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In my tiny little studio I have a little table that is waist-high dedicated to shipping. I have this so it’s fast, organized and I keep everyone’s confirmation delivery or insurance in a file with their receipt. All of this being said ~ Knock on Wood ~ I have not ever had a problem with shipping a package  but I am meticulous about it.

Packaging is important. Come up with some creative packaging that suits your style and make it different. Even if you alter store-bought packaging little things make a difference. Every package I send out gets wrapped like a present and has a hand written card usually addressing the person’s first name. Even my small etsy supply shop where there are items for 5$ I still wrap it. Why? These same people come back over and over and over because they love it. They are buying from me because I am not a ‘chain store’ and I want them to know that it matters to me too.

I have two small companies that I supply all of their women’s employee gifts for Christmas. They are token items….like earrings but they order 20 pairs…which is fantastic for me! Why do they order from me??????? The wives at these places of business bought from me and loved the presentation. Now I send them pics, fit their price range and ship presents wrapped ready to give for Christmas. Bonus, the ladies that get these items call me too. It’s full circle good business. I do my absolute best to please my customer and make them want to come back to back to do business and buy something nice next year or next birthday or next Valentines day or next Mother’s day, etc….. Not only is the customer always right but they are special besides so make them feel that way.

Generalizing here: Artists are not always good at this. They drop the ball business wise while creating their ‘art.’ That is fine if you don’t need to eat or you don’t really want to be in business and you just want to create. There is a difference. If you want to make a living you do have to please people other than yourself with your creations. It really helps to always look at very successful companies that do this already. For me Tiffany’s is a good example. Coach is a good example. These are super famous companies with excellent customer service, excellent customer experience while shopping (they will cater to your every need), awesome marketing, quality product. Can I ever do this ~ probably not ~ but why not follow by example and see what happens.

If you notice in the pic all items get handmade packaging which is easy to figure out from your local craft/hobby store. All packages get confirmation delivery (0.80$) per package. This makes your package trackable. I have in my shipping policy that if I have the package confirmed delivery at your address I am no longer responsible for its safety. If I have a one of a kind item over 75$ I insure it also. Insurance at the post office needs a receipt so make your own receipt for your own goods on a professional invoice. The post office only needs that if you need to make a claim on the insurance not to just ship it. With my jeweler’s insurance I have insurance on Express Mail packages however Express Mail is 15$ so that has to be taken into consideration. That is fine for a huge wholesale delivery that needs to be mailed. Shipping out of the country I have right in my shipping policy that I can’t be responsible for the item in their country’s customs check. Knock on Wood again – have never had a problem shipping out of the country. You can ship FedEx with signature to other countries, insured. It is about 28$ for a small package. I would do this for an expensive item.

WOW~ that was a lot of babbling about the mail…. Take Care and one week to go until Christmas!!!! I have a couple orders that came in yesterday so I have to fill those and get them out ASAP for Monday Priority Mail and then the rush should settle down because their will be no time left to ship safely. Happy Happy Shopping for me next week…have not done any Christmas shopping, yeeeekkkkkk!!!!