I started the new year with an order off my site, which those of you who follow me on Twitter knew about. You know what clinched the order though? The fact that shipping was only $2.00. Well that was a total mistake since Canada Post barely allows a letter to be mailed for that. I did an estimate on the Canada Post website and it's going to cost, on the high end, about $57 to expedite the package, and $20 to mail it regular mail. I checked on the US Postal Services site, and it would cost me less to mail it from the States to Canada. Sad state of affairs.
I emailed the lady who put in the order, and told her my dilemma. I offered to mail it via USPS but it would have to be mailed out next weekend, not this weekend like I had offered earlier. She and I went back and forth, and bottom line is she would like the soaps mailed to her in whatever means is best for me.
This was a good lesson for me, make sure my website is in proper order. I have a secondary site on Meylah, and on that one I have put in shipping costs which are more in line with what is reasonable, which could be another reason why I haven't had any orders off that site.
Have you made any mistakes that could potentially cost you?
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| First order of 2014 |
Wow, that was a lot of work for one order. I've botched shipping before but not by such a large margin. Glad she's so nice and reasonable about it. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a lesson learned, that's for sure Teresa. And fortunately I got to learn this lesson with someone who's very nice. I knew mailing with Canada Post was going to be costly, but I didn't factor in that it would cost that much more to mail things across the country.
DeleteYou mean... aside from the mistake I made a couple years ago hiring that stupid landscaper. LOL!
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I feel for you.
I have to admit, for the little time I set up my website for selling I didn't include any area outside the U.S. just because I couldn't get the shipping down. I never really got my website off the ground because the shipping part was so confusing. It was really the cart I chose though... I wish I had picked a more user friendly one.
Like T, I too am happy the customer has been understanding about it.
2014 will be great for you though. You now have the one single frustrating thing out of the way and it is all up hill from here!
You should've hired a landscaper for his abilities to landscape, not to be a good looking part of it Michelle. ;D
DeleteI think shipping is always the most difficult part of setting a website. The software I'm using for my website design has good options for shipping from the US, but I've seen other Canadians being stymied by it, mostly because I think Canada Post doesn't play nicely with others.
I'm very grateful for a very understanding customer as well. It's giving me motivation to pay more attention to what's on my website as well.
As my friend has said to me before, "From your lips to God's ears" and in this case, I'm hoping the soaping and business gods are listening. :)
Happy New Year, Monica! We had a quiet NYE, too. We stayed home and I went to bed around 11 PM Central time, right after I saw the ball drop in Times Square. I'm sorry to hear about the problems with the order. Shipping can be difficult to estimate, and I'm glad that your customer is understanding and nice about it while you're still figuring things out. Congrats on the sale! Oh, and the frog soaps are super-cute!
ReplyDeleteI dont' know about you Jenny, but I'm finding the older I get, the less New Year's holds an interest for me. If I can stay up until midnight Central time, I'm doing well. :)
DeleteShipping in Canada is very frustrating because we don't have the flat rate boxes you have in the States, and boy would I love those. It would make life so much easier. Fortunately, my web designer said she can fix my shipping so that's one more problem resolved.
Thanks for the compliment about the frogs. I guess this lady's son is really into frogs. Maybe he'll fashion them into Teenage Mutant Turtles. ;)
Happy 2014, Monca!
ReplyDeleteI am sorry about these shipping problems...
I wish you much love, health and a lot of soapy creations in this new year!
Our New Year's Eve was quiet, and I do like it like this :).
And a super happy 2014 to you Nat! I guess shipping is always the most difficult part of running a business since it's the only part that's completely out of one's control.
DeleteThank you for the lovely wishes, and I wish you a prosperous year filled with happiness and joy and lots of inspirational new recipes.
A quiet New Year's Eve sounds like the perfect way to go.