Folio Society Limited Edition Shipping Packaging

I know this might seem an odd question but was just wondering if someone who has purchased copies of both Thomas Hardy's Selected Poems and The Tale of Peter Rabbit (limited editons) from the Folio Society could tell me if they were posted in the Folio Society's custom shipping boxes for limited editions. I bought these in the Folio Society sale and Thomas Hardy arrived in just a normal standard Folio Society box and Peter Rabbit arrived in a single skin white box (resembling a pizza box) scrunched up in heavy duty brown paper. I was returning another damaged order for a replacement and mentioned this in my email and was told by customer services that "not all limited editions come in their own custom packaging". I have been collecting Folio Society books for well over 30 years now and with the exception of "The Haunting of Hill House" all the limited editions I have ordered from them have come in a custom shipping box. I keep all my limited edition packaging as I don't have the space to display all the books I own at any one time, so store the books in their custom shipping boxes when not being used. Also the packaging should now comes in handy as I will be moving house shortly.

>1 FolioLorna:

My copy of the Thomas Hardy LE came in its slipcase, wrapped in a sheet of brown paper with a printed label bearing the title and copy number, number written by hand. It was packaged in a large box with the other two books I had ordered, all wrapped in the new brown paper packaging. So, no custom-made box.

I would have thought that a custom-made box would do a much better job of protecting the Limited Edition.

This new approach sounds like a false economy as I assume that any Limited Editions which are damaged in the post are returned by the buyer to the Folio Society, leaving the Society out of pocket as well as losing goodwill with a good buyer.

Guess they can’t win on this one. Everyone is celebrating them finally combining the postage for LEs with other volumes on order. The cost is that they are shipped with the other volumes.

>4 Chemren: Your comment seems to suggest that the lack of custom packaging on some LE’s may be the result of combined shipping. Combined shipping has nothing to do with custom packaging (except possibly in the case of very large/heavy LE’s like PKD/Shakespeare etc which come in their own huge boxes so would probably never fit inside another even larger box alongside other volumes).

Most LE’s have always been in custom packaging. For combined shipping the custom boxes are simply stacked inside the outer box alongside the other volumes. Some LE’s like the Hardy/Shirley Jacksons etc have never had custom packaging so would never ship in custom boxes (whether combined or shipped individually).

FS obviously makes a choice when planning/costing their LE’s as to which will get custom packaging & which will not & they are shipped in this packaging whether combined or not. 90% of LE’s do get custom packaging, but as FS says - not all LE’s do.

I have purchased four FS LE's (including two in the recent sale) and each time the LE came in it's own custom sized box inside a larger box with other books. Beautifully packaged each time. Seems like a perfect arrangement to me. Maybe I've been lucky. Maybe ordering a mix of LE and SE is advantageous.

Most LEs are significantly larger than the average SE, more vulnerable to bumps in the post especially if packaged together with a contemporaneous order of the latter making the box heavier, and so would benefit from their own custom packaging. The Hardy LE at 10" tall and of reasonably slim width fits quite comfortably with SEs in a box. Doesn't it make sense ecologically and economically to not use excessive packaging in such a case where it's not needed? I'm not aware of a single purchaser of this LE on these threads or elsewhere whose copy was damaged in transit.

>7 cronshaw: my copy arrived safe on its own to Canada in the new standard packaging. And I’ve often received damaged books.

When I purchase a limited edition, I am buying into the idea that it is a special / luxury book and with any luxury item, presentation is therefore very important. From it being hand wrapped in the traditional brown wrapping paper and shipped in a custom shipping box, it is all part of the luxury experience. I received my copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit scrunched up in heavy duty parcelling paper, in a flimsy single skin box, which resembled a pizza carton.

If this book had being shipped in this packaging, it would not have survived its journey. As it was, despite coming in an additional box with other books, it still managed to sustain some minor damage to its solander box. If the book had been in a custom shipping box which is made to provide maximum protection, I would most probably, now have a perfect copy.

From both an aesthetic and practical point of view, I think all limited edition should come in custom packaging. When purchased in bulk, custom packaging costs can be quite low. Therefore, I do not believe that it would significantly increase the overall price of most limited editions.

>9 FolioLorna: I received my copy of The Tale of Peter Rabbit scrunched up in heavy duty parcelling paper, in a flimsy single skin box, which resembled a pizza carton.

I would be upset if that happened to me too. Fortunately for me, all my FS LE's came in what I consider to be packaging tailored to that edition. I have kept all of my LE boxes as I thought they were well made and I move around a bit. I have re-used some already - putting them in my check-in luggage and having them come out of a lengthy trip in perfect condition. In addition, these custom boxes were packaged by FS with other books so they had the additional protection of another box. Not everyone likes that but my larger boxes have been perfectly sized, well packed and nothing has been damaged.

So there seem to be different experiences here. Either that or some people receive pizza in far better boxes than I have ever had! I can speculate and think of a few potential reasons why FS don't end up using custom sized boxes for some orders but they really should work this out.

I got the Peter Rabbit LE for a friend and it came very well protected in its own box inside another one with the rest of the order. I don't know if I was just lucky, but I would have expected that to be the norm.

>11 SF-72:
I also ordered the Peter Rabbit LE (for myself, however) and it came well protected in its own box as well, with padding around all the edges and corners. It seemed like normal packaging for a Limited Edition (I've ordered a few) to me.