Holiday Shopping (and all online shopping) Review

This could very well be the last post of 2013. Been an interesting year for me. I thought you might like a review of some of my online shopping experiences, like who ships the fastest, who uses the best shipper and has least cost. I don't have a car, so I get a LOT shipped to my house and almost all of my Holiday shopping and even some groceries are bought online.  I also buy fabric and sewing supplies online, but I think that should be a separate post. Also I usually use my secure PayPal debit card. Make sure you use dither a secure protected card for online purchases, or a refillable card that is not linked to any of your accounts.

Some of my past favorite places to shop have seriously dropped in ranking. I also buy where I can get things shipped quickly and for less money. Here is where I shopped, ranked in order of preference and why.

#1 Amazon - #1 and #2 were close to a tie, Amazon won, because of the variety of merchandise you can get there. They offer the most fantastic deal. For $80 a year, you get free 2 day shipping, free kindle rentals and free video streaming. I buy birdseed, cases of tofu and almond milk monthly and have furnished about 1/4 of my new house from them. And with the many other miscellaneous things I purchase, I am sure they are not happy with me as a customer. I do know UPS does not like me much. Amazon uses UPS most of the time for shipping, which has been a bit of a problem this holiday season, but everything came on time eventually. Some of the other sellers on Amazon use other services. I try to buy from Amazon direct when I can. Some prime items are a little higher to comp for the free shipping, some are not. You just have to do a little research. Amazon almost always wastes box space. You will get a tiny item in a HUGE box.

#2 World Market - This has become one of my new favorite places to shop online. They always seem to have a sale and they sell a variety of items from furniture to food, and their shipping is amazing. Usually shipping is free over $50 but sometime less and you always get a coupon or two with purchase. They pack eco friendly and fairly compactly. I reuse their waffle cut papers in my own gift basket, which I bought from them.

#3 Etsy - Even though all the shops are independent, sellers are mostly honest and as quick as humanly possible. Items are usually wrapped nicely with a little note and often a story. I have never been disappointed with an Etsy purchase. (same for Independent sellers on Artfire and Storenvy, not Asian factories selling as indies)

#4 Walmart - OK so you don't like to buy from Walmart, well I do. their shipping is great and their prices are low and honestly have you ever been to one? Some of those low paid employees wouldn't have a job at all if not for Walmart. But I digress. Walmart has low prices and seriously, most of that they have in the store is available online. I have purchased, canned and boxed food, vitamins, shampoo, soap, furniture, towels kitchen ware and containers. All at a great price, and over $50 gets free shipping (sometimes less) and some items automatically have free shipping. They also have other retailers on their site, just click the Walmart button to see only Walmart items. Shipping can very from the other sellers, but in most cases Walmart shipping is stellar and almost always arrives far sooner than stated at purchase. They use a variety of shippers, mostly Fed Ex and USPS.

#5 KMart - Yes they really do ship quickly. The offering is not so great, but what they do have ships quickly. I think that as Sears is the same company, it would be good too. You can buy from both on their website, although that is a bit confusing. I usually only buy cheap knock around the house clothing from KMart, but I am pleased with the quality and as I've said, shipping is not just great, but amazing. I'm sure kids toys would be great to buy there too.

#6 Target - I used to really love Target and I have purchased several items for my home there. Online is not the greatest experience and of course someone out there is probably selling my data. but I usually buy with my PayPal Debit card and I will be protected. My experience with Target online is just OK. Not the same sales as in the stores (I really don't get this) You can get much better deals in the store. Shipping is OK, but the online experience is just not the same as in store experience.

#7 Ebay - A few years ago Ebay would have been at the top of my list. There have been changes at Ebay that have really disappointed me and honestly ruined my shopping experience. However there are some things that I can only find on Ebay so I continue to shop there. Ebay no longer has the lowest prices as they charge an arm and a leg in fees. So you will not get the best prices on Ebay. They have instituted a one day shipping policy for sellers to get discounts and higher ranking, but sellers have learned that they only have to PRINT the shipping label to qualify and some sellers don't put your package in the mail for a week or more. Some even just mark the items shipped and print labels through another service days later. I bought an item that was marked shipped in one day, it was drop shipped by another retailer and I received it 17 days after I purchased it. Ebay unfortunately is so hungry that they are eating their own foot off.

Bizz Buzz - Shipping Part One

If you sell and use PayPal shipping, like I do, you probably received an email from PayPal about the new eBay shipping. If you often receive PayPal spam like I do, you probably don't want to even follow through and check the links. And of course there is no information on the PayPal site about this either.

Here's what I know. I sell on eBay (some of you do, most of you don't) I started selling there years ago, before Etsy or any of the other Handmade sites. It was a fantastic place to sell handmade and supplies back then. Back then we used PayPal shipping. In the past few years eBay has improved their own shipping. Which is odd, because eBay and PayPal are the same company and why they didn't work together in the first place is confusing to me. EBay shipping is directly linked to your product information, and it would not have access to all of your other sites information. They might have been working on that issus.

