Buying records mail order (packing related thread)

[Maks]

I think we've all had our fair share of horrible packaging stories when it comes to buying records online. Probably my most disappointing was receiving a fairly hard to find record and the guy basically just slapped it as is in a mailer. The inner sleeve was wrecked on all sides and the jacket had a seam split.

Focusing on the good experiences, and I'm in no way related to any of these places, but I love the Acoustic Sounds boxes. Even with a regular style fresh mailer, corner dings can happen and for the most part, that's just kind of how life goes. But these Acoustic Sounds boxes are top of the line IMO.

I recently bought some 7"s from the In Groove and this is by far the best packaging I've had for the format. New plastic outer sleeve, records in a new paper inner and placed outside the jacket. Then they're all custom shrink wrapped together, 7" cardboard on both sides of the records, tightly taped, then into the mailer.

Unless something is ultra rare that I've been searching for for a long time, I have a small group of online sellers that I'll use. Shipping is almost as important as the grading itself.