Silk Road forums
Discussion => Shipping => Topic started by: Virmo on October 29, 2012, 09:38 am
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There must be info on this already, then: sorry.
I want to know what equipment I need to vacuum seal weed. Some plastic gloves perhaps (to not get prints on anything), but what else?
Where can I get vacuum bags and how to vacuum seal them. How much bags for weed? How to compress weed while leaving it intact?
Do people mind if they get grinded weed? Some like to have buds, or with other stuff crystals. But it all comes down to the same IMO.
Info on stores in the netherlands to get gear is much appreciated.
Once my vendoring can start I'll sell nice buds of weed.. or hash.. but weed is better IMO.
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Hi Virmo,
I can't speak directly to what's available in the Netherlands, but here in California everyone uses a little machine called Seal-A-Meal. There are other brands--I've also seen Sears (Kenmore) available in stores. The Seal-A-Meal is for sale everywhere--WalMart, Target, all the big stores. There are rolls of plastic that you can cut to the size you want, and also pre-made small bags with one open side. The small bags are too big for the smaller amounts of material, like 1/8 or 1/4. You'll have to experiment on whether those bags are useful to you, or whether it's easier to just use the rolls and cut to size.
But I have the same question about bud getting crushed. I'm new to SR, and very glad I found it. I've been mailing cannabis for a few years and haven't had any trouble. The only package I lost had nothing to do with the shipping but with bad behavior on the part of the recipient. But I've been using different practices than those recommended here. Which probably shows how inept the war on drugs is,.
When I vacuum sealed the bud, the bud got crushed and customers were very unhappy. So what I've been doing is:
1. put bud in a ziplock bag
2. put ziplock in a seal-a-meal bag and vacuum seal
3. put that bag in another seal-a-meal bag and vacuum seal again
The material stays intact. But from what I've read here, without that very first vacuum seal, the air (ie, smell) is probably leaking out a little. To date, no harm has come from my method. But I want to be a good SR vendor and keep my future customers safe.
So if I vacuum seal from the beginning, customers will get crushed bud. Does everyone who buys on SR know that? Is that accepted as inevitable? Or is there something that other cannabis vendors are doing that I should mimic?
Thanks for all your expertise. SR has me in awe.
HH
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Thanks for your reply. I will check out if there are alternatives to those that you mentioned (no walmarts etc. here).
As for crushed or grinded buds, I don't see the problem in it. Use a grinder and it comes down to the same. Different with a bong though. But even then Id like it grinded, or very compact. Otherwise the smoke just goes up into the air since you can't really dose it well.
Perhaps spraying some deodorant might help cover up some smell? I dunno. And if customs put those holes in it (read that in another thread), then they will definately find weed anyway.
To me dope has to be good, not pretty :p
Different people, different tastes.
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Thanks for your reply. I will check out if there are alternatives to those that you mentioned (no walmarts etc. here).
As for crushed or grinded buds, I don't see the problem in it. Use a grinder and it comes down to the same. Different with a bong though. But even then Id like it grinded, or very compact. Otherwise the smoke just goes up into the air since you can't really dose it well.
Perhaps spraying some deodorant might help cover up some smell? I dunno. And if customs put those holes in it (read that in another thread), then they will definately find weed anyway.
To me dope has to be good, not pretty :p
Different people, different tastes.
if you spray anything you might as well toss the package in the ocean
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you can leave a small amount of air in the first ziplock to prevent crushing or place in a small rigid container first which works as well
some people definitely prefer buds that are not crushed, others dont care
do not grind the buds before selling them, this will make some people very unhappy. not everyone grinds up there bud... plus when all the bud is ground and exposed to air it promotes oxidation and degradation of the product
you could also use an impulse or heat sealer which allows you to seal without sucking out all the air and prevents crushing
do not spray anything or add things to make the package smell, trying to cover up odors is one of the characteristics they look for in suspicious packages. you need to read the package profiling threads and stickies
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Vacuum sealers cost over $1000 out here. Not an option for me.
Maybe there are cheaper solutions for people who like to vacuum seal their meat. But usually they have boxes with pumps.
The comment: "if you spray anything you might as well toss the package in the ocean" is nonsense. The ocean never delivers to postal addresses, while the postal service have it as their job.
I used to send and receive love letters sprayed with some nice scent. Nothing ever had problems arriving.
Although I can imagine with all the news/media about drugs through mail has made everything more difficult nowadays.
