The carriage or transportation of all goods is an unfortunate, environmentally damaging and expensive operation, but one that cannot be avoided.
One way of keeping costs in time, money and effort to a minimum is by ensuring that the correct product is delivered in perfect condition and on time to the customer.
With hats great care has to be taken in the packaging and delivery method, if not carried out with care both customer and hat maker lose.
Experience has shown us that the only boxes that can offer sufficient protection to hats in transportation are made with a double wall cardboard, it matters little if the hats are to be delivered half way around the world or sent two streets away, hats are very easily damaged if insufficiently packed.
The bottom of the carton is padded with tissue paper and the hats are put into the box one at a time in a way that cushions each hat against the next. It is important that each hat is placed into a polythene bag, some hats that have a delicate brim or trim might need tissue to be packed in and around the hat, in its bag. More tissue is worked in between the hats so that there can be no movement within the box.
When the box is nearly filled to the top more tissue is placed on the hats, in order to make a thick pad, this again will restrict movement. The choice of carrier is sometimes made by the buyer, but normally it is the decision of the hat manufacture.
We have found that the majority of carrier companies do not like delivering hats, as they are easily damaged, take up a lot of room but are light in weight (often incurring additional volumetric charges) and hat consignments are “precious” and of high value to the hat maker and customer. In general, if the goods are sent via a private delivery company it is much easier to communicate with that company, you have a degree of control over how your hats are delivered, however it is normally more expensive to send small consignments using this method. It is a false economy to send goods to a customer using the cheapest method of transport as the goods can be late, damaged or are lost.
It is hoped that when the delivery of hats is made to the customer, they will dispose of the packaging materials in a way that they can be either re-used or re-cycled.
Some hat companies appear to charge nothing for transport, although of course the charge is added into the costing of the hat during design, other companies will charge carriage at cost price and show this charge as a separate item on the invoice. In either case the transport of goods is never free.