Things happen.


Over the weekend I received a sale for my Vintage Picnic Basket which is in my Etsy shop. I was very grateful for the order but when preparing to get the packaging and shipping labels together I noticed it was being shipped to Canada. I also did not have a valid telephone number which is very important for an International shipment. Yes shipping to Canada is now an International confusing with paperwork and tripled in pricing shipment. I have discovered that in Jan 2010 the shipping guidelines for Canada had changed. The charges for a 6lb package from NC to Alberta Canada was now $28.00 + customs charges bringing it to the sum of $41.00. I was shocked and now I had to decide to keep the sale or tell the customer that I would have to issue a surcharge. I opted to tell the customer what had happened and offered to cancel the order. The order was canceled.

I believe things always turn out the way they were meant to so what I discovered is to keep things simple for now and ship to only my neighbors here in the US. I would not have come to this conclusion if it wasn't for the listing error in my Etsy shop that allowed shipping to Canada (now corrected). Secondly my customer was in hot water with her hubby for spending money on the basket and she was grateful I offered her a way out. All in all we basically got what we wanted from the experience and although I lost the sale I gained a little more knowledge about my business. You just have to look for the good in all situations and most of the time it isn't the bottom line,or money.

So anyone shipping to areas outside your country be careful because the shipping charges might drastically eat into your profit. Please be cautious and offer to who you can.

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