.

It sounds like you don’t mind what happens to the boxes, so why not just do away with the individual boxes and pack them all into one large box with each doll securely bubble wrapped?

For more protection, you could bubble wrap their arms and legs and head individually first then wrap the entire doll in bubblewrap. And as long as the bubble-wrapped dolls are all packed together snugly without room for them to get tossed around inside the box, they should be fine. This is what I did when I had to put all my dolls into a storage unit when my flat was being renovated. They survived the journey to and from the storage unit unscathed.

 

Hmm... what about seeing if you can pack two dolls into an existing doll box together?

Doll boxes tend to be quite a bit bigger than the doll. If you take out the cushions/foam cutouts/whatever, and just put the bubble-wrapped dolls in, you should be able to fit two (or maybe even three) per box? It'll be easier to tape three boxes together instead of five.

 

I've received a ~65cm dolls + 2 60cm bodies in the ~65cm doll's box. They were unstrung, so if they're willing to unstring the dolls, then they could probably get them all into one box (depending on the size of the box).
namika's suggestion is also good, if you don't mind not having the pillows/foam/etc. I've gotten two strung MSDs into one of their boxes and it still had the pillows in it. They had to be laid facing opposite directions (so feet facing each other's faces), but it worked.

 

I'd honestly just want to make a little road trip out of it at that distance. It might be fun to meet her.
If you really don't care about the condition of the boxes, maybe wrap each in shipping paper and tape them together? You could tape the boxes together first then wrap in shipping paper but that'd also cause more damage to the boxes. If there's any possibility of rain, you may want to consider wrapping the boxes in plastic or something. @LupusDarkmoon's idea of unstrung is really good too! Unstrung dolls are much easier to pack and you don't have to worry about the bulkiness of the 5 boxes.

 

If you don’t care about the original boxes than I think it would be pretty save to bubble wrap each doll and put them each into their boxes and use the brown shipping paper wrap (you can get at the dollar store, Walmart, other big stores) and wrap all the boxes together with that and use very good heavy duty shipping tape. Not the cheap kind cuz whenever I use the cheap stuff it doesn’t seem like it wants to stick or if it gets wet it basically will come apart. The problem with this is your going to be paying a lot of money cuz of the weight I feel the boxes are going to make it heavy
If it was me I would just have them unstrung but I know not everyone is able to string them back up or be able to physically do it.

 

Sometimes when recieveing a doll shipped from a doll company, they have wrapped the box itself in bubble wrap and then wrapped it the hole thing in corrugated cardboard (the type you buy on a roll from stores selling things like building materials) and secured it with plenty of packing tape. The label goes on the outer carboard and the bubble wrap ensures the safety of the original box even if the outer package got slightly wet.
Maybe that's an option once you've firgured out how you want to pack the dolls inside the boxes?

 

This is waht I was going to say. I haven't shipped dolls this way, but I have transported them with no harm (my container for them was a large suitcase on wheels and I took around 20 dolls (including a Dollmore Lusion) on public transport (mainline trains and subway) to and from a doll meet that way. Five securely bubblewrapped MSD in a single box shoudl be no problem with a courier.

If she doesn't have any large boxes, perhaps you could add the cost of a cheap plastic storage crate to your shipping costs and she could run out and buy one... Or pick up an empty cardboard box from the supermarket when she's grocery shopping - it doesn't need to be huge after all.

Teddy

 

Since you said the seller is a new mother and will obviously not have time or energy to do the elaborate wrapping and preparing for shipping. If it were me, I would do the 4 hour drive. That is the least selfish option in my opinion. I've driven long distances many times, and it is not unpleasant. I drive a 6 hour round trip to visit my brother about once a month. It is not that bad. You can always stop along the way to get something to eat and take a rest from driving.

 

{laugh!}

This perfectly illustrates a big difference between UK and US attitudes to driving - that would be a weekend away distance over here, not a day trip.

I was boggled when staying with a friend in Chicago, that another friend in Indianapolis said she's drive over and collect us for a visit to her place, because it was only a three hour drive each way. And another time, when staying with a friend in Boston, another friend said we could visit her becuase she was "local" - just a 60 mile drive each way. In the UK that's an overnight stay distance, not "local".

Teddy

 

I didn't realize you were not in the US. I visited the UK in 2000 and the only long distance I traveled was a day trip from London to Portsmouth on a tour bus. I think it took several hours, but I don't remember. Of course in the US, everything is freeway or highway travel. A couple of times I've driven from where I live in Los Angeles to Phoenix Arizona. It's a 6 hour drive one way, and it is all open highway through the desert. I think I only stopped once to refuel and go through a McDonald's drive-thru for lunch. LOL

 

{nods} That's aboout seventy five miles, so probably just under two hours drive if you don't hit slow traffic (longer if London wasn't part of the equasion - less chance of convenient motorways or A-roads between smaller places).

So, you can understand why @purple_monkfish might want/need a courier delivery option rather than the drive and collect.

If it were me, driving wouldn't even be an option because I don't drive, which I know is less common in the U.S. than it is over here

Teddy

 

Glad you worked it out - Of course we'll need to know they reached you OK and the Ppayment went through too.... Well, I will because I am that nosey.

Teddy

 

Yes definitely share the box opening. It sounds really exciting. Sorting through them and cleaning them up sounds like a really fun project. I love that kind of thing.


I apologize if I sounded rude earlier. I'm terrible about assuming things about people. DUH! Of course not everyone drives or has access to a car. Even here in the US, in most large cities, people rely on public transportation rather than own their own car.
In southern California where I live, it's a necessity because the public transportation is not that reliable. I lived in New York for a couple of years, and there were trains and busses going everywhere, so I had no need for my own car.

 

Glad they arrived safely - Happy scrubbing!

Same here - I'm in Wimbledon (for many years, and before that, Leyton, Bethnal Green, Clapham Junction, Kilburn, and Tufnell Park... and before that, when I lived in a small town, I was too young to drive and got around by public transport anyway)

Teddy