It also depends on the postal employee, some care, some don't. Some secretly open if they suspect drugs and have a happy weekend.
Out here there is "leftover" haze mix. No buds, mostly grinded. Instead of paying over $60 dollars for 5 grams, you then pay 40. To me the effect is the same.
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Virmo,
Wow! $1,000??? They cost about $80 here. That's crazy!
Maybe order one off Amazon.com and just pay the shipping to Europe. That would be dramatically cheaper.
HH
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Thanks, micro. I wasn't sure if that bit of air in the interior bag was going to alert our four-legged friends.
HH
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Yeah they are especially for meat I think.
I will check amazon out, thanks for the tip :)
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Hmzz, any suggestions on these? http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/190-5716276-4750131?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=seal+a+meal
And for the bags sizes for which amounts of grams?
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so suck it up and buy a food saver and if you plan to spray bullshit inside, dont expect any customers with a brain.
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I kindly suggest you stick your posts inside your own head since they do not add anything to this conversation. Scented mails are posted everyday. Although I agree it would not be wise to do that with weed in it, since it comes in a different envelope.
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I kindly suggest you stick your posts inside your own head since they do not add anything to this conversation. Scented mails are posted everyday. Although I agree it would not be wise to do that with weed in it, since it comes in a different envelope.
I'm telling you how it is.. if you would take a quick moment to think..
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Wash your hands very well between seals.
Every time I've heard about a multiple-sealed product being sniffed out, it was because it was touched with smelly hands after sealing.
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I'd just use multiple plastic gloves. Less to no smell and definitely no fingerprints :)
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Grinding the weed before would make majority of SR buyers go insane. Spraying anything scented anywhere near the package...would make ALL of the SR buyers go insane. You have to be as discreet as humanly possible, so basically just make sure you cant smell the weed, and your box looks professional and as a suggestion make sure your product doesn't move around in the box, stuff it with old newspaper etc. to keep it intact. No noise, no smell, professional looking=What we ALL want from our weed vendors ;)
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Leaving a little air in the first layer is the way to go. No worries about the air in the middle - it won't allow the smell of those wonderful flowers escape any quicker. Also, by compressing the first layer you risk poking a hole, with whatever is poking to potentially make its way through all the subsequent layers. I recommend one layer of plastic for each day in transit - the scent permeates plastic fairly quickly. If you do package everything ahead of time then wait to package all but the first layer until shortly before the shipment goes out. Wear two layers of gloves at all times (prints can be left through a single layer of most latex gloves) and take care to not leave any stray hairs (wear a hat).
For the serious cannabis vendor: look into packaging materials which are superior to plastic.
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thx for the tips
I saw some "smell bags" in the packaging list. But it's not clear if that's just a name, brand like thing, or that it keeps out the smell.
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Why is everyone so hung up on plastics?
I've got no affiliation with drug shipping, I wouldn't know the first thing about it other than what I hear on here, but it seems like most people are far too interested in trying to get the "vacuum seal, vacuum seal, vacuum seal" method to work to the point where they don't even consider alternatives to plastic.
Is there any merit to using polycarbonate, carbon fiber, dense woods such as pine?
I.e. grab a field hockey stick, hollow it out, make an airtight polycarbonate casing for it, throw the week into the stick, re-cap(costs about $5 for the materials at any proshop) it.
I get the feeling I'm overlooking something relatively simplstic here
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Yeah shipping costs for example.
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When I pack up weed, I pack it in stages.
Stage 1. - Weigh & Pack into Ziploc's
Use a clean workspace, wear gloves & hairnet, weigh out the orders for the day, pack into a Ziploc (leave a little air inside to act as a cushion) and apply label with weight & strain info. Drop the packed orders into a Rubber Maid bin & cleanup/wipe down the workspace. Lysol disinfectant wipes are great, just get the unscented ones.
Stage 2 - First vacuum seal
Separate out the Ziploc bags packed from stage 1 into individual order requests and vacuum seal the bundled orders into a custom bag. Just use the sealer roll and cut your own, pre-made bags are too expensive & usually over sized. Again, use *NEW* gloves, wear a hairnet, make sure the workspace is clean before you start and clean it up again when your done. When your done, you should have as many bundled bags as you have orders, unless your splitting them into multiple shipments for security/stealth. Make sure all labels/weights on the Ziplocs are facing out and readable, otherwise it will be difficult to figure out which sealed bag goes with each order/buyers. Alternatively, you can get a bunch of tiny labels and stick them to the corner of the bag with some kind of identifier. I use a numbering system, 1 for the first order received, 2 for the second, etc. Don't use real names, buyer names or transaction number that could be matched if discovered. Be sure to peel the labels off before proceeding to stage 3 and destroy them properly or keep them and re-apply to the sealed bag after it's gone through the second sealing. This is especially useful if you won't be packing into envelopes right after stage 3.
