a crystals & jewelry adventure

Priority Mail is the default shipping method at CrystalsAndJewelry.com unless you choose Express Mail. Some people have asked why First Class is not an option.  Why? Because First Class is unworkable and ends up being very little savings.

Why is First Class mail unworkable? Because if something is over 12 ounces, the post office will not allow it to be shipped First Class, and it has to go Priority instead anyway.  My shopping cart service, which does many other things that save, chokes on that with First Class mail, so it would have to be calculated manually.  By the time everything is said and done, First Class mail is nearly as expensive as Priority mail anyway.

How can First Class be nearly as expensive? Well, first off, the postal service doesn’t provide free packing, so that cost would have to be added, as bubble envelopes and small first class boxes would have to be kept in stock all the time. The boxes run from $1 to $5 depending on size, and even bubble envelopes in less than quantities of 1000 run 40 cents and up to $2 or so.  Then a handling charge would have to be added in order to cover the time needed to calculate the postage manually  and then charge it to your credit card or get additional PayPal payment manually. The time itself can add up to anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour depending on whether we have to email multiple times, etc. and that can become a very hefty handling charge. So by the the time all of that is added, the savings would come to a maximum of $1-$2. It’s just too complex for too little savings, when most people want the speed of Priority Mail anyway.

The shipping method question basically came down to a choice between raising all prices to cover the additional expenses of First Class mail which effects everyone regardless of shipping type, or just not offer First Class in general.  I chose lower prices for everyone by using Priority Mail as the primary shipping method. In the end, that saves most people more than the max $1 or $2 First Class might save, and gets things to everyone more quickly.

Do you hate tax time? I sure do.  There’s always way too much paperwork (or computer work pretending to be paperwork) to suit me.  So PFFFFFFFFFFft on that.  I’m having a Pfffffffft on the Tax Man Sale just to show them. Ha!

Free Priority Mail shipping is now available for US orders of $75 or greater.  I held out and didn’t raise it from the earlier $50 level for the better part of a year in spite of postal increases, but am unable to continue to do so.  I’m glad to be able to still do it for orders of only $75 or more, while still self-insuring orders under $100, which is almost unheard of in small business.  Many companies, especially small businesses like mine, are no longer offering any free shipping at all or are doing it for orders of $100 or more. I appreciate your business tremendously, though, so I am still offering this service.  Woo!

I’m back with my new pc. Well, some new bits and pieces in my old pc, really. I had to do it, though, because my old pc was slowing down my work so much that it was taking way to long to do everything. But rebuilding the pc took all of 3 days just to get the hardware together and Windows installed so it works right! I’m blaming that on the RAID instructions stinking. It couldn’t possibly be that it’s been 6 years since I’ve built a pc, after all, right? hehehe I don’t have even half my software installed yet. I had to take a few hours off yesterday after those 3 intensive days, so I only got my email and browser and a few miscellanous things installed.

I have email, though, so I’m moving as fast as I can today to get all emails answered. From there, I’ll be doing everything else I normally do. It will work out. Life always does, somehow, and this is just a part of life.

Before - Some new bits

After - New bits in the machine
(And a glowing blue ghost too, it looks like hehehe)

As you can see from the before and after shots, it’s somewhat nuts to build your own pc. Many thanks to Chuck for taking so much time over the weekend to help me out by phone. Next time I’m going to pay someone to do it for me. Definitely. Chuck says it won’t be him, though.hehehe

I am out of the office and will return Monday, March 17th just in time for St Patrick’s Day.

Orders will continue to be shipped out while I’m away. (Thanks, Chuck!)

I’ll return my emails and phone calls when I return. Thanks for your patience

With all sorts of things going on lately, I haven’t been able to get new goodies up as quickly as I would like. But there are lots of new goodies today! There are new individual cabs, unique specimens AND individual quartz crystals.  I’m just tickled that I could get them up today. Woo!

Lots of newness around today. There is new jewelry. And a new monthly special. And new crystals and stones as of yesterday. And on top of that, my latest email newsletter went out.  If you’re not subscribed, you can see it here at the newsletter archive. Lots of fun newness to look at

Holidays are over and I’m back at the office. *sob!*  hehe  I’m not really sobbing about it, of course. I’m so glad to have work that I like, that it’s not so bad to be back!

I hope you had a great time for the winter holidays.  I got a serious headcold from my relatives for Christmas, so mine wasn’t quite what I’d planned, but it was pretty good anyway.

Orders are getting packed and out the door as quickly as possible. Emails are getting answered. Wheeeeee!  2008 is on. Plan to have a great one.

Merry Christmas Happy Chanukah Happy Solstice and Kwanzaa and Ramadan and all the other holidays I can’t at the moment remember the name of, sorry! Whatever you celebrate, I hope it’s great!

Have a happy holiday with the 25% Off on Christmas day and 20% Off through midnight January 1, 2008! 

And happy upcoming New Year to everyone!

Winners in the A.New.Contest for October have been announced!  A new contest is in the works and will be announced soon.