(Tea table by Greg Hounsell, custom made teaset by me)
Greg is one of those fantastic and skilled guys you wish you could hang out with every Saturday making great art and discussing important topics. I delivered the teaset he ordered for his gf in November, and he is finishing the table for her birthday.
Here is a little story. Set out this am with the dogs and found a purse in the street, full of checks, credit cards, drivers license etc, all out of state. I brought it to the sheriff, because it looks like a nice young woman who may be new here, a grad student in chemistry. No local address, though, so I hope the sheriff works on it, and my missus is talking to the chem dept here. Then I go and make some deliveries and find that sales at stores were FAT. Excellent. Busines has been great all around, and it is important to remember that this blog is a commercial venture (hahahaha hoho!) and that sales equals groceries. I think karma wise trying to find that purse's owner cannot hurt my sales, right?
But there is more. Mags will be a test case for shipping to Canada this week. Much as I would love to commute north with big boxes, because I have done a ton of business the last 3 months with nice Canadians, I really have to try shipping. Canadians are so wonderful, the ones I know anyway.
So, thanks Mags, Greg, etc
17 comments:
You're welcome. I'm more than happy to be your guinea pig!
Must get miles of bubble wrap....
miles to go before you sleep...
one good turn deserves another and that is something that works on so many levels.. your business.. the purse... your teaset.. my teacart..
hmmm is there a theme here for the new year? =)
always a pleasure and of course there will be more orders this spring!
Gary, if at all possible, avoid using UPS for shipping to Canada. They're scam-artists with anything that goes through Customs. They charge a $45 brokerage fee on to handle the Customs charges (in this case, GST & possibly QST).
You can imagine my surprise when I bought a DSL modem from eBay and had to pay them $3 in GST money for the govt and $45 for the privilege.
I'm not sure what FedEx or DHL are like, much less how the shipping cost actually compares.
Of course, if it's labelled a "gift" then all should be good.
Definitely miles of bubble wrap. Miles and miles of it. Mom and I use Greyhound to ship back and forth but I'm not sure what they're like cross-border.
Ugh! How awful, all of this! I have only charged 15 Can. dollars shipping, and dammit, that better do it. Gift, yeah, that's the ticket. You see, that's why Mags is a test case.
Follow up: another walk up the street, found a bundle of keys, the sheriff came over when I called and tells me that a young woman down in the city had reported her purse missing last night. Now she has all that back, but I wonder if there was cash and she lost tha part.
Ahh, but she got all of the rest of the stuff in there thanks to you, Gary. Having been through the ordeal of replacing all of my ID after losing a wallet, I can assure you that's the most important part.
I suppose KEYS and the peace of mind that your identity has not been stolen are the most valuable. I am reminded, Gordo, of scientists you have known losing important stuff--if you could have seen the innocent face on the picture id....sure, she may have driven off purse on car roof.
If you send it by post rather than courier you will also encounter my favorite fee - the GST collection fee. Canada Post has to collect the 6% sales tax on items shipped into Canada and dings you 5 bucks extra for doing so. A 30 dollar purchase has $1.80 for GST added then another 5 bucks for the honour of paying the $1.80.
Hoo-ray.
Jaysus.
It's a gift lalalalalalala...
One wonders what fibbing to the Customs folks will do to your account balance at the First Supernatural Bank of Karma? ;-)
OK, I have done it now. All I have to do is pass along shipping costs (steep!) to the customer, fill out the papers accurately, then the Canadian gets to pay a boatload of tax. You could say 'not my problem'.
And for what Maggie paid, these actually are ending up as a gift, with her paying shipping! (sort of)
She is a sweetie and a good test case.
Le voila, the GF checks in and says she LOVES the teapot, too bad she has only seen PICTURES of the other pieces! I get the tea cart in time for my birthday? kewl! (no pressure greg!) do you think i should get an elephant with pierced ears to display my earrings, should i ever get around to selling them?
Hey, lady! Good thing you didn't show up here before Christmas!
We worked very hard to keep Gary a secret. :-D
more like, good thing he only sent me the link today! hee hee!
I wonder what it would feel like to find that your present has been the subject of much INTERNATIONAL discussion, before you even see it? Of course, in early November the whole thing was posted as it was made. GF, much has gone in to Greg's gifts to you, he is quite a guy.
another option. ship it to me and the receiver can drive across the border and pick it up. it happens all the time.
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