Stage 3 - Second vacuum seal
I use a completely different workspace for the final stage of sealing. If you don't have the space to do this be sure your workspace is immaculate. Again, wear *NEW* gloves/hairnet and seal all the bags a second time. When your done, cleanup and wipe down. From there all you need to do is drop the sealed bag into an envelope, apply your shipping label & postage and drop it in the mail.
A few other tips & tricks
If your using latex gloves, wear two pairs. I've read reports that with a single layer of latex, it's sometimes still possible to pick up a latent thumbprint. Don't know if there's any truth to it or not, but I'm pretty sure the amount I've spent on latex gloves in the last year is still less than an hour of time with a good criminal lawyer. If you have a significant volume, you'll find your hand sweat extensively inside latex gloves and you'll be left with whatever white powder residue is on the gloves all over your hands and eventually on everything else. I tried dish washing gloves for a bit, but they were too thick and it was hard to seal the Ziploc's, weigh, pack & peel labels. You could also check out ninjagloves.com, they have some great gloves available and they're re-useable. If you do this get multiple pairs and use different ones for different packing stages. Label them so you know which is which.
Rubber maid bins are great for storing pretty much everything. I use multiple bins of different sizes and colors for different products & packing stages, so I can tell at a quick glance what each bin has and I don't need to label them or open them up and look inside to see what's what. If you want to get really fancy, you can cut out your own interlocking cardboard grid panel to fit inside each bin. This allows you to separate each order/product inside the bin. Great for when something comes up and you need to pack up and go. Just put each order into it's own little cubby, seal the lid and stick it in the closet, under the bed, wherever. This saves a ton of time when you come back, you won't need to re-sort everything. You could even number each cubby box to correlate with each order received. Again, 1st cubby is order 1, 2nd is order 2, etc.
This assembly line process works great and I find it much faster than doing each order individually. You can keep your computer/laptop/tablet/whatever close by so you can easily reference the order page. It's also great for downloaded movies/tv shows to watch while your working. However, if you have many orders to pack each day, your sealer will probably overheat, stop working and need to cool down before it can be used again. At one point I had 3 sealers setup so I could have the first one sealing the first order, be cutting the next bag, packing it and sealing the next order and then repeat the process on the third. By the time the 3rd one was sealing, the first one was ready to go again. This is great for starting vendors because you can start cheap with a single sealer and add more as your volume increases and you have more funds available. Alternatively you could invest in an industrial sealer (I now have several), never have to worry about overheating and they're fast. However they are expensive, so probably not ideal for someone starting out.
When packing, either into the first ziploc, first seal, second seal or envelope, you don't want it to be bulky, uneven or balled up in the middle, it should be flat and smooth. To achieve this it must be packed flat and smooth at each stage. Move it around and distribute it evenly about each time you pack and seal. Use all the space available to you, just be sure it will fit in your shipping envelope. If your unsure, start from the outside and work you way in. What is the maximum bag size that will fit in your envelope? What is the maximum bag size that will fit in the outer bag? How big a ziploc can you fit in that bag? How much weed can you fit in that ziploc? In my experience, about 14g can safely be shipped in an envelope, anything over that should either be split into multiple packages or sent as a parcel. 28g is usually OK for domestic, but too suspect if you go international. Make sure your buyer knows that the order will be split into multiple shipments, send them a day or two apart and use different return addresses. Also, there's a good chance that if you send them a day or two apart, they will not arrive a day or two apart. I've had instances where they show up 2 to 3 weeks apart. Many buyers will claim to have received one but not the other and demand a refund or reship. If your going to refund, don't give them 50% if they received half their order. If they received one half, but not the other and they want a 50% refund, they get 25% or half of the half they did not receive. A good way figure out what got delivered and what didn't is to do or put something unique in each package. Something small, unnoticeable from the outside that doesn't increase the shipping weight. Maybe an number 1 written in one and a number 2 written in the other, or the letters A & B or even a small sticker, red stars & silver stars or cat's and dog's. Don't tell the buyers this, it should be something simple that only you now about. If the buyer claims non delivery for one and not the other, you can use the identifier to figure out which made it and which didn't. If they can't answer questions about the identifier, you'll know they're trying to scam you.
