Why are records shipped outside of the cardboard sleeve?

weegee

Active Member
I just started to buy records mail order. May of the records are shipped outside and behind of the cardboard sleeve. (They are in the thin paper inner sleeve.) Is there a reason they ship records like this instead of putting them in the cardboard sleeve?

Thanks
 
I understand it is to keep the record from shifting inside the cover and possibly damaging it. However, I usually put both the cover and LP with a new static-free sleeve inside an outer sleeve when I am shipping it.
 
Since 2000 (began collecting Vinyl) ... I've received hundreds (never kept count) of LP's through the mail. In my experience ... if you don't
put the record outside of the cardboard sleeve ... on some occasions (rare in my case) ... the outside cover can be damaged. Some collectors
will get really mad (contacting seller) if this happens. Shipping the LP outside will avoid this.
 
The record can shift while in transit and punch through the jacket, leaving split seams. It has happened to me on multiple occasions. I always ask that records be removed from their outer covers and printed inner sleeves, if applicable; likewise, I do the same when shipping. It might take an extra 30 seconds.
splitseam.jpg splitseam2.jpg
 
The record can shift while in transit and punch through the jacket, leaving split seams.
Soundstage Direct, who sells new vinyl, will open your new purchase and place the sleeved records separately in the package, so splitting does not happen. So it is definitely a "thing." Especially since new 180g and 200g records are a bit heavier. I have also noticed on LP jackets that are decades old, it does not take much to punch through a seam in the record jacket--some get amazingly brittle, for whatever reasons.

And like @Condorsat says, ring wear on the covers is possible if the records are left in the jackets while shipping.

I'm split (no pun intended) on the practice. I feel the records are vulnerable if not in a jacket--a sleeve offers little protection on its own. It's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, I guess. But I do appreciate a seller who cares enough to ship the jacket and record/sleeve separately, vs. those who throw things into a carton and let the USPS have their way with them.
 
SoundStageDirect, and any seller worth their salt, will put the jacket, and the inner sleeve, containing the record, into a protective outer sleeve, either soft poly, as in the case of SSD, or mylar, sometimes resealable, from others. I do that, when I give away a record, or records, to good friends. I haven't quite figured out the whole notion of selling records, but if I ever do, they will go out in the same fashion.
 
Especially since new 180g and 200g records are a bit heavier. I have also noticed on LP jackets that are decades old, it does not take much to punch through a seam in the record jacket--some get amazingly brittle, for whatever reasons.
Maybe this is true regarding sealed records; my sister, on the East Coast, says that the covers always arrive damaged when she orders new (sealed) records from a particular store in California. I suggested that in the future, she has them remove the vinyl.

I worked for many years at both a record store, and a record distributor, back in the early '90s to 2003-ish, and I remember a pretty big problem with (unwrapped) import shipments, arriving with splits to just about every record, especially at the distributor.


I'm split (no pun intended) on the practice. I feel the records are vulnerable if not in a jacket--a sleeve offers little protection on its own. It's a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils, I guess.
The shipper should include a minimum of one corrugated cardboard filler pad between the record and the flaps of the mailer (two is preferred, sandwiching the record and cover). This also helps to ensure that the record or cover are not damaged when the enthusiastic recipient slices into the package to open it.
 
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