On the all sides of the box I wrote our name & arrival date. My DH taped it up real good - not just on the top & bottom but a couple of strips around the whole box for added support. We also added some newspaper to the inside of the box for a little cushion. We shipped UPS (Maine) - it cost us $33 - the box was 30 lbs but I believe they charged by the dimensions - its a big box!