How to pack and post small 3D prints

Personalised 3D prints have a big advantage over most handmade products: they're small, light and hard to break. A keychain or bag tag can go in a padded envelope for a fraction of the cost of a parcel. But only if you pack and price it right.

Here's how to pack small prints so they arrive safely, look like a gift and don't cost you more than they should.

Know your postage sizes

Most postal services price by size and weight bands. Thin, light items fall into the cheapest bands; anything thicker or heavier jumps to a parcel rate.

Measure your products packed, not bare. The envelope and padding count.
Find the thickness limit of your postal service's cheapest band. Many flat items like keychains, bag tags and bookmarks fit it.
Weigh a packed sample of each product and write it down.

Design your packaging to stay inside the cheapest band you can. A keychain that goes up a size band because of a box costs you on every order.

Protection for flat prints

Flat prints rarely break. What goes wrong is:

Thin parts snapping, such as long tags or bookmark tips, when the envelope is bent.
Scratches on glossy or silk surfaces.
Rings and clasps poking through the envelope.

Simple fixes:

Padded envelopes for most small items.
A piece of card behind long, thin items like bookmarks and tags, to stop bending.
A small bag or tissue around each piece, to stop scratches and keep sets together.
Rings attached, but turned so they lie flat.

Packaging for bigger gifts

Door plaques, trays, planter covers and desk accessories are bulkier. Use a small box with crumpled paper or card inserts so the item can't move. Corners take the hits, so pad them.

For fragile thin details, like a standing place card's feet, wrap the item and fill every gap.

Make it look like a gift

Most personalised prints are gifts. A little presentation makes a big difference to how the buyer feels, and to reviews:

A backing card with your shop name, for keychains and tags. It looks finished and keeps the item flat.
Tissue paper in one of your brand colours.
A small thank-you note with your shop name and where to find you.
A sticker to seal the tissue.

None of this needs to be expensive. Keep it consistent, so every order looks the same.

Packing bulk orders

For a class of school tags or an office set, the buyer needs to hand items out quickly:

Pack in list order. Bulk files from STLmint are numbered in list order, so print and pack in that sequence.
Bag each item separately, or group by class or team.
Label each group with the class or team name.
Include a printed copy of the list, so the buyer can tick off names.

Stop postage eating your margin

Postage is easy to forget when pricing. A few rules:

Build postage into the price for small items, and offer "free shipping". Buyers compare total cost.
Charge for upgrades, such as tracked or express delivery.
Use one envelope size for most products, so you buy in bulk.
Offer local pickup for local orders. It saves postage and often leads to more orders.

Put postage and packaging in the selling-costs line of the calculator in how to price personalised 3D prints.

Tracked or untracked?

Untracked for low-value items like single keychains. Losses are rare and cheap to replace.
Tracked for higher-value items, bulk orders and anything with a deadline, like wedding place cards or Christmas gifts.

Whatever you use, tell the buyer when you post and what service you used.

Post on fixed days

Pick fixed posting days, say Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and pack everything due for that day in one session. This fits with batch printing custom orders and stops trips to the post office every day.

Common questions

What's the cheapest way to post a keychain? In a padded envelope that fits your postal service's cheapest size and weight band, with a card backer to keep it flat.

Should I include a gift message? Offer it as an option at checkout. Many buyers post gifts straight to the recipient.

What do I do if a print arrives broken? Ask for a photo, reprint and resend. Then look at your packaging for that product so it doesn't happen again.