The thing I love about eBay shipping, is international shipping. You can ship first class and print labels online. Love that. I also love that the information you need, is automatically put into your forms. You don't have to guess what you need to add. The only thing you have to do is check the box n the customs form othat says you aren't shipping hazardous materials and that you agree....blah blah blah. Everything else is added for you.

Recently I haven't been able to get any International labels to work on PayPal, not even priority, so I print them on usps.com. They are a big pain too, but I want to offer International shipping at my Artfire shop. I only offer Priority shipping, because for now, that's the only way I have a viable trail to prove that I shipped if anything happens. If the new PaPal shipping really works like eBay, we will be able to ship first class and have proof of shipment and easy custom forms.

For those of you afraid to ship International, I have a few pointers. I know many of you have heard horror stories about certain countries. Italy probably has the absolute worst Post Office in the world. Also, some countries charge a very high tax on the merchandise received. I'll address this issue first.

People who live in countries that are taxed on the value of the merchandise from other countries will often ask you to lie on your customs forms. I wouldn't do it. It is breaking the law in both countries and you know what that can lead to. I would recommend saying that your shipping is automatically linked to your product information, or just say no. I'd rather loose a sale, than my freedom for a year or two. 

The other issue is Italy, or any other bad post office. I was told not to ship to Italy a long time ago, so I did a little research. eBay has horrible information for sellers, but they have a wonderful community of sellers that they rely on completely to give information. I found a seller that ships to Italy regularly with no problem. They said that the issue is always, having enough information on the customs forms. Since I took their advice, I have never had any problems shipping to any countries (so far, knock wood).

This is what you should be doing on all International customs forms. When shipping jewelry, don't just list for example, earrings. You need to list - New Silver and Crystal earrings. Don't just list dress, list - New Cotton Girls Dress. I would not put handmade on the form and I would put vintage over used on the forms.  The important thing is to list as much detail about the actual content of the package. Foreign customs don't care if it's Mario Brothers or Blue, they want to know the material content and the type of merchandise. 

I hope this helps you a bit. I will be posting Part Two if and when PayPal ever gets eBay shipping going. I can't advise on a service that isn't working yet, but I will when it's fully functional. Until then, have fun with shipping. 

Please feel free to add any advice you may have in comments.

Etsy Address VS PayPal address.

There's a lot of debate on the shipping address issue. 90% of the time both addresses match and no problem. But what happens when the Etsy Address is not the same as the PayPal address?

There is no correct Answer. I'll tell you what Poppy poppyswickedgarden and I do, and the pros and cons of both.

Etsy Address Pro: #1 It has to be entered by customer and chances are it is correct. #2 Keep your customer happy.

Etsy Address Con: #1 You are not covered by PayPal insurance. #2 You might be shipping to the wrong address. #3 You can only use PayPal shipping if you manually edit the customers address.

PayPal Address Pro: #1 You are covered with PayPal protection, buyer or seller if ANYTHING happens to your product after it is shipped. #2 Easy shipping through Pay Pal

PayPal Address Con: #1 You might be shipping to the wrong address. #2 You might loose or anger a customer by contacting them about the problem. (See addendum)

So you've shipped 700 items using Etsy address and never had a problem? Here's a little story. Imagine this happened to you.

You ship to your customers Etsy address. Your package is delivered, but your customer claims they never received it. Maybe a neighbor took it, maybe it went in the neighbor's mailbox. Postal carriers never make mistakes, right? The customer contacts PayPal and they get their money refunded. PayPal takes the money from your account. You are out of the money if you shipped to a different address.

If a buyer has 2 different addresses listed, one PayPal, one Etsy, can you be sure which one they want their merchandise sent to? Not unless you contact them.

You are paying for PayPal insurance. That's right. That fee you pay? It's not just to use PayPal. You're covered by PayPal insurance as long as you ship to the PayPal address. You only need proof, even if you use another shipping service. Click to See 11.3 PayPal Protection for Sellers Eligibility Requirement So why pay for a service you are not going to use?

Here is what I do.

I post a warning on my profile, on my shipping info, and on each one of my listings, that I ship to PayPal Address ONLY. Click to See example I also state it on my sales confirmation email, but at that point the buyer has already paid.

If I notice a different address, I contact the buyer and inform them that I have to ship to the PayPal address for both of us to be insured (never a problem if they are a legitimate buyer)

There are then TWO steps to correct the problem. You need to #1 REFUND the purchase and #2 UNCHECK paid on your sale. Yes you can do this. The buyer goes back into their purchases and pays again with the correct address. The buyer can put in any address on PayPal, even another name and address as a gift. You must explain to the buyer what they have to do.

Remember PayPal insurance covers BOTH the seller AND the buyer. You are doing them a favor if you make sure they have the correct address on PayPal.

See Etsy Thread links for more on this conversation from your peers http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6626948

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6595924

Search Etsy Forums - Shipping Addresses - for more.

Addendum: All that being said, I JUST had a customer who was infuriated that I insisted on shipping to the PayPal address. She gives a different address all the time on Etsy and she didn't like the inconvenience of repaying. It cost her time and money (no money lost for her). It was a $1.50 supply purchase. These are the kind of people who will have a problem with anything though. It's better to weed them out BEFORE they leave you negative feedback.