just out of curiosity...why is jewelry shipped in nested boxes

[diamondnut]

in other words, why put them in several envelopes/boxes within each other? i presume it''s for safely reasons but if someone intends on stealing the item, why would a couple extra envelopes/boxes stop them?

have been curious about this since i got my ring in the mail.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

There are millions of those standard UPS and FedEx boxes sent everyday. The size of that box does not trigger the thought that "hey, there might be a diamond ring in that box"! On the other hand, a little square package is sort of a give away as to the contents. The inner padded envelope is probably to keep the little box from rolling aroung in the big box. Another issue is that a little box is simply easier to lose.

 

[RaymondW]

I doubt that it''s as much for security as for protection of the ultimate package in transit. The ring I bought came in a ring box covered with soft leather. That was packed inside of a fitted glossy cardboard gift box. I think the gift box just protected the leather box but you could more easily wrap the square cardboard box if that''s what you wanted to do. That was then packed inside of a small brown corrugated box. Again, that was presumably to protect the gift box from getting banged up. THAT was then placed inside of a standard Express Mail box. I assume each layer just protected the next and wasn''t intended to stop a thief.

 

[strmrdr]

I have heard the insurance companies demand it.

 

[oldminer]

Double boxing prevents pilferage by shipping company employees. They can pretty well know when a box has a good chance of jewelry inside. Double boxing makes slicing the package to get at the contents a lot more challenging. Insurance companies do demand it from some of us.

 

[denverappraiser]

Double boxing also reduces the effect of ‘routine’ sorts of damage to the package from the machines at the shipping company or aggressive handling in the trucks. It’s not so unusual for a tear or some such thing to happen to the outer packaging and this makes it impossible for anything to fall out unless they really destroy the entire outer box.

Neil Beaty
GG(GIA) ICGA(AGS) NAJA
Professional Jewelry Appraisals in Denver

 

[diamondnut]

ahhh...thanks for the replies everyone!!!

 

[jewelerman]

This post reminds me of the time i was managing a jewelry dept at a dept store in my area that carried high end antique jewelry.The store was closed when the delivery (a very well known mailing company)man came with a box containing several jewelry pieces worth 300 thousand dollars.He placed it on the shipping dock.The delivery person was fired and the insurance paid off.The box was recovered a month later still kicking around the dock found by a part time teen age employee who was about to put it in the box crusher but stopped because it was so heavy he checked to find it un-opened.One necklace in the box had a $75,000 retail.

 

[MoonWater]

Date: 4/23/2008 12:41:46 PM
Author: jewelerman
This post reminds me of the time i was managing a jewelry dept at a dept store in my area that carried high end antique jewelry.The store was closed when the delivery (a very well known mailing company)man came with a box containing several jewelry pieces worth 300 thousand dollars.He placed it on the shipping dock.The delivery person was fired and the insurance paid off.The box was recovered a month later still kicking around the dock found by a part time teen age employee who was about to put it in the box crusher but stopped because it was so heavy he checked to find it un-opened.One necklace in the box had a $75,000 retail.

 

[jewelerman]

Moonwater,That was the exact look on my face when the general store manager brought me the box and told me how it was found.

 

[niceice]

The simple answer is "the insurance company demands it". I saw a video once that showed how people at the sorting facility pilfered the contents of boxes, one of the guys tossing the boxes dropped one, seamlessly kept tossing boxes to another guy, then kind of side stepped and stomped on the box that he had dropped which caused it to burst, then because the box was damaged, it was tossed into a bin for damaged boxes which he thought was out of the view of the security cameras, then one of friends pilfered the contents of the box and later discovered that the whole thing had been caught on tape.

It''s a lot more difficult to burst a box within a box within a box, than it is to just burst an empty box. And it''s more difficult to have to stand there and tear into two or three boxes than it is to merely slit the seam on one box and pull out the contents... We also use a sticky zip lock pouch on the inside of our boxes, but it''s not for security, it''s to keep the contents dry in the event that the outer boxes get obliterated by rain or standing water, we started doing that after one of our customers asked us to resend the paperwork because it was all wet - and no, the package wasn''t sitting out in the rain, direct delivery is required for insured packages, it was just that flipping wet out that day! I think that most of us have learned to pack our packages in response to the conditions we have come to expect from the shipping process.

Insider Trading Tip: Buy stock in shipping tape, we sure do use a lot of it!