Shipping, Part 2

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-08-19/usps-changes-hurt-small-businesses

Basically as soon as I wrote that last blog entry and reopened my Etsy shop, the news came out that the USPS mail delays are nationwide because of cutbacks from the new postmaster general. Let's not get into the politics of it, but I do want to say that this is a HUGE problem for anyone who's self-employed in a business that relies on shipping anything. Two years ago, most of my work was digital; I rarely made any physical items for anyone that I didn't know personally. Now around 50% of my income comes from physical items and hardly any of it is local anymore, which means a lot of shipping. USPS is by far the cheapest and most accessible option, which helps me offer free shipping on all orders without having to raise my prices. Using the USPS to ship a $4 vinyl decal with the USPS costs $0.55; acrylic keychains, jewelry, bodysuits, and T-shirts cost $3; coffee mugs, the heaviest items I sell, cost $5. Those items would cost $8 to $20 to ship through the UPS. I'm one of those people who starts checking the mailbox for a package the day after I've made the order, so I try really hard to get everyone's items shipped out on time. Almost everything is made to order, disinfected, packaged, then dropped off inside the post office (but now I drop them off at a distribution center), but once I've dropped your packages into the drop box, I don't have any control over them being delayed or lost. There are people online saying that USPS employees are being instructed to stop sorting mail earlier and that they aren't given any overtime hours. Of course people are frustrated that their packages are arriving two weeks late, if they ever even arrive at all. Thankfully I haven't gotten any negative reviews because of the delays yet, but I feel like it's inevitable at this point and I can't even say I'd blame a customer at all for doing it. Please be extra patient when you're ordering from small businesses online right now. This might be the only source of income for some of them, and negative reviews can be pretty damaging. If you order something that the seller ships through the USPS but it's lost or delayed, please file a report with them too! I'm sure they're doing the best that they can do too under these crazy circumstances but I've had a couple of items that the recipients or I filed claims for that ended up actually being found, so it might actually help a bit. You can click here to report missing mail to the USPS.

Shipping in the age of COVID

Shipping with the USPS over the last few months has been a nightmare. I have no idea if it's because of COVID or because of this political stuff going on. I had to close down my Etsy shop for a couple of weeks because I had so many items lost in the mail that I lost almost $100, and I didn't want to risk having to send out any more replacement orders and losing more money. A lot of my tracking numbers looked like this one, that was missing from June 24th through August 3rd then suddenly delivered the next day, or this one, which apparently went directly from my front porch into a black hole in the mail truck. That second one was especially annoying because it was the first Keywork wallet I've sold. I'm still apprehensive to restock anything other than vinyl decals right now, but I can do porch pickups if you live locally. I took a little extra time to recover from COVID myself (which caused a ton of other problems) but I decided to finally reopen today. Thanks so much to everyone who has already been super patient with their orders disappearing into a USPS void. If it seems like things are still going missing or being delivered significantly late, I'll probably shut my shop down again. If you place an order, please be a little extra patient with the delivery time. USPS's website says that things will be delivered a minimum of one to two days late, and they're already telling people to mail in ballots two weeks early to make sure they arrive in time. If you're ordering a gift for someone or something that needs to be delivered by a certain time, I'd definitely plan on ordering it at least a week early. Remember to check each item description for its own creation and shipping time! As soon as you receive an email saying that your item has been shipped, I've dropped your item off at the post office and it's on the way to you. If you don't have a tracking number, you can sign up for Informed Delivery with the USPS so that you can see what items will be delivered to you each day, and make sure nothing is lost or stolen. If you have any questions about shipping, please email me at contact@deannatelles.com

New in June

It's a little last minute (sorry, dads) but I'm having an Etsy-only sale for Father's Day. From 6/17 through 6/23, everything in stock is 20% off with guaranteed same day shipping on non-pyrographic orders placed before 3:00 P.M. MST.

Pretty much all pyrographic stuff is out of stock for awhile. I don't know if it's because of COVID or the protests, but a lot of vendors are taking breaks or disappearing. We do have one last Pyrographic Wooden Tray with Coheed and Cambria's Keywork Logo left. With 20% off, it's less than $10. Each tray is made to order so personalization is free. Trays usually ship within three to five business days, but we try to rush out orders around holidays. If you order quick enough, it'll make it there by Saturday.

This listing is for the Gaming in Progress/EKG Game Controller Vinyl Decal only, but I have two signs somewhere in my workshop. The listing will be updated soon to reflect decal only or the complete, ready-to-hang sign.

The prototype for this Sherman brand leather wallet with Coheed and Cambria's Keywork logo on the front was a Christmas gift for my brother last year. I saw it laying out on his countertop the other day and thought I'd make one in time for Father's Day. It's a pretty pricey base product so I'm only starting with one. The logo on the front can be customizable, if you have something else in mind and don't mind a three or four day turnaround time.

I have a lot more projects lined up for the rest of summer in quarantine. If you'd like to check them out or be the first to know when I'm having a new sale or promotion, click here to subscribe to my newsletter. I promise not to spam you or sell your information.