All packing & shipping materials should be kept completely separate from your product packaging area, ideally in a different room or space altogether. Weed stinks, the smell lingers and it can leave trace that can be detected with different sensor devices. It does no good to take all the above packing precaution and have your shipping envelopes right under the table your packing at. The packing/shipping will pickup the odor and that will lead to possible delivery issues. Also, it's a good idea to wrap the sealed package in some sort of protective shell before placing it in the envelope. If the package is suspect, they may try to punch a tiny hole through it and see if anything can be detected. I'm not telling what I use, but something lightweight, thin, hard & study should do the trick.
A lot of people suggest office supply stores for shipping supplies. This is fine for starting out, but when your volume increases, you want to get your shipping costs as low as possible. Buy in bulk, online with a prepaid cc. If you have a friend you can trust who works in an office environment or building, see if they'll accept the delivery for you. Same thing goes for sealer roll, you can buy mass quantities of quality sealer online for cheap. Mind you, you usually have to order 50/100/200 roll cases to get that pricing. 200 rolls of 8" x 20' lasts me about 6 weeks. If you don't need that much at once or can't afford it, Walmart usually has singles for pretty cheap, Costco has 6-8 pack rolls for around $40 (prices may vary in your area).
As always, the best bet is to order from other vendors, see how they package it and copy them to start. In time, you'll come up with your own style. Some will be super stealth, but also require significant time on your end to prepare for delivery, others you'll wonder how they got delivered at all. It comes down to a trade off between time & effort, cost & security. The packaging may be super secure, but if takes a ton of time to prepare and there is a significant cost, it will cut into your profit and if you start getting lots of orders, it will take forever to get them packed & shipped. You may get rave review for shipping, but delivery delay complaints may deter other buyers. Conversely, if you cheap out, nothing will arrive, you'll have to reship or refund many buyer orders and that too will cost you. Again, ordering from existing vendors will let you see how it's packed, and if you're successfully receiving it, it must work to some degree. I'd recommend ordering from multiple buyers and comparing. As with everything, some will overdo it and others will put in a half-hearted attempt. Don't go for the absolute best or worst, instead focus on the middle ground and aim for the top. If you can do it better than 80% of the other vendors out there, you're doing pretty well. If customs is a concern, focus on domestic vendors first. Don't have it shipped to where you do your packing from or live, bad idea. You never know who may come knocking at the door. If you really must check out an international vendors shipping style/method have it sent to someone you trust, a friends house or a buddy at work. Also helps if they smoke too. You've got a weed supply, chances are you don't need more. You're after shipping technique. Get them to receive the package and notify you when it arrives. You open the package and check out how it was packed. Give your friend/buddy/person who received the order the weed inside. If they aren't aware of your undernet activities, split the order with them instead. They get half for the risk in receiving, you get the other half and they have no idea that your real intention was to see how it was packed in the first place. I've got many people, each with their own drug of choice, who will receive packages for me with an agreement like this.
By the way, you shouldn't be doing any of this from your home (vending, packing, receiving, etc). You don't shit where you sleep, you shouldn't do illegal stuff from where you live. Do it from a remote safe location. Better yet, use multiple locations to avoid having significant quantities (read significant trafficking/jail time) at any one spot.
Finally, as was mentioned in a previous post, compression will be an issue. If you want more info on this, check my thread, Will my weed be compressed? http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=13546.0
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When I pack up weed, I pack it in stages.
Stage 1. - Weigh & Pack into Ziploc's
Use a clean workspace, wear gloves & hairnet, weigh out the orders for the day, pack into a Ziploc (leave a little air inside to act as a cushion) and apply label with weight & strain info. Drop the packed orders into a Rubber Maid bin & cleanup/wipe down the workspace. Lysol disinfectant wipes are great, just get the unscented ones.
