Shipping your Etsy Products. Save money and ship safe!

Hello Hello! Welcome and I hope you all are having a great day so far! Who doesn't love getting packages? I know I do! Most of our regular mail today is all upsetting bills and advertising, but when you get a package it is something wonderful!

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With having an Etsy Shop I deal a lot with the topic of packages and shipping. My shop is just starting to take off and in the last few weeks I have been shipping multiple Art Pieces in different mediums and styles. YAY GO ME!

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This is the first time I have had to ship anything on a consistent basis and I am realizing how in the dark I am with options and processes of shipping. So I decided to do some research to find out exactly what is out there! I came across this video documentary on YouTube that is a bit long but I was interesting to watch and I can not believe the process it takes to ship a package!

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Every penny counts when trying to run an online shop and learning how to ship most safely and cost efficient is very important! Ordering your own supplies and packing your items yourself saves BIG! I sent a wine bottle out a few months ago that I had packaged myself and last week sent the same bottle that I had FED-EX packaged for me in person and the cost to ship was more than double! Both packages arrived in great condition, so it really saves to do it yourself!

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Something that really helps boost your customer's happiness with the packaging is a personal message or thank you card! It puts that extra love into your package and it has been proven to drastically increase the amount of positive feedback to your Etsy Shop. It's the little things that really matter!

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Figuring out how to package and ship your products is mostly a trial by error basis. My main questions that I am still trying to figure out is the differences between using Fed Ex , UPS, and Etsy Shipping Directly. Searching the internet and YouTube for answers have proven a little harder than expected. Already I can say that I prefer FedEx over UPS as far as customer service goes but am unsure at the cost differences. 

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It's a learning process and the more I learn the more I will share with all of you! Stick with me and blogs and let's grow together. Also if you are a shipping pro let me know some of your secrets and trips or tricks! Which do you prefer? 

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Handmade Rubber Stamp Made With Love Stamp Heart Stamp Wooden Rubber Stamp Handmade Stamps by - PrettyTape

Song of the Day:

Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Color of the Day:

Decatur Bluff, Benjamin Moore, HC-38

Is Snail Mail a Dying Art?

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         When is the last time you got a hand written letter? Better yet.....when is the last time YOU wrote an actually letter to someone? Have some of you never ever wrote a letter?! Thinking about that being a possibility makes me so sad for kids today. Writing and receiving handwritten letters is so satisfying!

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I love to get fun mail. When I pull mail out of the mailbox nowadays I am just expecting to fish through coupon ads and bills. Every so often you get a cute wedding invitation or an artistic dentist appointment reminder that makes me smile! But when I get an actual letter from someone it makes my whole day! It's like a little gift and I get giddy like a kid on Christmas.

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So have I got you interested in writing a letter for someone? You don't have to have a reason to write to someone and actually someone getting a random letter might even be more special! If you were to send someone a random letter who would it be too? A friend, a cousin, an old neighbor? 

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Today the internet and other technologies make it so easy to stay connected to most people anywhere in the world and I understand how mail has mostly fluttered out of the picture. It doesn't mean I have to like it though! There is something different about taking the time to actually write out a letter. 

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If you go above and beyond and decide to decorate the letter in some fun way it just adds that much more love. Plus it is a great way to get crafty and use those rusty artistic muscles you have been putting to the side. Get a fun stamp or stickers (Yes this may seem like a childish thing to do, but it won't seem like it when that person sees all the extra time you put into it. They will feel special!)

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       This past winter my boyfriend's kids kept saying they were bored. So we came up with a great idea to send personal letters to kids with life threatening illnesses. They wrote the letters and decorated them and the envelopes. They had so much fun and I could tell that it made them feel good to do something nice for someone else who might need a pick me up! Here are some pictures I found from that day. :]

I enjoy writing letters and receiving them so much that I had a pen pal :] My beautiful cousin out in California has always lived in other states as me but I know we are blood because we have so much in common. I use to get so anxious waiting for her letters in the mail to hear how she was doing and then I got to decorate and write my letter back to her! Below are a few pictures of the envelopes I created for my snail mail back to her! 

So let's bring snail mail back and let some of our creative juices flow in ways we never thought about! Make someone's day by surprising them with a ways to let them know you are thinking about them. I KNOW you will make them feel amazing and in return you will feel just as good!

Let me know your thoughts! Do you already have a pen pal? What is your favorite part about writing letters? I want to hear from you and your experiences with bringing back the dying art of snail mail!

Until Tomorrow - Dream Away

Samantha Menzo

Cloud Nine Studios

Etsy Featured Item of the Day:

Envelope cookie cutter, 3D printed by - Printmeneer

Song of the Day:

Nat King Cole ::: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down & Write Myself A Letter

Color of the Day:

Delicacy Pink