Best way to pack extremely fragile items? (packing, trucks, cheaper)

[RaineyJainey]

I need to send a lot of Christmas ornaments through the mail. They are all in their original boxes. So far I have bubble wrapped (three layers) each box, and they seem pretty safe so far. Now I need to pack those boxes into boxes and mail them. What is the safest kind of padding to use? Packing peanuts? I was thinking of using crumpled newspaper because it would be a lot cheaper (free). Am I foolish to think there is even a chance they will arrive unbroken at all? I originally moved by car, but this time I am flying and sending all my belongings through the mail. Does anyone have experience moving lots of ornaments?
Thanks.

[lae60]

I would think that the main thing now is to make sure they can not be crushed, so maybe you can put each bubble wrapped box into a plastic container filled with the puffy air bags, or peanuts so they do not shake around in the plastic box and can not be crushed.

[twingles]

I think your plan is fine. You do realize these ornaments were at one time shipped to the store where you bought them, not made by elves in the back, right?

[Lydia Evdoxiadi]

I agree that it's going to be fine, I had mine shipped to Europe and nothing happened. Not even one broken, just try to eliminate friction between them with some bubble wrap!

[DanielAvery]

I think your plan is fine. You do realize these ornaments were at one time shipped to the store where you bought them, not made by elves in the back, right?

Well, to be fair, a lot of retailers ship their masses of boxed items on shrink-wrapped pallets, in trucks that stabilize their loads in various ways that keep the stacks of boxes from shifting during transit. There is definitely "safety in numbers". Single boxes shipped via UPS or FedEx sometimes arrive looking as if they were drop-kicked out of the plane as it flew overhead. Handling issues for small amounts of freight delivered via UPS/FedEx are the stuff of legend where I work. All the "fragile--glass" and "Handle Carefully" stickers in the world won't help, because the automated systems sorting the packages don't care what is in that box.

From what I've observed of the pieces and shards I've occasionally received at work, the items that broke or were mashed up/dented were usually closest to the sides of the box. Things closer to the center were further from the impact of the box being stood on end or dropped/dumped onto the floor. I would try to "center" everything in the box(es) to keep the stuff away from the outer parts of the box because you don't know which direction these impacts might come from.

One vendor sent me an expensive item wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in a semi-rigid plastic shipping box that looked a lot like those airtight containers you put leftovers in. That container was in a nest of larger-bubbled bubble wrap within the regular cardboard box, and it arrived perfectly intact. If these items are that precious, it might be worth it to head to a dollar store and buy some cheap containers like Rubbermaid makes, and use them with bubble wrap to double-protect the items within the box.