Stage 2 - First vacuum seal
Separate out the Ziploc bags packed from stage 1 into individual order requests and vacuum seal the bundled orders into a custom bag. Just use the sealer roll and cut your own, pre-made bags are too expensive & usually over sized. Again, use *NEW* gloves, wear a hairnet, make sure the workspace is clean before you start and clean it up again when your done. When your done, you should have as many bundled bags as you have orders, unless your splitting them into multiple shipments for security/stealth. Make sure all labels/weights on the Ziplocs are facing out and readable, otherwise it will be difficult to figure out which sealed bag goes with each order/buyers. Alternatively, you can get a bunch of tiny labels and stick them to the corner of the bag with some kind of identifier. I use a numbering system, 1 for the first order received, 2 for the second, etc. Don't use real names, buyer names or transaction number that could be matched if discovered. Be sure to peel the labels off before proceeding to stage 3 and destroy them properly or keep them and re-apply to the sealed bag after it's gone through the second sealing. This is especially useful if you won't be packing into envelopes right after stage 3.
Stage 3 - Second vacuum seal
I use a completely different workspace for the final stage of sealing. If you don't have the space to do this be sure your workspace is immaculate. Again, wear *NEW* gloves/hairnet and seal all the bags a second time. When your done, cleanup and wipe down. From there all you need to do is drop the sealed bag into an envelope, apply your shipping label & postage and drop it in the mail.
A few other tips & tricks
If your using latex gloves, wear two pairs. I've read reports that with a single layer of latex, it's sometimes still possible to pick up a latent thumbprint. Don't know if there's any truth to it or not, but I'm pretty sure the amount I've spent on latex gloves in the last year is still less than an hour of time with a good criminal lawyer. If you have a significant volume, you'll find your hand sweat extensively inside latex gloves and you'll be left with whatever white powder residue is on the gloves all over your hands and eventually on everything else. I tried dish washing gloves for a bit, but they were too thick and it was hard to seal the Ziploc's, weigh, pack & peel labels. You could also check out ninjagloves.com, they have some great gloves available and they're re-useable. If you do this get multiple pairs and use different ones for different packing stages. Label them so you know which is which.
Rubber maid bins are great for storing pretty much everything. I use multiple bins of different sizes and colors for different products & packing stages, so I can tell at a quick glance what each bin has and I don't need to label them or open them up and look inside to see what's what. If you want to get really fancy, you can cut out your own interlocking cardboard grid panel to fit inside each bin. This allows you to separate each order/product inside the bin. Great for when something comes up and you need to pack up and go. Just put each order into it's own little cubby, seal the lid and stick it in the closet, under the bed, wherever. This saves a ton of time when you come back, you won't need to re-sort everything. You could even number each cubby box to correlate with each order received. Again, 1st cubby is order 1, 2nd is order 2, etc.
This assembly line process works great and I find it much faster than doing each order individually. You can keep your computer/laptop/tablet/whatever close by so you can easily reference the order page. It's also great for downloaded movies/tv shows to watch while your working. However, if you have many orders to pack each day, your sealer will probably overheat, stop working and need to cool down before it can be used again. At one point I had 3 sealers setup so I could have the first one sealing the first order, be cutting the next bag, packing it and sealing the next order and then repeat the process on the third. By the time the 3rd one was sealing, the first one was ready to go again. This is great for starting vendors because you can start cheap with a single sealer and add more as your volume increases and you have more funds available. Alternatively you could invest in an industrial sealer (I now have several), never have to worry about overheating and they're fast. However they are expensive, so probably not ideal for someone starting out.
When packing, either into the first ziploc, first seal, second seal or envelope, you don't want it to be bulky, uneven or balled up in the middle, it should be flat and smooth. To achieve this it must be packed flat and smooth at each stage. Move it around and distribute it evenly about each time you pack and seal. Use all the space available to you, just be sure it will fit in your shipping envelope. If your unsure, start from the outside and work you way in. What is the maximum bag size that will fit in your envelope? What is the maximum bag size that will fit in the outer bag? How big a ziploc can you fit in that bag? How much weed can you fit in that ziploc? In my experience, about 14g can safely be shipped in an envelope, anything over that should either be split into multiple packages or sent as a parcel. 28g is usually OK for domestic, but too suspect if you go international. Make sure your buyer knows that the order will be split into multiple shipments, send them a day or two apart and use different return addresses. Also, there's a good chance that if you send them a day or two apart, they will not arrive a day or two apart. I've had instances where they show up 2 to 3 weeks apart. Many buyers will claim to have received one but not the other and demand a refund or reship. If your going to refund, don't give them 50% if they received half their order. If they received one half, but not the other and they want a 50% refund, they get 25% or half of the half they did not receive. A good way figure out what got delivered and what didn't is to do or put something unique in each package. Something small, unnoticeable from the outside that doesn't increase the shipping weight. Maybe an number 1 written in one and a number 2 written in the other, or the letters A & B or even a small sticker, red stars & silver stars or cat's and dog's. Don't tell the buyers this, it should be something simple that only you now about. If the buyer claims non delivery for one and not the other, you can use the identifier to figure out which made it and which didn't. If they can't answer questions about the identifier, you'll know they're trying to scam you.
