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Crafty Business Questions: Self-Shipping

June 23rd, 2009

Is it worth all the trouble to give my customers multiple shipping options?

Well, that all depends on what you mean by “options.”  I wouldn’t necessarily recommend offering multiple carriers but it’s okay to offer multiple speeds.  In other words, choose just one company to ship with, such as UPS, FedEx or the US Postal Service.  If your web site’s shopping cart automatically calculates shipping costs, you can offer multiple delivery options such as First Class or Overnight, but if you have to enter those prices manually it may not be worth it to have to stay current with rate changes.  Some sites, like Etsy, never let you choose more than one service or delivery option to a given destination.  That’s fine.  Just add a line to your FAQs, policies, or product pages that asks customers to contact you if they need expedited shipping or prefer a different carrier.

Can I charge for “handling” if I ship products myself?

Absolutely.  I think it’s crazy that people believe their customers won’t buy from them if they charge more than the cost of postage to ship something.  Packing materials aren’t free and neither is your time.  Charge your normal hourly rate plus the cost of your shipping materials and postage.  For example, if it takes you five minutes to ship something (i.e. look up the order, pack it, address it and print out shipping labels) and you pay yourself $25/hr., you should charge $2.08 in addition to the cost of the box and the stamps.  This is not unreasonable.  If you still feel funny about it, though, feel free to lay out the charges in your FAQs or Policies page.  Don’t sweat it if a customer refuses to buy from you because of this.  You don’t want a relationship with someone who thinks your time is worthless anyway.

How can I keep the time and cost of shipping as low as possible?

Whoa.  Big question.  Let’s tackle time-saving first.  The most important thing is having the right supplies around.  I keep all of my shipping materials in one place, including a postal scale, address stamp, padded envelopes in sizes that fit my most common items, and the most common denominations of stamps I use.  I order most of these in bulk from places like Quill and Uline.  The shipping is usually free and my order often arrives in 1-2 days.

postalsupplies

My postal scale is a regular spring-loaded Dymo scale with the postage prices printed right on the dial.  I place my package on top, and the needle points to the correct First Class postage price so I don’t have to look it up.  The Priority Mail and Express Mail prices are also printed on the front in a grid.  My only complaint is that the replacement dials they send when the price goes up are slow in coming and expensive ($15).  I looked into postage meters, too, when I was first starting up, and I determined that they are not worth the monthly rental fee unless you send hundreds of First Class envelopes each month.

I keep tons of $0.44, $1, $0.17, and $0.20 stamps around because any First Class package can be mailed using just those four denominations.  It’s often much quicker to address an envelope by hand and use stamps than it is to go online and print out the shipping label.  On the other hand, if you’re mailing something that has tracking info or doesn’t fit in your corner mailbox, it’s usually better to create the label online.  The shipper will send the tracking info to the customer for you and you can drop off your shipments at the post office or hand them to your driver/mail carrier.

Now for cost-saving.  Firstly, the more you can store, the better.  Having space to save shipping materials allows you buy in bulk and and to reuse the boxes, bubble wrap, etc. that you receive from other senders.  Secondly, become familiar with shipping classes and delivery times.  For example, what the USPS defines as a “letter” can be surprisingly large, thick and heavy.  Just beware of uneven or weirdly-proportioned envelopes.  USPS machines can’t handle them so they require a $0.20 “non-machinable” surcharge (hence my stash of $0.20 stamps).  In another example, UPS always delivers Ground shipments within the Bay Area in 1-2 days.  There is therefore never any reason to pay the overnight rate on a local shipment.  It arrives just as quickly at the lowest price.

Thirdly, I’ll reiterate that you should use online shipping labels for any package that uses tracking info.  Most carriers will give you a discount on postage bought online.  You can also schedule a free pickup for most online shipments, which allows you to save on gas money.

Lastly, make friends with your delivery people.  Learn the names of your UPS driver and your mail carrier.  Ask them how they’re doing.  Leave them tips or gifts at the holidays.  Not only are they competent human beings who deserve to be treated as such, they are often happy to do you favors and help you solve problems with your shipments.

