Oh, it matters SO much what the cuttings are from! For instance, I ship oout both brugmansia cuttings and passiflora cuttings. The brugs are big, woody cuttings, and I wrap the bottom ends with a damp paper towel, then plastic wrap---and mail them via first class in a bubble envelope. Passiflora cuttings, on the other hand, I cut into two-node cuttings, dip in rooting hormone, and insert into wet florists' foam. I then wrap the foam in plastic wrap, tape each cube of foam to the side of a sturdy box, nestle them in newspaper, and ship them via Priority.

You'll get much better answers to your question is you specify what plants you're interesting in shipping and rooting.

When and if I ship cutting I use the glass tubes you get roses in and put the cutting in those... Keeps them watered for the whole trip... works much better than the classic wrap. Save those rose tubes!

~Dusty~

Dusty,
That's a wonderful idea. Thank you for the tip. :-)

Hi Jean,
I've received and sent cuttings that were successfully rooted. Another tip is to make the cutting longer than you would to root at home, so that the receiver can cut back farther up the stem in case the cut end did start to dry in transit.
To root roses, I cut the end off and scrape away a bit of the outer stem. I dip that in rooting hormone. I then place them in a larger size nursery pot(gallon size?) that I can do 4 cuttngs of the same variety in. I stick them in a few inches. Oh I use a pencil to make a hole before inserting the stem so all the rooting hormone doesn't get wiped off. Then I keep the pot moist in part shade. Once I see new growth, I let the pot dry out on top like any plant in a pot. Some people do fancier things, but it works good for me.
Remy

Jean, I just "found" this post from last fall. There are some excellent suggestions here. Some I plan to use in the near future.
I have traded for cuttings several times and almost always had good results.

I've received rose cuttings and brugmansia cuttings in trades and they both rooted just fine. When I have shipped brug cuttings, I wrapped the ends in damp paper towels and then wrapped that in plastic wrap to hold in the moisture. Then cushion them in the box with newspaper. To root brugs, I just put them in a glass of water until they have roots. Then pot them up.

Rose cuttings take root really well when a layer of sand is in the bottom of the pot. And I do what Remy's instructions say. Sometimes you can make a tent out of a big gallon-size plastic zipper bag to put over your cuttings. This keeps them moist and warm. I had the best little fairy rose bush that grew from a little cutting. It just took off!

Susie