All packing & shipping materials should be kept completely separate from your product packaging area, ideally in a different room or space altogether. Weed stinks, the smell lingers and it can leave trace that can be detected with different sensor devices. It does no good to take all the above packing precaution and have your shipping envelopes right under the table your packing at. The packing/shipping will pickup the odor and that will lead to possible delivery issues. Also, it's a good idea to wrap the sealed package in some sort of protective shell before placing it in the envelope. If the package is suspect, they may try to punch a tiny hole through it and see if anything can be detected. I'm not telling what I use, but something lightweight, thin, hard & study should do the trick.
A lot of people suggest office supply stores for shipping supplies. This is fine for starting out, but when your volume increases, you want to get your shipping costs as low as possible. Buy in bulk, online with a prepaid cc. If you have a friend you can trust who works in an office environment or building, see if they'll accept the delivery for you. Same thing goes for sealer roll, you can buy mass quantities of quality sealer online for cheap. Mind you, you usually have to order 50/100/200 roll cases to get that pricing. 200 rolls of 8" x 20' lasts me about 6 weeks. If you don't need that much at once or can't afford it, Walmart usually has singles for pretty cheap, Costco has 6-8 pack rolls for around $40 (prices may vary in your area).
As always, the best bet is to order from other vendors, see how they package it and copy them to start. In time, you'll come up with your own style. Some will be super stealth, but also require significant time on your end to prepare for delivery, others you'll wonder how they got delivered at all. It comes down to a trade off between time & effort, cost & security. The packaging may be super secure, but if takes a ton of time to prepare and there is a significant cost, it will cut into your profit and if you start getting lots of orders, it will take forever to get them packed & shipped. You may get rave review for shipping, but delivery delay complaints may deter other buyers. Conversely, if you cheap out, nothing will arrive, you'll have to reship or refund many buyer orders and that too will cost you. Again, ordering from existing vendors will let you see how it's packed, and if you're successfully receiving it, it must work to some degree. I'd recommend ordering from multiple buyers and comparing. As with everything, some will overdo it and others will put in a half-hearted attempt. Don't go for the absolute best or worst, instead focus on the middle ground and aim for the top. If you can do it better than 80% of the other vendors out there, you're doing pretty well. If customs is a concern, focus on domestic vendors first. Don't have it shipped to where you do your packing from or live, bad idea. You never know who may come knocking at the door. If you really must check out an international vendors shipping style/method have it sent to someone you trust, a friends house or a buddy at work. Also helps if they smoke too. You've got a weed supply, chances are you don't need more. You're after shipping technique. Get them to receive the package and notify you when it arrives. You open the package and check out how it was packed. Give your friend/buddy/person who received the order the weed inside. If they aren't aware of your undernet activities, split the order with them instead. They get half for the risk in receiving, you get the other half and they have no idea that your real intention was to see how it was packed in the first place. I've got many people, each with their own drug of choice, who will receive packages for me with an agreement like this.
By the way, you shouldn't be doing any of this from your home (vending, packing, receiving, etc). You don't shit where you sleep, you shouldn't do illegal stuff from where you live. Do it from a remote safe location. Better yet, use multiple locations to avoid having significant quantities (read significant trafficking/jail time) at any one spot.
Finally, as was mentioned in a previous post, compression will be an issue. If you want more info on this, check my thread, Will my weed be compressed? http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=13546.0
Well then, that just about covers it! Great read, even better post. BTW, looks like I could be your first customer for the hi-heat product here in a couple days! Thanks, man.
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When I pack up weed, I pack it in stages.
Stage 1. - Weigh & Pack into Ziploc's
Use a clean workspace, wear gloves & hairnet, weigh out the orders for the day, pack into a Ziploc (leave a little air inside to act as a cushion) and apply label with weight & strain info. Drop the packed orders into a Rubber Maid bin & cleanup/wipe down the workspace. Lysol disinfectant wipes are great, just get the unscented ones.
