We have a fair number of customers who ask for our phone number so that they can place their order that way. Most say they do not want to give their credit card number online. This always strikes us as a bit strange, since the only way we have of running the card number for the order is to go online and hook up with our merchant account people. The days of using a mechanical device or filling out a card receipt by hand are long gone, at least for us.
Another thing we notice is that some customers will write and ask us how much the shipping will be for their order. When we designed the website, we chose a shopping cart that would instantly calculate shipping as you add items--you will always know what the shipping will be (unless you are international, but you can choose your region early on). Then if you decide to NOT order, no big deal--just putting items in the cart will not constitute an order. Much easier for us if you check the cost of shipping yourself, and decide about ordering or not.
Just a couple of thoughts.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
the shipping department blues
Mail order means shipping. Not necessarily by mail, but for a business like ours, it has been the best overall method. The great majority of the boxes we send out into the world are small to medium size, and the postal service provides boxes for FREE as long as we use them to ship by priority mail. We use the USPS Click and Ship service, which means I make and pay for the labels online, print them myself, apply them to the box and haul everything to the post office. I could have them all picked up at the shop, but by the time I am done picking and packing and labeling, I am ready to get away from the table and the computer and drive the almost 2 miles to town and see what else is going on in the world. Not that there is much in the tiny town of Harper, but there is a new thrift store run by the library, and there is the library if I need something to read, and the bank and the feed store and any local gossip that might be floating around, not that I am interested in anything like that, of course.
WE get suggestions and complaints from time to time about our shipping methods. Our shopping cart is a rather simple affair--we chose it for that reason and also because it was relatively inexpensive, and we always try to keep our overhead down as that means our prices can stay at a reasonable level. Some shopping carts give you a choice between UPS, Fedex, USPS, and all the different speeds of delivery thereof. Ours could give you more choices, but we do not offer them for a very simple reason. Our shipping department is a one person operation and that is me. We have thought about employees, but we have been there done that with previous business ventures, and this time we'd like to keep it just the two of us. There is a comment box in the shopping cart, and when someone wants something fast or shipped by UPS, they usually let us know there and then we do our best to comply.
In fact, doing our best pretty well sums up what we try to do everyday with Duckworks. WE always feel bad when we disappoint, but too much stress is bad for your health, so we try to keep it all in perspective. Sounds like Duckwords, I'd better quit while I am ahead. More about this later.
WE get suggestions and complaints from time to time about our shipping methods. Our shopping cart is a rather simple affair--we chose it for that reason and also because it was relatively inexpensive, and we always try to keep our overhead down as that means our prices can stay at a reasonable level. Some shopping carts give you a choice between UPS, Fedex, USPS, and all the different speeds of delivery thereof. Ours could give you more choices, but we do not offer them for a very simple reason. Our shipping department is a one person operation and that is me. We have thought about employees, but we have been there done that with previous business ventures, and this time we'd like to keep it just the two of us. There is a comment box in the shopping cart, and when someone wants something fast or shipped by UPS, they usually let us know there and then we do our best to comply.
In fact, doing our best pretty well sums up what we try to do everyday with Duckworks. WE always feel bad when we disappoint, but too much stress is bad for your health, so we try to keep it all in perspective. Sounds like Duckwords, I'd better quit while I am ahead. More about this later.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Cool this morning in Texas--68 degrees. We have a little tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, and we are crossing our fingers that it will stay small so mo damage to the coastal areas, but also that it will head inland pointed just towards our part of the state and bring us some rain.
This is not the time of year to be cruising on the Texas coast without keeping a close eye on the weather. That said, most storms, including hurricanes can be quite specific in the area they impact, but depending on the size of the system the outer edges can be nasty. One nice thing about the coast is that because it is flat, you can see a squall coming from way off. Sometimes they move faster than you would like, but there is usually time to prepare--find an anchorage, or just reef down and ride it out.
Look for a new article on Duckworks in the coming weeks about a new Michalak design, Caroline's boat. Built and sailed by Caroline Gould, it is a beauty. Wonderful paint job IMHO.
This is not the time of year to be cruising on the Texas coast without keeping a close eye on the weather. That said, most storms, including hurricanes can be quite specific in the area they impact, but depending on the size of the system the outer edges can be nasty. One nice thing about the coast is that because it is flat, you can see a squall coming from way off. Sometimes they move faster than you would like, but there is usually time to prepare--find an anchorage, or just reef down and ride it out.
Look for a new article on Duckworks in the coming weeks about a new Michalak design, Caroline's boat. Built and sailed by Caroline Gould, it is a beauty. Wonderful paint job IMHO.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Finally Friday
Ah, Friday. It has been a long week. Business has slowed a bit, something we expect in August, when we assume that everyone is frantically trying to get all the things they had planned for the summer done. We are no different, and the projects lined up for August seem to loom larger than the time left. In about 6 weeks, we will be taking off for Lake Powell and a cruise with the wacky Kokopellis, something we look forward to all year. It is an interesting group, and a little different every year. One of the best traditions is the one where one person or group of persons cooks for everyone else one night each. After a long day, everyone except the cook(s) gets to kick back with a glass of wine (or whatever) and wait to be served. It may seem daunting at first, but the benefits become obvious, especially after your turn has passed!
One of the little details you have to figure out with mail order retail is how you are going to ship the items you sell. We used to have a business where all of the items we shipped were large and heavy and were shipped to businesses and we had a UPS daily pickup account for that. Duckwork's packages tend to be much smaller, and most are going to a residence, and a little research indicated that USPS (postal service) would be the best choice--they also provide all the priority mail boxes for FREE and throw in delivery confirmation when I use their online label system. The complications presented themselves almost immediately. Epoxy and fiberglass cloth and large orders of sailcloth are drop shipped for us, and these go by UPS--they are heavy and large and viscous liquid is not something the post office is particularly happy about. So there have to be exceptions to the "most items shipped by USPS. The shopping cart gives us very little "explaining space", and our experience has been that most customers do not read the small print anyway. We feel badly when someone is disappointed with our shipping methods, but to be honest, it happens quite infrequently, and we have not found a good way to make everyone happy.
In fact, that would seem to be a constant theme for a small business like ours, and probably just about every business. Keeping everyone happy is not just next to impossible, it is totally impossible. But we do our level best with the 24 hours a day we have.
Still working on getting all our ducks in a row.
One of the little details you have to figure out with mail order retail is how you are going to ship the items you sell. We used to have a business where all of the items we shipped were large and heavy and were shipped to businesses and we had a UPS daily pickup account for that. Duckwork's packages tend to be much smaller, and most are going to a residence, and a little research indicated that USPS (postal service) would be the best choice--they also provide all the priority mail boxes for FREE and throw in delivery confirmation when I use their online label system. The complications presented themselves almost immediately. Epoxy and fiberglass cloth and large orders of sailcloth are drop shipped for us, and these go by UPS--they are heavy and large and viscous liquid is not something the post office is particularly happy about. So there have to be exceptions to the "most items shipped by USPS. The shopping cart gives us very little "explaining space", and our experience has been that most customers do not read the small print anyway. We feel badly when someone is disappointed with our shipping methods, but to be honest, it happens quite infrequently, and we have not found a good way to make everyone happy.
In fact, that would seem to be a constant theme for a small business like ours, and probably just about every business. Keeping everyone happy is not just next to impossible, it is totally impossible. But we do our level best with the 24 hours a day we have.
Still working on getting all our ducks in a row.
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