Hi all,

I’m looking to get some items from Taobao for my home reno and I’m a bit confused about whether to get the items shipped with wooden crate added or not.

I'm just curious if I can get some insights as to what type of items should I add the wooden crate for? And what type of shipment? I’ve got some questions below and hoping to learn from your experiences.

If I add the crate, what will it help? It prevents the packaging from collapsing if there’s something heavier pressed on top of my package is that right?

If I don’t add the crate, does it mean that my things will be squashed and broken mostly likely?

How do I decide if I should use sea small or sea large parcel? Is it just purely based on the weight/volumetric weight/dimension and see which one is cheaper? Does it change how the packages are handled (and hence need crate or not )

SEA LARGE PARCEL
- Furnitures like cabinets etc - YES
- what about single arm chair? - YES or NO? (The seller said they don’t do crate, and there’s no need for it cause it’s packed very well and carefully)
- For lighting items, should I use LARGE or SMALL parcel? Do I need to add crate or all the lights will come squashed?

SEA SMALL PARCEL
- do I need crate?
- For lighting items, same question as above

AIR SMALL PARCEL
- probably no need crate right?

Thanks a lot!

Generally with crates, it makes loading and unload easier using forklift, otherwise workers just throw and catch.

This post has been edited by mini orchard: Oct 20 2020, 01:05 PM

Armchair usually can tahan a person's weight so no need to worry.

For fragile items if they can stuff in extra padding like newspaper or foam beads then it should survive handling/throwing. Else if the lights are expensive then go for wooden crate as a form of further insurance.

Oh, so the crates is to help with loading and unloading mainly. I thought it's meant for the item to sustain heavier items being stacked on top of it (with the wooden frame around it) so it doesnt collapse and became kemek during shipping

That is also one good reason to use crating.