How to Ship Jewelry for Your E-commerce Store: Tips, Examples for Shipping Jewelry

If you want to start tapping into the $307B dollar global e-commerce jewelry market, you should know a few things. While shipping jewelry isn’t as difficult as you might think, you’ll still need to familiarize yourself with jewelry shipping best practices to elevate your customers’ experiences and get your packages safely to their destinations.

Whether you’ve already started shipping jewelry or need pointers on where to start, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for helpful tips and a few examples of shipping jewelry domestically and internationally.

Packing Tips for Shipping Jewelry

You might be surprised to learn that jewelry packaging is an important marketing tool for your business. After all, your product packaging is likely the first real-life experience your customers have with your store.

Focusing on properly packaging shipments is a great way to ensure your customers have a positive first impression of your brand. To do this, consider implementing fulfillment processes focused on protecting jewelry in transit. Practices such as wrapping items securely and ensuring boxes and bags are properly sealed are one of the core ways to achieve this.

Another vital aspect of packing jewelry for shipping is choosing the right balance of value and quality packaging materials. It might be tempting to skimp on packaging materials to save money; however, working with sturdy, high-quality packaging is well worth the investment.

For example, while shredded cardboard, packing peanuts, or air pillows might be sufficient dunnage for certain products, having molded infills in your boxes can be a better choice for limiting returns due to damaged products.

The cost of packaging can be included in the price of the jewelry you sell, helping you ensure quality packaging without having to break the bank.

Tips When Shipping Jewelry To Avoid Package Theft

When shipping jewelry, especially expensive items like silver and gold, it’s crucial to take steps to protect against package theft. Luckily, there are several easy ways you can achieve this.

The simplest way would be to offer day-definite shipping services. This allows customers to plan ahead of time and have a better chance of being at the delivery address the moment the package arrives.

Also, consider giving customers the option to have packages dropped off in person at the carrier’s store rather than leaving jewelry on their doorstep. With certain shipping services, you can also give customers the ability to add shipping details, such as where to place their package at their residence. There are also parcel lockers, partnered retail locations, or local post offices that might be a more secure option.

You can also work with carriers to enforce extra security measures, such as requiring signature confirmation at delivery.

Additionally, avoid labeling jewelry packaging with any details that indicate what’s inside or what business the package comes from. It’s also a good idea to refrain from disclosing the package contents to the carrier unless necessary.

Last but not least, adding shipping insurance can act as a safety net in case the jewelry you’re shipping gets damaged or lost during its shipping journey.

Best Carriers for Shipping Jewelry

Choosing the right carrier to ship jewelry is essential to a positive customer experience. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of carrier options to accommodate your needs. Among the most popular of these options are USPS, UPS, and FedEx.

Ship Jewelry via USPS

Shipping jewelry via USPS is a great way to offer your customer base a high-quality delivery experience on a budget. Though the USPS website doesn’t give any explicit terms for shipping jewelry, their service typically includes shipping insurance, usually up to $100. If the value of your jewelry exceeds this limit, you’ll want to look into adding extra coverage.

Ship Jewelry via UPS

Unless you have a contract with UPS and brought your own UPS account to Shippo, you won’t be able to use the carrier to ship jewelry containing gold or other precious metals. Without a contract, however, you can still take advantage of the carrier’s shipping insurance which includes $100 coverage automatically and signature delivery offerings.

Ship Jewelry via FedEx

If you plan to be a jewelry shipping frequent flier, shipping jewelry via FedEx is a great option. The FedEx Jewelry Shipping Program allows shippers to declare values up to $100K for domestic shipments and $50K for international shipments containing fine jewelry. Packages that don’t ship under this program can still declare a maximum value of $1K.

How Much Does It Cost to Ship Jewelry?

The cost of shipping jewelry varies based on several factors, such as package size, weight, destination, and even value. Adding extra security measures like signature delivery or shipping insurance also adds extra fees.

Shippo makes it easy for jewelry sellers to compare prices among top carriers and even offers discounts on shipping for members.

For example, shipping a 1-pound, 4” x 3” x 1” package via USPS from Houston to Los Angeles using Shippo would cost $8.04. Adding shipping insurance carries additional fees, which are based on the value of the jewelry inside.

Following the previous example, to insure the 1-pound, 4” x 3” x 1” package with a $100 value, shipping insurance would cost $1.25. The same package with a $500 value would run $6.25 with insurance. But, for packages with a $500 value or more, carriers require signature confirmation adding an additional $3.10 to the total cost of shipping.

That $500 piece of jewelry using the same USPS service would now cost $17.39 to ship. While this may seem expensive, the cost of insurance and signature confirmation is significantly less than the cost of replacing or refunding a lost package.

How Long Does It Take to Ship Jewelry?

Generally speaking, jewelry shipping transit times depend on the carrier, service level, and distance the package must travel.

For example, USPS First Class Mail takes between 1 and 5 business days for delivery. If you upgrade to USPS Priority Mail Express, however, you’ll enjoy a 1-2 day delivery window.

Remember: standard carrier transit times usually exclude weekends and holidays. Consider that when communicating with your customers, especially around major jewelry-gifting holidays like Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

How Shipping Insurance for Jewelry Works

Carriers like USPS, UPS, and FedEx have a stellar reputation for delivering packages without incident. However, accidents happen. That’s why it’s important to consider adding shipping insurance when shipping jewelry, especially in the case of high-value pieces.

Depending on the carrier’s offerings, you can expect shipping insurance to cover incidents such as package damage, loss in transit, and sometimes even theft.

Do your research to make sure the shipping insurance you select is adequate to cover the value of your item and that your items qualify for shipping insurance. It may also be a good idea to look into third-party shipping insurance, such as XCover through Shippo, which often offers higher limits at lower costs when compared to the major carriers.

Adding insurance to packages with Shippo simply requires you to claim the value of the contents within the package. After that, the insurance cost will be included in any shipping label you choose.

If something unfortunate happens to your package during transit, you’ll need to file a claim with the carrier or the third-party shipping insurance business you used. Be sure to get all the information you can from your customer and carrier when filing a claim, such as pictures of damaged packages or a snapshot of the tracking updates from the carrier.

It will take time to process the claim, but if it goes through, your business will be reimbursed the value of the contents inside the package.

How to Ship Jewelry Internationally

Although shipping jewelry internationally is similar to shipping domestically, there are a few differences you should be aware of.

Shipping addresses in foreign countries often look much different than domestic ones. To avoid delays in transit, take a few moments to double-check that the address on the package matches the one on the order.

International shipments also require special paperwork, which helps them to clear customs quickly and efficiently. Leaving out even small details can cause delivery delays, so it’s important to review order documents for missing or incorrect information meticulously.

With Shippo, you can input order details when creating a shipping label so that all necessary paperwork to clear customs is done the moment you print the label.