Most of the complaints I receive from customers have to do with shipping.  How can I avoid this?

Shipping issues are by far the most common complaints I receive from customers as well, but I’ve been able to reduce them significantly by posting clear and specific shipping policies to my website and Etsy shop.  If an issue ever comes up that isn’t covered by those policies or falls within a grey area, I solve the problem to the customer’s satisfaction and then update the policy page so it never happens again. In addition, I sometimes put the answers to the most common shipping questions on the product page itself.

You can also reduce the number of complaints by offering fewer shipping options.  This may sound counter-intuitive (customers prefer choices, right?), but it ultimately makes for less confusion and frustration.  You can always let the customer contact you if they’d like special shipping arrangements.  If you’re able to provide them, great!  Your customer will love you for being so accommodating.  If not, you can always return a polite explanation that references your shipping policies and leaves no room for argument.

Finally, always pack your items well. Like, to withstand being run over.  It doesn’t matter whether or not your customer opts for insurance, you’re an A-hole if the product breaks in transit and you refuse to replace it.

What are some common shipping issues you’ve faced and how have you dealt with them?  Please share your experiences in the comments section.

by Biz Miss

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Recession-Friendly Business Tactics

March 8th, 2009

Most businesses these days are seeing a dramatic decrease in sales due to the recession.  Most businesses I’ve been reading about are reporting approximately 30% decreases in this year’s sales over last, but one industry is actually growing: crafting.  According to the New York Times, this past holiday season sales of handcrafted goods and craft supplies were both up over last year.

One reason for the growth of crafting is obvious: saving money.  It costs much less to make your own gifts than to buy them from a retailer.  And on web sites like Etsy, you can often find handcrafted items for a steal because they are not marked up to cover the costs of middlemen.  People are also staying home more often, both because they can’t find work and because they are spending less money on going out.  This means more time to spend on crafting.

Another reason for the uptick in sales is that people are considering each purchase more carefully.  When customers have to be extra choosy about how they spend, they consider not just the upfront price of an item, but how long it will last, how safe and environmentally friendly it is, and whether it goes to support a local artisan (and therefore our own economy) or a large factory overseas.

Naturally, the largest increase in sales has been in craft supplies.  There are sales figures from Michael’s and JoAnn to back this up in the New York Times article, but it’s easy to see anecdotally as well.  One of the products I sell is a cross-stitch pattern for a “Meat is Sweet” sampler.  Normally I sell only one or two of these per craft fair, but at the last SF San Francisco Bazaar I sold out of the ten I had halfway through the day.  I also visited the Stitches West knitting expo last weekend and all of the yarn and supply booths were packed.  Jamie’s own Urban Fauna Studio had three people working their tiny booth but it was not enough to satisfy the throngs who were clamoring to buy.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, the most popular craft right now is sewing.  This makes perfect sense.  From what I can tell, most clothing (and accessories, and home decor items) currently available is extremely overpriced, poorly constructed and made in less than ideal labor conditions.  But with the help of the Internet, you can design your own fabric using services like Spoonflower, and then turn it into a dress, a bag or an apron using any one of millions of free online tutorials.

So how can you use these trends to help your own craft business?  Firstly, thank your customers for what good choices they’re making.  Tell them you appreciate their choice to buy a product that is made to last and that helps to stimulate our economy.  You can include this type of message in your newsletter or in a note you include with each shipment.  Throw in a special repeat-buyer’s-only coupon, too.

Secondly, give the people what they want.  Convert any designs you can into kits, patterns, and materials, especially sewing projects.  Offer one or two of these for free and promote the heck out of them.  Submit them to blogs like Craft Magazine, and bulletin boards like Craftster.  You’ll pull in lots of traffic for the free stuff and if people like what you offer, they’ll be back to buy others.

Third, create combo deals.  In tough economic times, folks love the Value Meal.  Offer a free pattern when you buy three, or make sets of products that are cheaper than three or four individual ones.

What are you doing to make the most of the recession?  Share your ideas and comments below.

