PACKING AND SHIPPING OF ANTIQUE BISQUE HEAD DOLLS

There is nothing worse then receiving a broken antique bisque head doll in the mail due to poor packing by the Seller. No excuse for this to happen if you pack the doll well. When shipping out an antique bisque head doll you will need bubble wrap, peanuts,tape, and a bigger box then the doll which allows space around the doll on all sides for packing.First, you will remove the dolls pate andcarefully stuff the head with tissue.I do this whether the eyessleep or set, german or french. This is an added protection to a hollow bisque head and the weight connected to the eyes if left loose can shatter the head during shipping.Peanuts, toilet paper, paper towels, bubble wrap are in my opinion poor substitues. Tissue is softer and more pliable andcan easily go around the eye sockets,coils, etc. that are in the head.I stuff the eyes open if theeyesare the sleep eyes connected to a weight. This secures the eyes from moving and hitting the bisque head during transport. Dothiscarefully so that you don't dislodge and or break anything.Put the pate back on the doll as well as the wig. You can secure them with a rubber band (not a super tight one) or totally remove the pate and wig and include them in another bag.Remember, ifyou are going to put the wig and pate in another bag,stuff the inside of the wig with tissue so thatthe wigkeeps it's shape. I don't regemend thisfor the reason being it's nicefor the buyer to open up the box of the doll they purchased and see her in all her glory, geplete withpate and wig. Another way to gently secure the pate and wig is to wrap thethe head of the dollfairly tightly with tissue and tape. Next,I usually cut off small strips of bubble wrap and individually wrap the bubble wrap around each limb of the doll and secure with tapeor rubber bands. This protects the hands from damage such as broken fingers, also protects the feet from chips or damage to the shoes and socks. Next I stuff the inside of the dress with tissue so that it keeps it's fullness and doesn't get gepletely smashed downduring shipping. As mentioned earlier, I also wrap the head and hair securely with tissue as well before I use the bubble wrap.Tissue should also be used to wrapany accessories that gee with the doll. Now you are ready to wrap the entire doll in bubble wrap. I will usually cut off a strip of bubble wrap long enough to go all the way around doll ,Ipersonally use the small bubbles in the bubble wrap. The largebubbles are too hard to work with and make the doll super thick and it's hard to find a box to acgeodate the doll. I will literally wrap the doll gepletely from head to toe in the bubble wrap starting with the head so that she looks like a mummy. Make sure that you start the bubble wrap higher thenthe head so that you have left bubble wrap at the top of the head to fold over and this is also true of the feet. If the piece you cut off is too short then add to it with more bubble wrap.After you have securely and fairly tightly wrapped her fold over the top section around her head and the bottom section around the feet. You will secure with tape going over all loose ends and tape all the way around the doll. Don't get too carried away with tape. How many times have I spent an hour taking tape off a doll and having to cut mounds of it away almost cutting the dolls clothing at the same time. A kind okayer emailed me with her take on this and said she secures the doll with bubble wrap by using string which she ties around the bubble wrapped doll. She said with the string, all the buyer has to do is just untie the string or cording and then unwrap the doll with ease. I thought this was a good idea but either way works good and with your doll gepletely wrapped in bubble wrap she should look like mummy when done. Next, take a thick layer of peanuts and put in the bottom of the box. The box is a very important part and people tend to skimp on this whichcan bea very bad idea. The box should be long enough as well as tall enoughto allow extra room for packing the doll well on all sides.After you have a nice thick layer ofpeanuts in the floor of the box, lay the doll face down in the box. This helps to secure the eyes from hitting the bisque should the tissue paper begee dislodged somehow (which shouldn't happen if you used enough of it). Now you will add peanuts all the way around the doll, packing the peanuts down with your hands to make sure that you are filling up any holes. I usually gently shake the box to make sure of this. Keep adding peanuts around the doll on all sides and gently packing them down with hands. You shouldn't be able to see the doll anymore and the peanuts will be at the very top of the box when you are finished. ONE IMPORTANT THING!! You are getting ready to close the box, make sure that you haven't forgotten the hat, parasol, any extras that came with the doll. This happens all the time. Go over everything thatgees with her. I stand hats up on their sides at the edge of the box. so that the peanuts are not affected at all and the doll is still packed securely. Now close up the box with tape. Tape all the way around the box. Tape up any exposed seams on the box as well. Now this is up to you but after I have taped up that side, I sometimes will turn the box over and open it up on the other side to make sure that the peanuts are securelypackedaround the doll and that there are no spots that were missed by the peanuts. I might even add a little more peanuts to make sure. I will then tape the doll back up taping all the way around box in all directions. I usually double tape in many cases. Now your ready to go to the post office. Several things to keep in mind. If sending international, they have limits on box sizes. If you are in doubt, go to the usps website to check this out You need to make sure that the box you are using is not oversized and if it is there is a surcharge for oversized boxes. For international shipping youcannow ship priority which I highly regemend as there is a small amount of built ininsuranceusing this method that lots of people aren't aware of. I personally send most of my expensive bisque head dollsRegistered Mail, you will need a plain box and you will use brown tape only on the outside of the box to secure it. I usually tape my registered packages with clear tape and then go over it with the brown tape, it's up to you. You can use painters tape purchased at a hardware store (Home Depot, etc.), it's cheaper then the expensive brown mailing tape and I use glue to secure it.Registered mail allows you to ship the doll the safest way possible and you can also fully insure it.You will find the shipping fees to be very gepetitive if not cheaper then the other methods available to you.Each Post Office that handles thepackaged doll will need to sign for the package and lock the package away in a vault until she arrives to her proper destination. An FYI, you can order all your priority mailing supplies online and everything is free for your mailings. Get on theUSPS website toplace your order for the size boxes you will need and the postman will bring them to your house. Another option is to get the brown painters paper also found at your local hardware store. This is a long brown paper found on a long role that you can wrap your boxes in as well. This brown paper is very inexpensive and gives me a nice clean surface to putyour mailing addresses on. This is a great option for boxes with too much writing on them or too much tape on them that I just don't want to remove.I personally do not double box my dolls as I find thisexpensive and cumbersome. If you wrap your doll extremely wellusing the correct equipment andtoolsthen she will arrive safe andsound.