How to ship vinyl records

If you’re a record collector or you sell records online and you’re looking for the best way to ship vinyl records in the US or overseas, then you’re in the right place.

A box of records can be surprisingly heavy and expensive to ship, but you can find the cheapest way to ship vinyl records quickly and easily by comparing shipping prices with Parcel Monkey.   

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How to mail vinyl records

Before you can work out the cost of shipping a record or a whole record collection, you’ll need to think about how to package vinyl records for shipping. When you send a record in the mail it can get easily damaged if not enough care has gone into the packaging, so this is really important if you want your LPs to arrive in the condition you sent them.

How to pack vinyl records for shipping

Here is a quick five-step guide on how to pack a vinyl record for shipping. If you have more than one record, keep reading to find out how to ship vinyl records in bulk.

Step 1: If the record has a printed inner sleeve, place the record in a clean inner and put the empty original inner inside the outer sleeve.

Step 2: Keep the record outside of the outer sleeve. This prevents the record from moving around inside the sleeve during transit, which can scratch the record and damage the outer sleeve.

Step 3: Put the record on top of the outer sleeve and place both inside a plastic/PVC cover. If you don’t have something suitable, bubble wrap is a good alternative. If you’re using bubble wrap, be sure to secure it with tape.

Step 4: Sandwich the package between two pieces of heavy-duty cardboard. You can buy special record strengthening stiffeners online, so if you’re sending more than one record it might be worth investing in a pack.

Step 5: Put the sandwiched record inside an LP Mailer. You can buy a variety of styles and sizes of vinyl record mailers online for sending single and multiple records. Seal with heavy-duty packing tape.

How to ship multiple vinyl records

As mentioned above, a quick Google search will help you purchase a variety of LP Mailers, with the capacity to hold anything from 1 to 100 records. Some have built-in stiffeners, so you don’t need to purchase these separately. We would always recommend that when shipping vinyl records you use the specialist packaging available, especially if you’re sending more than one.  

Our most popular courier services for shipping boxes of records include Ground Drop Off for cheap domestic deliveries and International Drop Off for reducing the cost of shipping vinyl records internationally. Both services are fully tracked and can also be booked as a package collection service if your box is too heavy to carry to a drop-off point. 

TIP: If you have multiple LPs to ship to a number of addresses, then our bulk shipping tools can help you save both time and money. 

How much does it cost to ship a vinyl record?  

If you’re only posting a single record, the cost probably won’t be excessive as shipping companies charge based on the weight and size of your package. However, if you’re sending multiple records or a whole collection, this can get expensive, as the weight will increase significantly.

Luckily, Parcel Monkey offers some of the biggest savings on shipping heavy boxes, so we’ll help you find the cheapest rates available.  

The quickest way to work out the cost of shipping vinyl records is to enter the dimensions, weight and destination of your packaged item into our shipping calculator. In seconds you’ll see quotes from multiple shipping companies, so you can compare prices and select a service that meets your needs and budget.  

How much does a vinyl record weigh?

LPs come in several different sizes, most typically 7, 10 and 12 inches. The weight will vary from around 1.41oz for a 7" to 3.88oz for a 10" and 5.29oz for a 12".

Don’t forget that if you want to know the weight of a vinyl record for shipping, you’ll need to include the weight of the packaging too.

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Selling LP’s on eBay?

When using Parcel Monkey, retailers and eBay sellers can enjoy not only some of the best delivery prices with trusted and reliable couriers, but we can also help them find ways to deliver vinyl records to customers all around the globe, including Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

The used vinyl and record market on eBay is huge, with popular, rare and limited edition LP’s being sold every minute. Sellers on eBay use our door to door shipping services, protection cover and tracking for the peace of mind that vinyl records can be sent safely and quickly via courier at an affordable rate.