How Much to Ship a Small Stuffed Animal
Kids of all ages are busy writing their letters to Santa asking for all sorts of fun and playful gifts. Whether you are a toymaker, sell toys on your ecommerce site, or just plan to ship a gift to a loved one, Stamps.com can offer some advice!
Stuffed Toys
Stuffed animals and plush toys are meant to be lovingly squeezed, not squashed during transit. The best way to guarantee a great impression and the safe delivery of your stuffed toy is to ship the product in a box. However, for added protection and to prevent damage to a teddy bear's plastic or glass eye, for example, you may also want to wrap the stuffed animal in transparent sealed bags, packing paper or bubble wrap. Remember that your recipient may open the box with a sharp cutter or a pair of scissors, so the best way to prevent damage to the stuffed animal is to use a box with some extra space for cushioning material. If you use a sealed bag or shrink wrap, clearly mark it with a suffocation warning label.
Action Figures and Boxed Collectibles
Some toys, such as action figures and collectibles, will already have packaging of their own. We recommend placing this package within a slightly larger box when shipping. Fill the empty spaces between the shipping container and the packaged toy with plenty of padding and peanuts. If you're sending vintage or fragile toys, we recommend marking the package "Fragile" to prevent breakage. If the original packaging of the toy is vintage itself, collectors may be upset if there is any damage to the box's corners, so you may want to wrap the original packaging in clear plastic.
Battery-operated Toys
Sending a remote-control car or robot? Keep in mind that restrictions exist for shipping lithium cells and batteries. For domestic mail, batteries cannot contain more than 1 gram of lithium content per cell and your package must have a complete delivery and return address. Restrictions vary depending on whether the lithium batteries are installed in the equipment, mailed with the equipment, or mailed without the equipment. For international mail, items may be prohibited by the destination country. Check out USPS battery restrictions here.
International Restrictions
Remember that, if you're shipping internationally, restrictions can exist regarding toys. These vary by country. For example, non-wood toys cannot be sent to Italy, toy guns cannot be sent to the United Kingdom, and children's toys operated by steam or electricity cannot be sent to Indonesia in commercial shipments. Learn more about international shipping restrictions by country here.
Using Stamps.com to Ship Toys
Reduce stress for your recipients by using our Shipment Notification feature. When you check the "Email Recipient" box on the Packages, International or Batch sections, the Stamps.com software sends an email to the package recipient indicating that the package has been sent. Under our "Packages" section, you can select one of our "Shipping Label" options. You can easily print a trackable label on plain paper or on one of our self-adhesive labels, such as the 4 1/4″ x 6 3/4″ shipping labels. With Stamps.com, you can print barcoded shipping labels for Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes (order your free USPS supplies at the Stamps.com Store!) and receive the discounted Commercial Base rate. If you want to use your own box, just select "Package/Thick Envelope" as your mailpiece and print out a barcoded shipping label. You'll still receive the discounted Commercial Base rate! With Stamps.com, you can send First Class Packages with barcoded Shipping Labels as long as your package does not exceed 15.99 ounces. Otherwise, you can use Priority Mail, or if you need packages sent at the speed of a magic reindeer, Priority Mail Express. Remember that toys cannot be sent by Media Mail.
How Much to Ship a Small Stuffed Animal
Source: https://blog.stamps.com/2016/11/28/best-practices-for-shipping-toys-and-holiday-gifts/