Stage 2 - First vacuum seal
Separate out the Ziploc bags packed from stage 1 into individual order requests and vacuum seal the bundled orders into a custom bag. Just use the sealer roll and cut your own, pre-made bags are too expensive & usually over sized. Again, use *NEW* gloves, wear a hairnet, make sure the workspace is clean before you start and clean it up again when your done. When your done, you should have as many bundled bags as you have orders, unless your splitting them into multiple shipments for security/stealth. Make sure all labels/weights on the Ziplocs are facing out and readable, otherwise it will be difficult to figure out which sealed bag goes with each order/buyers. Alternatively, you can get a bunch of tiny labels and stick them to the corner of the bag with some kind of identifier. I use a numbering system, 1 for the first order received, 2 for the second, etc. Don't use real names, buyer names or transaction number that could be matched if discovered. Be sure to peel the labels off before proceeding to stage 3 and destroy them properly or keep them and re-apply to the sealed bag after it's gone through the second sealing. This is especially useful if you won't be packing into envelopes right after stage 3.
Stage 3 - Second vacuum seal
I use a completely different workspace for the final stage of sealing. If you don't have the space to do this be sure your workspace is immaculate. Again, wear *NEW* gloves/hairnet and seal all the bags a second time. When your done, cleanup and wipe down. From there all you need to do is drop the sealed bag into an envelope, apply your shipping label & postage and drop it in the mail.
A few other tips & tricks
If your using latex gloves, wear two pairs. I've read reports that with a single layer of latex, it's sometimes still possible to pick up a latent thumbprint. Don't know if there's any truth to it or not, but I'm pretty sure the amount I've spent on latex gloves in the last year is still less than an hour of time with a good criminal lawyer. If you have a significant volume, you'll find your hand sweat extensively inside latex gloves and you'll be left with whatever white powder residue is on the gloves all over your hands and eventually on everything else. I tried dish washing gloves for a bit, but they were too thick and it was hard to seal the Ziploc's, weigh, pack & peel labels. You could also check out ninjagloves.com, they have some great gloves available and they're re-useable. If you do this get multiple pairs and use different ones for different packing stages. Label them so you know which is which.
Rubber maid bins are great for storing pretty much everything. I use multiple bins of different sizes and colors for different products & packing stages, so I can tell at a quick glance what each bin has and I don't need to label them or open them up and look inside to see what's what. If you want to get really fancy, you can cut out your own interlocking cardboard grid panel to fit inside each bin. This allows you to separate each order/product inside the bin. Great for when something comes up and you need to pack up and go. Just put each order into it's own little cubby, seal the lid and stick it in the closet, under the bed, wherever. This saves a ton of time when you come back, you won't need to re-sort everything. You could even number each cubby box to correlate with each order received. Again, 1st cubby is order 1, 2nd is order 2, etc.
This assembly line process works great and I find it much faster than doing each order individually. You can keep your computer/laptop/tablet/whatever close by so you can easily reference the order page. It's also great for downloaded movies/tv shows to watch while your working. However, if you have many orders to pack each day, your sealer will probably overheat, stop working and need to cool down before it can be used again. At one point I had 3 sealers setup so I could have the first one sealing the first order, be cutting the next bag, packing it and sealing the next order and then repeat the process on the third. By the time the 3rd one was sealing, the first one was ready to go again. This is great for starting vendors because you can start cheap with a single sealer and add more as your volume increases and you have more funds available. Alternatively you could invest in an industrial sealer (I now have several), never have to worry about overheating and they're fast. However they are expensive, so probably not ideal for someone starting out.
When packing, either into the first ziploc, first seal, second seal or envelope, you don't want it to be bulky, uneven or balled up in the middle, it should be flat and smooth. To achieve this it must be packed flat and smooth at each stage. Move it around and distribute it evenly about each time you pack and seal. Use all the space available to you, just be sure it will fit in your shipping envelope. If your unsure, start from the outside and work you way in. What is the maximum bag size that will fit in your envelope? What is the maximum bag size that will fit in the outer bag? How big a ziploc can you fit in that bag? How much weed can you fit in that ziploc? In my experience, about 14g can safely be shipped in an envelope, anything over that should either be split into multiple packages or sent as a parcel. 28g is usually OK for domestic, but too suspect if you go international. Make sure your buyer knows that the order will be split into multiple shipments, send them a day or two apart and use different return addresses. Also, there's a good chance that if you send them a day or two apart, they will not arrive a day or two apart. I've had instances where they show up 2 to 3 weeks apart. Many buyers will claim to have received one but not the other and demand a refund or reship. If your going to refund, don't give them 50% if they received half their order. If they received one half, but not the other and they want a 50% refund, they get 25% or half of the half they did not receive. A good way figure out what got delivered and what didn't is to do or put something unique in each package. Something small, unnoticeable from the outside that doesn't increase the shipping weight. Maybe an number 1 written in one and a number 2 written in the other, or the letters A & B or even a small sticker, red stars & silver stars or cat's and dog's. Don't tell the buyers this, it should be something simple that only you now about. If the buyer claims non delivery for one and not the other, you can use the identifier to figure out which made it and which didn't. If they can't answer questions about the identifier, you'll know they're trying to scam you.
