It is probably more effective at keeping things safe than not putting it on there. Also, I do it because I'm hooked on that scene from "A Christmas Story" where the dad thinks it must be italian and pronounces it fra-gee-lay

yes but adding packing is good, hey robin +5

yes i do in fact! but since youy asked this question i have to tell u something. my dad worked for the airport and they get pissed off when you put fragile on a box so they throw it harder

Yes, I'm pretty sure the guy wearing a hernia belt and getting paid minimum wage+$1 will really give a crap about a "fragile" sticker.

I've heard that some people will toss it around more when they see it (you got to remember, not all these people are at the top of the gene pool). If something is fragile, just make sure it is packaged more securely.

no !!! not at all !!! it is worse . if it is international and you mark it as "glass vase" etc.... if it is uninsured . i truly beleive it will be broken on purpose. even if it is insured , a worker, grumpy at the bosses may smash it to give them greif . this may be rumor .... or a cowinkydink..... but i have been shipping for years . worldwide . and i refuse to "target " my parcels with that sticker ! . they have been safe since .

Not really. Most postal workers can't read English, it seems. +5

The post office must be hiring people that cannot read english. My wife has sent many items marked "fragile" in the mail. she buys and sells on Ebay. Many items have been destroyed due to mishandling by the post office. Best bet is to ensure each item. Maybe these workers just need new glasses.

NO. for two reasons; 1stly I believe if you package your item well/appropriately then I genuinely feel that the postal company should take reasonable care with ALL packages not just the ones that specify it. 2ndly, from experience (my own and a fair amount of friend's experiences) packages/suitcases marked FRAGILE had an "odd" tendency to go missing! Apparently it is a signal to stiicky-fingered employees that the contents are expensive (seeing as most fragile items are expensive it's not hard to see the logic i guess) and therefor too tempting not to pinch! The only time my luggage ever went missing was when we put huge FRAGILE stickers on it because we had porcelain EXPENSIVE souveniers inside...and suprise suprise it got "lost", never to be found. funny how a huge suitcase can just vanish into thin air huh? My friends started noticing that when they would specify for fragile to be written on the packages they ordered that like 50% of the time those marked packages would simply never arrive, where as normally they always got their packages (safe neighbourhood etc) and it didnt take them long to figure out why. So I advise you either always register a package that needs to be labeled fragile OR simply have it packaged VERY well with plenty of bubble wrap (lol) and dont mark it as fragile.

I wouldn't think it would hurt

It helps; but you may still want to add some stuffing and padding to make sure the item is thoroughly protected.

Not at all. I have packages delivered that had 'fragile' stamped all over and they arrived damaged. I've heard from some people that the mail handlers will intentionally rough up such packages.

only if you want someone to shake it +5

it doesn't matter what you write on your package, the handlers throw them around, drop them and generally treat them like a sack of potatoes no matter what. while working a SFMB in a mall over the holidays we got shipments of water globes and music boxes almost daily, the boxes were all clearly labeled "fragile" and still came in dinted, torn, half crushed and mangled. fortunately the company knew how UPS abused it's deliveries and overdid the packing foam to the point of stock filling barely half the box, and still we got a few items broken or in one case water globes half frozen

no more writing fragile!

I think so.

No, it doesnt.

I think it helps the package handlers to know which packages to rough up.

I only mark fragile on things I do not want bent. So far, they haven't been bent. +5

It doesnt matter. I worked for a shipping company (not mentioning any names) and they through the packages around all the time no matter what was written on them!

I worked for a shipping company many moons ago. Fragile items were customarily tossed overhand.

I cant see why it would hurt to let the post office know its fragile.

I think if you write "fragile" on it, it will be beaten more. I once had a heavy crate shipped and i had the shipper write "UP" with an arrow on all 4 sides. The shipper delivered it to my house sideways, and it was damaged.