Are you ready for the Holiday Mailing Season?

Are you ready?

You and I both know that even with the economy in a shambles, WE are giving Christmas presents (holiday presents to celebrate Hannuaka or Kwanza or New Years or Boxing Day or WHATEVER you feel like celebrating.)

So are our customers online! They may not be spending as much as last year but they going to give each other something. So are YOU ready?

Do you have priority mail boxes on hand?
Do you have packing materials - clean, non-smelly, category appropriate packing materials?
Do you have plenty of packing tape? labels? printer paper? ink?

Did you eat your Wheaties this morning? Cause Black Friday, Green Monday, Cyber Tuesday - they are all on the way. And for heaven't sake, you don't want to have to refund a sale because you didn't have the right size box or other supply.

Now do you know the Post Office's and UPS and FEDEX's shipping deadlines? You need to know them and let your customers know them. So, here's a link to the appropriate websites:


The USPS: http://www.usps.com/holiday/welcome.htm?from=home_lgpromo_RedOrnaments&page=Calendar

BROWN! UPS:
http://www.compass.ups.com/article/article.aspx?id=2289

and last but by no means least - Fedex:
http://www.fedex.com/us/holiday/shipping/lastdaystoship.html


So, go print out the schedules if you haven't already. Be sure to order the supplies from whomever you use for that (I've got recommendations for that on another day) and get packing!


By the way - remember to smile every day - it makes the world wonder what you've been up to! and? And HAVE FUN!

WHAT do you like to sell?

I like selling small light things. I normally sell pottery and glass - not exactly small and light. But i love pottery and glass and selling it is an excuse to buy it and have it for a while. I think of my inventory as "my rotating collection".

My favorite thing to ship is....well it's a toss-up between postcards (2 pcs of cardboard or a rigid plastic slip case and an envelope) or authographed baseballs (box, peanuts, baseball, more peanuts. Tape the box shut! WALA!! you're done.

Now even though I don't like shipping big pottery I seem to be doing it pretty regularly. Imagine my emotions when my shipping deparment, aka my husband, confessed that they shipped a 16 inch tall pottery vase, which sold for a mere $150 and...


And he used peanuts, wedged the vase into the box but forgot..the bubblewrap. Thank God he pused a box! It did arrive safely and my buyer did leave good feedback. But JEEZ!! Good help is hard to find.!!!