Urban Art Association

In my opinion, the damage on your book warrants a replacement. 

They should have wrapped em in bubble wrap first 

It says on the site this is their mailadres Lroy: sales@retailtherapyoffice.com

No damage is acceptable, this is a brand new product, with the correct packaging, there would not have been a problem.

I guess it's a super small team handling the shipping, and it seems like domestic shipments are first in line, which is totally understandable because international shipping from the UK to the rest of the world requires additional paperwork. Now they've been hit with plenty of emails due to damaged books and need to handle replacements. It's only logical that it takes a bit longer for all of us to get our books. Relax!

These things are often a learning process.

But for a hardcover, coffee table book in particular, that packaging was not only unsuited for purpose. It was unsuited in a foreseeable way.

Damage to at least some books could have been predicted, simply by examining the flimsiness of the cardboard envelopes being used for dispatch.

It is regrettable there was an unnecessary stumble here at the last hurdle. After what appears to have been a great deal of effort put into the publication itself, for customers to receive copies with dented corners feels a little tragic. Mainly because this kind of damage can be prevented so easily.



That said, it is also reassuring to hear the issue is being addressed by Retail Therapy Office, quickly and professionally, and that damaged books are being replaced.


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If Fragile is reading this thread, there is of course an inevitable degree of knocking and bashing that occurs to parcels during transit, even just within the UK. And sometimes it's significant.

Now imagine the level of bashing a parcel might experience if it is being shipped to an overseas address, perhaps on the other side of an ocean.



Simple test for the suitability of book packaging:


1.  Take the packaged book and, from a height of about five feet, drop it so that the parcel lands on one of its corners — corresponding to the top‑right or bottom‑right corner of the book inside.

2.  Repeat step 1 once or twice, focusing each time on the same corner.

3.  Now open the parcel.

4.  If the top‑right or bottom‑right corner of the book inside has remained undented, then your packaging is probably suited for purpose.


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Especially with heavier books, whose corners can be especially vulnerable to damage, what is required is both a robustness of the packaging material and appropriate packaging techniques.

That means sturdy, corrugated cardboard.

It also means using a packaging style that provides sufficient buffer space along the length edges of the parcel (of perhaps 3‑6 cm) — capable of absorbing the impact of any bashing during shipping, to safeguard the condition of the book inside.


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For future deliveries of Banksy by Fragile, consider replacing the current packaging with book boxes, also known as book wrap mailers.

At the risk of stating the obvious, these are the cardboard wraparound boxes often used by Amazon when dispatching books.

Key to their protective efficiency are their outer edges (the buffer space referred to above), which bear the brunt of any rough handling that may occur in transit.



Prices do vary, with some selling for about £1.20 apiece, but I quickly found one source, Kite Packaging, offering a suitable size (PP 3) for less than 30 pence apiece for orders of 250+ units:


www.kitepackaging.co.uk/scp/postal-boxes/book-wrap-cardboard-mailers/











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Looking forward to reading the book.

Absolutely spot-on, as always, Met.

Is it just me or should we keep a little perspective that it’s a 30 quid book not a £300 print
The odd dong / ding wouldn’t worry me especially after I’d read the bloody thing

Fragile not Fabric :-)

The cost of the item is irrelevant imo, if I buy something new, I want to receive it in new condition, not damaged.

Like others have said, its a learning process. I've been shipping for various artists for nearly 20 years now and have had my fair share of shipping disasters along the way. Not all book wraps are made equal. Some are nice and sturdy, some are really flimsy. For heavy coffee table style books I tend to wrap them in jiffy foam before putting in the book wrap. I also tape across the inner flaps before fully shutting and taping the outer. That stops everything moving around inside or bursting out the ends. Still not fool-proof though as couriers chuck these things around for fun.

Sorry to hear about the damage to your copy.

As a slight obsessive when it comes to condition issues (which I often claim is beyond my control), I sympathise and hope you receive a replacement book soon.



My own experience with book wrap mailers has almost always been positive — at least when the correct size of mailer was used.

When the latter were too large, the books were unfortunately prone to moving around inside their parcels, increasing the likelihood of arriving with dented corners.


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I suppose this just requires finding a suitable balance, where the level of risk is deemed acceptable to Retail Therapy Office.

With each packaging option considered, it's a case of weighing up:

(a)  the likelihood of damage occuring to the books during transit; and

(b)  the cost, time and effort of using that packaging option.



For the dispatch of hundreds or possibly thousands of orders, I would still opt for book wrap mailers.

But if far fewer orders had needed to be dealt with (e.g. just two or three dozen), I'd probably combine the book wrap mailers with some bubble wrap.





For normal people, I would agree that your position is reasonable.

Among collector types, you might be in the minority.

Many collectors could be described as abnormal, subnormal, or (if you'll indulge the delusion) above normal.



As with sevrin*, the cost of an item for me is irrelevant. This could be a £3 magazine, and I'd still be irked if one of its pages had a folded corner.

But then, I'm also the kind of person who gets annoyed by uneven bubble wrap. You can sometimes find me in my kitchen with a straight edge and blade, taking crooked sheets of bubble wrap that arrived in mail parcels, and re‑cutting those sheets to make them straight again.

I'll keep quiet about my routine when it comes to recycling, because otherwise you'd think I was nuts.

Sad comment this. How come we missed this person at the Glasto thread?