How to Post a Game Console Safely in Australia (Packing Guide)

Whether you are sending a console to us for repair or to a buyer across the country, the packing decides whether it arrives working. Australia Post handles parcels fine, but a console loose in an oversized box will not survive many sorting facilities. Ten minutes of packing does it properly.

The box

Sturdy double-walled cardboard, sized so the console plus padding fits snugly. Too tight and there is no cushioning; too loose and the console becomes a pinball. If you kept the original retail box, that inside a plain shipping box is the gold standard. Keep the outer box compact: under roughly 40 by 32 by 15 centimetres stays in the cheaper flat-rate weight bands.

The padding

• Wrap the console in two layers of bubble wrap, corners especially
• Fill every gap so nothing shifts when the box is shaken
• Scrunched paper works; foam inserts are better; loose fill peanuts alone are not enough
• Tape the box on every seam, not just the middle

Batteries, discs and what to leave out

Devices with built-in lithium batteries (a Switch, a controller) are fine to post within Australia — they simply travel by road, which can add a few days. Take any disc out of the console before posting unless it is stuck inside, and leave out everything that is not the device itself: no cables, no dock, no games. Accessories add weight, cost and things to lose.

Tracking and transit cover

Parcel Post and Express Post both include tracking. Transit cover is a few dollars per hundred dollars of value and worth it for a console; lodge at the counter and ask. Photograph the device and the packed box before you seal it — thirty seconds of photos is your evidence if something goes wrong in transit.

If the parcel is coming to us for repair, the posting instructions email covers the rest: the address, the reference note that goes inside, and everything above in short form. Book online, choose Post it in, and pack it like it matters.