Gratitude

Hello and welcome to November!  The cover photo matches my mood today.  Peak leaf color was last week and the beauty of fall is quickly becoming just a memory as the earth prepares to fall asleep for her winter rest.  For me, this time of year is a time of reflection and, I admit, yearning, as my favorite time of year passes once again.  Thankfully, as we have Thanksgiving and Christmas arriving soon, the upcoming excitement of these two holidays helps me continue to feel motivated and joyful.

This month I want to talk about a subject I haven't covered in a while as it's been on my mind a good bit lately.  That subject is shipping.  I think it's important to talk about once in a while as it's a major consideration for any business.  In addition, I like to keep my customers informed of why I do things the way I do.

First of all, we all know everyone loves free shipping.  Unfortunately, in reality shipping is not free.  A major decision of any business is how they are going to ship their products and structure shipping costs.  Whether the business adds the shipping amount to the price of the product so they can offer "free" shipping, or whether they charge the customer for shipping in addition to the product price, someone is going to pay as no shipping carrier will deliver products for free.  I think somewhere in all the hype about free shipping, the assumption was promoted that a business actually gets their shipping for free but this is simply not true.  There is always a cost for shipping and the smaller the business, the more that business pays to ship a product.

When I began setting up my shipping policies, I vowed I would never overcharge my customers for shipping.  I follow the shipping charges chart from USPS very closely and modify my shipping costs accordingly.  All businesses receive a small discount for shipping, and I have structured my shipping costs to provide a portion of that discount to my customers so that I can keep shipping costs as low as possible.  The other portion of that discount is spent on shipping supplies, such as envelopes, boxes, tapes, packing material, etc. If you compare the shipping costs for Cherry Rose Cottage to the retail rates charged by the post office, you will find that my shipping costs are almost always lower than those prices because I share the shipping discount with my customers.  I don't endeavor to make money on shipping and I never intend to do so.  I shop online also and don't like shipping charges any more than you do.

So why don't I offer free shipping?  For many small businesses, and in the case of Cherry Rose Cottage, it is impossible to absorb the costs associated with "free" shipping and stay in business.  Each time I review my shipping costs, I am reminded that the structure I have set up now is the fairest I can achieve. I try very hard to charge as close as possible to the exact shipping cost for each product considering I have to determine this amount in advance with multiple considerations involved such as weight, packaging, size of package, etc.

If you have read this far, I would love to know your thoughts on shipping charges and how it affects your purchasing decisions.  I love hearing from my customers and appreciate every thoughtful comment and suggestion you send.  Please feel free to message me here.

I always use the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving to reflect on how grateful I am for all the wonderful things in my life.  Those wonderful things include you, my friends, and my sincere gratitude for your business and continuing support.  I hope each of you take time this month to be thankful for all the good things in your life and spend some quality time with your family and friends.  No matter how you celebrate the holidays, enjoy your time and then come on over to Cherry Rose Cottage and do some shopping.  Don't forget to visit every Monday to check out the weekly sales event and please sign up for the Cherry Rose Cottage newsletter for additional coupons and deals.

Happy Thanksgiving!