"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single parcel in possession of a good hoodie, must be in want of shipping". Thus begins every good e-commerce novel.
Shipping is a necessary evil and I don't like it, but there would be no business without the ability to ship my products (unless teleporting becomes a reality sometime soon... unlikely though).
Why don't I like shipping?
- it is costly (in some cases, VERY costly)
- it pollutes
- it takes time ( + it is unpredictable)
It's not like I can change much when it comes to the cost and unpredictability of the beloved postal services, but I wanted to share some thoughts and stats on shipping. Hopefully it will reduce some of the anxieties related to one of the most important questions of our times: "when will my order arrive?".
First, I try to fulfill every order within 24 hours of the order being placed. This means that I embroider and package the hoodie/crewneck/t-shirt and take the parcel to the post office the same day or the next day.
Second, the good news about shipping: I never lost an order. Better said, Canada Post (or USPS or whatever local postal service) never lost any of my orders. Which means that every single one of the items that I shipped reached their destination. As of now (at least). I hope I'm not jinxing it by saying it out loud.
Third, the so-so news: shipping times are ok(-ish). I had cases where an order arrived to its US destination in 4 days or its Canada destination in 2 days. I did a bit of math and the average shipping time for US bound orders is 8 business days and for Canada 5 business days. I wish I was Amazon or teleporting was a thing.
Fourth and last, the "I wish it was not true" news: shipping times are unpredictable. I would say 90% of the orders are pretty close to the average times. But there are some orders which for inexplicable (to me) reasons take much longer. For example, order shipped to Florida on June 1 arrived later to its destination than order shipped to Florida on June 13. Go figure! Some orders seem to get stuck in one of the distribution centres (either Toronto or Chicago) for days before they get moved. I have not been able to determine a pattern. I blame the gods of the postal service (or maybe the gods of borders and customs ?!? or maybe it is Mr. Darcy's fault). Again, the optimist in me goes back to the fact that no order was lost until now. Glass half full, right?
This is all I can think of now, I hope it clarifies some of the questions you might have regarding shipping process and times. I do look forward to hearing your thoughts.
P.S. In case you have not realized, I am a Jane Austin fan.
Do you ship expedited? Some of those times can be shortened.