Protect Your Video Tapes From The Post Office Goons With Avery’s ‘Smart Shipper” VHS Mailer
Written: Sep 12 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: No address labels needed, “press and seal” flap, inexpensive, protects tapes.
Cons: You'll still have to apply a couple of layers of tape to seal it properly.
The Bottom Line: If you send video tapes out and want to get them there in one piece, Avery’s “Smart Shipper” VHS Tape Mailers are a great option!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Avery Smart Shipper" Recycled Corrugated VHS Tape ... |
If you thought I got funny looks when I purchased floppy discs at Wal-Mart you should have seen the look on the clerks face when he rang up a pack of these at Staples. “They still make VHS tapes?”, I mean yeah, they are a little old but come on, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video still rent VHS tapes you know. I have used a lot of different video mailers over the years but these are some of the strongest if you are sending something that is shipping out media mail via the United States Post Office. They do offer video mailer sized boxes [or at least they used to] but almost all of them are for Priority Mail service, not media mail. Whether you are shipping tapes to your grandmother or are a power seller on eBay, these tape mailers are the best to work with and will provide the tape with a little added protection while it’s in transit.
Avery Smart Shipper Recycled Corrugated VHS Tape Mailer
Press & Seal Closure 5 Pack
Avery products are some of the best on the marker, be it their line of markers or address labels, almost everything that I’ve purchased with their name on it has been top notch. Let’s be blunt here, this is a cardboard video mailer, it’s not something that is going to change your life or improve the quality of it but they are nice to have on hand when you have to mail out a VHS sized tape. The tapes fit snugly inside the box and the flap that flips over the front of it has an adhesive on it so there’s no need to have to use a double sided tape. You may want to add a little extra packing tape to make sure that the box stays completely sealed while in transit but even without it, no one has ever complained or said that a box arrived with the flap coming loose from the box. The adhesive on the flap is strong so make sure you don’t remove the strip until you are ready to seal it.
These come packaged flat to save space so you will have to do a bit of folding and banding to get them into the correct shape but there is a diagram on the box. One of the nicest things about this video mailer is that there are address lines on it so you don’t have to print up an address label. One helpful hint - don’t use a ball point pen to write on the box. Since this is made of corrugated cardboard it has ridges under the top layer; while this does a great job at adding some extra protection for the contents, it’s very easy to poke a hole in the top layer. Use a permanent marker to address it and do this before you assemble the box, it is a lot easier to work with when it’s flat then when it’s folded up. Since these have no ‘Priority Mail’ or ‘Media Mail’ stamps or logos on them you can mail them out as you wish - media mail will get it there for a lot less money but it does take up to two weeks for it to get where it’s going.
Price
These aren’t very expensive; most office supply stores sell them for about $2.50 for the five count package. If you want to save a couple of cents you can buy the ones that don’t have the adhesive on them and when you think about it, if you are going to add tape to the box anyway, you are better off with the plain ones. I buy these out of force of habit and the possibility that I won’t have time to add extra tape to it. All right, I’ll admit it, I am paranoid and take comfort in knowing that there is an extra layer of adhesive under the tape I put on it. If you are someone that mails out VHS sized tapes and are always finding yourself scrambling for a box to use for shipping them out, this is a great solution. Since there are areas on the box for a sender and return address you don’t have to play around with address labels. These are made from 50% recycled cardboard so if you are a tree hugger, you know you are doing your part to help keep cardboard out of landfills.
The Bottom Line
I’ve never had any trouble with these mailers coming apart when they were being shipped out to people; even without the extra layer of tape on them, no one has ever complained about the flap coming loose. The tapes fit nicely into the box and keep it from sliding around or getting damaged and there’s no need to add any type of filler material like packing peanuts or pellets. You can use these for shipping smaller odd shaped items if you can’t find an appropriate box but if you are shipping out tapes, make sure you label the outside of it with the contents on the off chance that it gets near a heavy magnetic field. But please, don’t be one of those people that tries to ship out things via the USPS Media Mail option when it’s not something that falls inside their guidelines. You could get a fine, have the box ‘get lost’ or worst case scenario - have someone from the post office show up at your doorstep. For less than three bucks these are something that I always have on hand for mailing out video tapes; they are easy to work with, inexpensive and get the job done!
As always, thanks for the read!
~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~
© 2005 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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