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Overexposure: When to Donate Freebies, and When to Say No

January 24th, 2009

When I was first starting out, I gave away a lot of stuff in the name of “exposure”, because I kept hearing from other business owners how important it is to “get your stuff out there.” What they really meant, though, was “get your stuff out to your target market.”

Two days ago a random Etsy member asked me to donate 100 items to supply her wedding guests’ gift bags. In return, she promised to “get your product out there to a large group of people of varying ages, most of which have never even HEARD of Etsy.”

This may sound appealing, but when you think about it, it’s as effective a marketing strategy as standing on a random street corner and giving away 100 of your products for free. “People of varying ages, most of which have never even HEARD of Etsy” are NOT my target market, and they’re probably not yours, either. Even if they think your product is cool, Great Uncle Fred and 12-year-old Simon are not going to shop Etsy. Why waste your handmade items on them?

My advice is to only give away freebies at events where at least 80% of the participants would be likely to shop from you. Gift bags at well-attended craft fairs like San Francisco Bazaar are good, especially if it gets you a spot in promotional materials or the fair is so big customers don’t make it to every booth.

Product-specific events are also good. Do you sell mainly to affluent pet owners? Then donating stuff to an animal rescue benefit is appropriate. Giving away freebies at the launch of a new fashion magazine is not. Yes, some of those fashionistas will also be affluent pet owners, but is it worth 100 handmade items to get just one new sale?

I’m not saying that those who ask for free stuff are bad people, but they are ultimately looking out for their own event/organization, and not for your business. It’s up to you to do that and to separate targeted, effective promotion from untargeted ineffective promotion.

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Current Status of the CPSIA, or "Lead Law" for Children's Products

January 17th, 2009

Crafty businesses are pissed about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.  Really pissed.   On the surface it sounds good, and it certainly has good intentions behind it, but it carries a lot of new requirements that could put a lot of crafters out of business during a time when it’s already hard enough to get by.

The CPSIA sets new standards for the amount of lead and phtalates allowed in children’s products–from clothing to toys to furniture–which is good, in theory.  In practice, however, it requires every material in every component in every color of every product to undergo testing, which can cost thousands of dollars per product.  It also requires resellers of children’s products to carry safety certificates (GCC’s) for any regulated product they buy after February 10th (when the law goes into effect).  While large, foreign toy manufacturers may be able to absorb these costs, small domestic businesses and individual crafters may not.

Unsurprisingly, small businesses have been in an uproar about the CPSIA–so much so, in fact, that the issue reached #6 yesterday on Change.org, putting it safely within the top ten issues which will be presented to President-Elect Obama’s transition team.  People on Etsy.com have been petitioning the Consumer Product Safety Commission regularly, as have many popular small business bloggers.  Luckily, with the economy in the tank and public opinon firmly on the side of Main Street, these petitions seem to be getting heard.  Just last week Bloomberg News reported that “wool, cotton, silk, gemstones and pearls” would all be exempt from testing.  The L.A. Times also reported exemptions for “clothing, toys and other goods made of natural materials such as cotton and wood.”  And the CPSC itself released a statement on January 8th, stating: “Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.”

That’s a big relief, and of course the hope is that the CPSIA will continue to be updated to protect both children’s safety and the livelihood of small businesses, but we’re not off the hook yet.  All of the above statements are just press releases.  Nothing in the text of the law has actually been changed yet. So what can you do as a small business owner?  First, submit your own comments to the CPSC by January 30th. All the contact information can be found on the second page of this document.  Second, prepare your business if you sell any children’s products:

  • Contact the manufacturers of your materials to see if they have already tested their products.  If so, ask for a copy of their safety certificate.  If not, ask that they be tested (perhaps in conjunction with others who use their materials), or seek alternative manufacturers.
  • See if your products can be made with alternative materials.  Can your children’s jewelry be made with wooden beads rather than plastic ones?  Can that headband be made out of cotton, rather than polyester?
  • Contact your local representatives in Congress about this issue, or draft a petition and have all the crafters you know sign it.

There is still a lot of room for change in the CPSIA, but it won’t happen by itself, so be a swimmer and take responsibility for the survivial of your own business.

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