All packing & shipping materials should be kept completely separate from your product packaging area, ideally in a different room or space altogether. Weed stinks, the smell lingers and it can leave trace that can be detected with different sensor devices. It does no good to take all the above packing precaution and have your shipping envelopes right under the table your packing at. The packing/shipping will pickup the odor and that will lead to possible delivery issues. Also, it's a good idea to wrap the sealed package in some sort of protective shell before placing it in the envelope. If the package is suspect, they may try to punch a tiny hole through it and see if anything can be detected. I'm not telling what I use, but something lightweight, thin, hard & study should do the trick.
A lot of people suggest office supply stores for shipping supplies. This is fine for starting out, but when your volume increases, you want to get your shipping costs as low as possible. Buy in bulk, online with a prepaid cc. If you have a friend you can trust who works in an office environment or building, see if they'll accept the delivery for you. Same thing goes for sealer roll, you can buy mass quantities of quality sealer online for cheap. Mind you, you usually have to order 50/100/200 roll cases to get that pricing. 200 rolls of 8" x 20' lasts me about 6 weeks. If you don't need that much at once or can't afford it, Walmart usually has singles for pretty cheap, Costco has 6-8 pack rolls for around $40 (prices may vary in your area).
As always, the best bet is to order from other vendors, see how they package it and copy them to start. In time, you'll come up with your own style. Some will be super stealth, but also require significant time on your end to prepare for delivery, others you'll wonder how they got delivered at all. It comes down to a trade off between time & effort, cost & security. The packaging may be super secure, but if takes a ton of time to prepare and there is a significant cost, it will cut into your profit and if you start getting lots of orders, it will take forever to get them packed & shipped. You may get rave review for shipping, but delivery delay complaints may deter other buyers. Conversely, if you cheap out, nothing will arrive, you'll have to reship or refund many buyer orders and that too will cost you. Again, ordering from existing vendors will let you see how it's packed, and if you're successfully receiving it, it must work to some degree. I'd recommend ordering from multiple buyers and comparing. As with everything, some will overdo it and others will put in a half-hearted attempt. Don't go for the absolute best or worst, instead focus on the middle ground and aim for the top. If you can do it better than 80% of the other vendors out there, you're doing pretty well. If customs is a concern, focus on domestic vendors first. Don't have it shipped to where you do your packing from or live, bad idea. You never know who may come knocking at the door. If you really must check out an international vendors shipping style/method have it sent to someone you trust, a friends house or a buddy at work. Also helps if they smoke too. You've got a weed supply, chances are you don't need more. You're after shipping technique. Get them to receive the package and notify you when it arrives. You open the package and check out how it was packed. Give your friend/buddy/person who received the order the weed inside. If they aren't aware of your undernet activities, split the order with them instead. They get half for the risk in receiving, you get the other half and they have no idea that your real intention was to see how it was packed in the first place. I've got many people, each with their own drug of choice, who will receive packages for me with an agreement like this.
By the way, you shouldn't be doing any of this from your home (vending, packing, receiving, etc). You don't shit where you sleep, you shouldn't do illegal stuff from where you live. Do it from a remote safe location. Better yet, use multiple locations to avoid having significant quantities (read significant trafficking/jail time) at any one spot.
Finally, as was mentioned in a previous post, compression will be an issue. If you want more info on this, check my thread, Will my weed be compressed? http://dkn255hz262ypmii.onion/index.php?topic=13546.0
Wow,
Thanks a ton man - all the details in one post, fucking incredible
-Dr. MedGuy420
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Damn MIMM, that is a hell of an answer.
I know I'll take another look at your wares, thanks for showing attention to detail.