Four Steps to Making Sure Your Professional White Glove Packing and Shipping Goes Smoothly

23 February 2017
 Categories: , Blog

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Professional movers and shippers sometimes offer what's known as a white glove option, which generally includes professional packaging or custom crating, as well as specialized shipping, for fragile, valuable items. Items that sit at the intersection of fragile and valuable often include antiques, collectibles, pianos, grandfather clocks, china, and other similar items. Here are four steps to making sure the whole process goes smoothly.

1. Dismantle the item in advance if possible

Some antiques may be best left in one piece, but others will require some disassembly. For example, an upright piano will need to have the legs removed before it's shifted, or they could damage the floor or even snap. The movers can help you with these tasks if necessary before crating or packaging the item, but if you're familiar and comfortable with the dismantling process and it doesn't take extra manpower, you may wish to do this in advance to save time.

2. Make sure you have enough insurance

White glove shipping services typically come with more insurance than average, but fragile items can vary almost infinitely in value so you'll have to check the policy and see if it's enough to adequately cover the replacement value of your items. If not, you'll want to purchase more just for your own peace of mind. You don't want to see the item on its way and then spend the next week worrying about it. You should only hire a shipping company you completely trust, of course, but accidents can happen to even trustworthy shippers, and that's what insurance protects you against.

3. Have the exact spot ready in your new home

Once the item arrives at your new home, white glove delivery services will typically end by placing the item exactly where you want it inside the house, including unwrapping or uncrating it. So you'll want to prioritize deciding where you want the item to reside permanently, especially if it's large and difficult to move.

4. Keep track

It's important to not only be home on the estimated delivery day, but also use the tracking information to keep an eye on where your item actually is. Sometimes there are delays in shipping, and other times things get shipped a lot faster than expected. You'll need to keep a somewhat flexible schedule, because you have to be home when your white glove delivery arrives so that the shipping personnel can bring it indoors and deposit it right where you want it.

These tips will help you work with the white glove delivery service to ensure that your items are crated efficiently, transferred safely to your new home, and placed exactly where they need to be at the end of the shipping process. For more information, reach out to a company like Crating By Ihi Corp.