Packing guide — how to pack a parcel for the post
How to pack a parcel so it survives a sorting network and does not cost more than it should: box sizing and volumetric weight, void fill, taping, labelling, and category-specific advice.
How to pack a parcel for shipping in India
Choose the smallest suitable box, keep fragile items off the walls, fill the voids, tape all seams, print the label, and include a duplicate label inside.
- Pick the smallest box that works — This is the step that costs money if you get it wrong. Volumetric weight means you are charged for the space a parcel occupies, so an oversized box is a permanent tax on every order. It also lets contents slide and build momentum, which is how things break.
- Keep fragile things off the walls — Every impact travels straight through the outer wall into whatever is touching it. Nothing breakable should be within about 5 cm of an outer face, and nothing should be resting directly on the base.
- Fill the voids — A half-empty box collapses under stacking and lets contents move in transit. Fill it — paper, air pillows, foam — until you can shake the box and hear nothing move.
- Tape the H — Tape the centre seam and both end seams on the top and the bottom. A single strip down the middle leaves the ends open to being caught on a conveyor and pulled apart.
- Print the label, do not write it — A printed label scans first time. A handwritten one has to be read and typed by a person, which is where the transcription errors that send parcels to the wrong district come from.
- Put a second label inside — If the outer label is destroyed or peels off, a duplicate inside the box is the only thing standing between your parcel and a warehouse of unidentifiable items.
Questions
- Does the box size really change what I pay?
- Yes, and often by more than people expect. Shipments are billed on the greater of actual weight and volumetric weight, where volumetric weight is length × width × height in centimetres divided by 5,000. A 40 × 30 × 20 cm box is a 4.8 kg parcel whatever is inside it.
- Can I reuse a box?
- Yes, if it is structurally sound and you remove or completely cover every old label and barcode. A leftover barcode is read by a sorting machine and sends the parcel to whatever that old label said, which is one of the hardest failures to trace afterwards.
- What packing material should I use?
- Whatever fills the voids and absorbs impact — crumpled paper, air pillows, foam, corrugated inserts. Newspaper works for non-fragile goods. What matters is that the shake test passes, not what the filler is.
- Do I need to declare the contents?
- Yes, accurately. A description that does not match the contents is a problem if the parcel is inspected, and it voids any claim if something goes wrong. It also matters for whether the item is one the carrier accepts at all.
- What happens if my parcel is damaged?
- Compensation is what India Post’s rules provide for that service, and damage caused by inadequate packaging is not recoverable. Raise it with us with the consignment number and photographs — we hold the booking record and will open the claim.
Services
- Business Parcel — The lower-cost parcel lane, at contractual rates.
- Speed Post — India Post’s fastest lane, at contractual rates.
Main pages
Daakly is operated by Yahatech Solutions Private Limited, 51/D Goyal Complex, Opp. Ashima Tower, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380054, India. Email team@daakly.com.
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