How to ship a complete PC

The hardest thing you can ship — a rigid box of heavy components held by small screws. Here's the order of operations.

Take the heavy things out

A complete PC fails in transit one way above all others: something heavy mounted inside breaks free. Remove the mass, and the case becomes easy to protect.

Remove the graphics card: The single most important step. A mounted GPU is a lever working against its slot with every jolt, and a snapped PCIe slot writes off a motherboard. Pack the card separately — its own protected bundle inside the same shipment, following the GPU guide.
Remove large tower air coolers: A big tower cooler is a fist of metal hanging off the motherboard. Take it off, bag the hardware, ship it padded alongside. (Small low-profile coolers and stock coolers can stay.)
AIO liquid coolers can usually stay: Check that the radiator screws are tight and wedge padding between the radiator, fans, and case so nothing can rattle loose. Route padding so the tubes aren't kinked.
Consider pulling 3.5-inch hard drives: Mechanical drives dislike shocks. If the build has them, packing them separately (two inches of foam each side) is the careful move. M.2 and 2.5-inch SSDs stay put.

Immobilize the inside

Fill the case interior: Instapak expanding foam bags are ideal; tightly packed air pillows or clean foam blocks work too. Fill around the cables, the cooler, and every open bay so nothing inside can move. Tell the buyer (in the listing and a note in the box) to remove all internal padding before first power-on.
Deal with the glass panel: Best: remove the tempered-glass side panel, wrap it in foam between two sheets of cardboard, and pack it flat against a box wall. At minimum, pad both faces of the glass so nothing presses on it.
Tape and tuck: Seat every cable and power connector, and tape down anything that could swing. Double-check the CPU cooler bracket and RAM clips.

Boxing a whole PC

Original case box plus an outer box: The case's own box and foam caps, inside a larger double-wall box with two to three inches of fill on all sides, is the proven recipe. No case box? Foam-cap the corners yourself and double-box.
Assume every orientation: “This Side Up” is a suggestion nobody reads. The parcel will spend time on every face and corner — pack so that's fine.
Mind the weight limits: A full build ships at 30–50 lb. Stay under your carrier's limits, use a box rated for the weight, and tape the bottom generously — heavy boxes fail at the bottom seam.

Shipping a full build is genuinely advanced. If the buyer is anywhere near you, local pickup — paid through the platform like any order — skips every risk on this page.

Before it leaves your hands

Step 1
Photograph it
The item with its serial number visible, then the packed box before you seal it.
Step 2
Attach it to the order
Upload the photos as proof of condition on the order page. The record freezes at handover and counts if anything is disputed.
Step 3
Keep the receipt
The drop-off receipt proves when the carrier took custody. Tracking takes it from there automatically.

How sellers are protected All packing guides

Take the heavy things out

A complete PC fails in transit one way above all others: something heavy mounted inside breaks free. Remove the mass, and the case becomes easy to protect.

Remove the graphics card

The single most important step. A mounted GPU is a lever working against its slot with every jolt, and a snapped PCIe slot writes off a motherboard. Pack the card separately — its own protected bundle inside the same shipment, following the GPU guide.

Remove large tower air coolers

A big tower cooler is a fist of metal hanging off the motherboard. Take it off, bag the hardware, ship it padded alongside. (Small low-profile coolers and stock coolers can stay.)

AIO liquid coolers can usually stay

Check that the radiator screws are tight and wedge padding between the radiator, fans, and case so nothing can rattle loose. Route padding so the tubes aren't kinked.

Consider pulling 3.5-inch hard drives

Mechanical drives dislike shocks. If the build has them, packing them separately (two inches of foam each side) is the careful move. M.2 and 2.5-inch SSDs stay put.

Immobilize the inside

Fill the case interior

Instapak expanding foam bags are ideal; tightly packed air pillows or clean foam blocks work too. Fill around the cables, the cooler, and every open bay so nothing inside can move. Tell the buyer (in the listing and a note in the box) to remove all internal padding before first power-on.

Deal with the glass panel

Best: remove the tempered-glass side panel, wrap it in foam between two sheets of cardboard, and pack it flat against a box wall. At minimum, pad both faces of the glass so nothing presses on it.

Tape and tuck

Seat every cable and power connector, and tape down anything that could swing. Double-check the CPU cooler bracket and RAM clips.

Boxing a whole PC

Original case box plus an outer box

The case's own box and foam caps, inside a larger double-wall box with two to three inches of fill on all sides, is the proven recipe. No case box? Foam-cap the corners yourself and double-box.

Assume every orientation

“This Side Up” is a suggestion nobody reads. The parcel will spend time on every face and corner — pack so that's fine.

Mind the weight limits

A full build ships at 30–50 lb. Stay under your carrier's limits, use a box rated for the weight, and tape the bottom generously — heavy boxes fail at the bottom seam.

Shipping a full build is genuinely advanced. If the buyer is anywhere near you, local pickup — paid through the platform like any order — skips every risk on this page.

Before it leaves your hands

Step 1
Photograph it
The item with its serial number visible, then the packed box before you seal it.
Step 2
Attach it to the order
Upload the photos as proof of condition on the order page. The record freezes at handover and counts if anything is disputed.
Step 3
Keep the receipt
The drop-off receipt proves when the carrier took custody. Tracking takes it from there automatically.

How to ship a complete PC

Take the heavy things out

Immobilize the inside

Boxing a whole PC

Before it leaves your hands

Photograph it

Attach it to the order

Keep the receipt

How to ship a complete PC

Take the heavy things out

Immobilize the inside

Boxing a whole PC

Before it leaves your hands

Photograph it

Attach it to the order

Keep the receipt