The Pains of Shipping

 

I've had to make an adjustment to my shipping procedures within Canada, so I thought I'd explain it here. Shipping within Canada has always been a cause of frustration and loss for me. Regardless of the weight of a package, the rate varies from $8 to $16 to ship across the country. A package sent to my own Postal Code would cost $7.90, and a package sent to Chatham, ON would cost $15.00. Because of this huge difference, I've been forced to change my shipping policy to a flat rate of $14.00.

 

Etsy only allows one rate PER country, so a customer from Vancouver, and a customer from Toronto would both pay my current rate of $7.25, plus $0.95 per each additional item. Right from the get go, I'm losing money. If the customer in Toronto chooses to buy 1 $5 soap, and pays $7.25 for shipping (a total of $12.75), it's going to cost me $15 to ship. Not only am I making zero dollars on the soap, and using up precious and costly shipping supplies, I'm also paying an additional $2-$3 to ship. Basically I'm paying for someone to buy something from me, which is just not an acceptable way to do business. Now luckily, most customers buy more than one item, but even still, the margins can be way too small.

 

Shipping to the US is a little more reasonable. The shipping is flat rate across the country (so a package to Maine and a package to Washington cost the exact same). The prices also rise with weight, which makes it easy to set, as the more items you buy, the more the rate goes up with each additional item. (I believe my current US rate is $5.90 plus $0.90 per additional item). The rate jumps up quite a bit, going from $5.97 to $8.35 to $12.80, and anything over 2lbs jumps to $18+. Although this is still not ideal, it is definitely better than shipping within Canada.

 

I feel that having a flat rate of $14 within Canada will hopefully encourage shoppers to buy more items. Maybe go in with a friend, or co-workers, and split the shipping. The only provinces that really ever come in under $14 is BC and Alberta, so in these cases, I will promptly refund the difference in shipping once I've dropped it off at the post office. I know this new policy will deter "small-time" buyers, just looking to try out 1 or 2 soaps, but at the end of the day, a sale I lose money on, doesn't help me grow my business.

 

 

Thanks for reading!

and P.S. - Blog post coming soon on my recent trip to Mexico for my sister's wedding!

 



New Leaves and Bikram Hot Yoga

 

 

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I wanted to make sure I had 3 months of classes completed, before rambling on like I know something.

 

Near the end of July, I decided it was time to make some changes in my life. We had recently moved into a condo in a great location, with a Bikram Yoga studio right across the street. With my self confidence and energy levels dwindling, I decided to give it a try.

 

 

Now as a side note, I tried a Bikram Hot Yoga class once before, about 4 1/2 years ago because I had a free class card. I spent 50% of the class on the floor, wondering if I was going to throw up or not, and I swore that I would never put myself through that 90 minutes of hell again. I even went as far as to judge everyone else in the room, wondering how they could voluntarily put themselves through that everyday - were they crazy?

 

For a little background on Bikram Yoga, this is the basic class set up: The room is heated to 41 degrees celsius, and is 90 minutes in duration. There's 1 instructor who does not do the postures with you, but guides you through the class. They say the only thing your supposed to do is breathe, and listen to their voice guiding you. (A sort of 90 minute active meditation). Throughout the class you do 26 postures, two times each, and begin and end the class with a breathing exercise. It is extremely difficult, with frequent dizzy spells, and the sweat rolls into your eyes and burns like hell. Not to mention the difficulty of the postures; every single one is meant to be uncomfortable, and every muscle in your body is being used, locked and contracted.

 

Now onto the benefits! (And there are many!) It's unbelievable the changes I've noticed in myself. First of all, the most common goal of exercise, the changes in my body. I have muscles that I didn't even know existed, and have noticed toning that I've never achieved in any other workout regime. My cardio has also improved, and I've never been this flexible. Next, my lifestyle; Adding 90 minutes of yoga to an already jam-packed day IS tough, but my newfound energy levels make it all worth it. Also, I sleep like a little baby at night, and that's not an exaggeration. My sleep just feels so much deeper, and I wake up feeling fully rested. My appetite has also changed, I go longer between meals, and don't crave things that are bad for me. And finally, I've noticed that I'm just much more calm in life; I worry less and go with the flow more. It really has just been a life changing decision, and I plan to stick with it. I call it my "new leaf", but it truly has been.

 

For anyone that has been interested in or has tried it in the past and gave it up, I strongly urge you to give it a shot! Don't judge it based on the first few classes, as they will feel impossible, but the progress you watch your body go through is amazing!

 

Namaste!

 



New Product from Liuwa.... Rings!

 

I've been wanting to make rings for awhile now, and though I received all the supplies weeks ago, I finally just found time to really create them. I'm really happy with what I've come up with! I think they are simple and versatile, and I can't wait to see how they are received by my customers!

 

Here's a close up of each one:

 

Cool Mint

 

 

Turquoise

 

 

Coral

 

Off White

 

All 4 of these are now available in the shop here!

 



New Earrings!

Yesterday I uploaded 8 new pairs of earrings to Liuwa:

Denim Blue Dot

Gray Orange Marble Dot

Gray Orange Ombre

Gray Orange Triangle

Honey Mustard Flat

Hot Pink Flat

Rhino Gray Flat

Tomato Red Dot

All these can be seen in my shop here.

I can't believe the Christmas season is almost here! I'm really interested to see if my earring shop will be as busy as my soap shop was last Christmas. If so, I'm going to be in for some busy days and super late nights!

Indian Summer

This summer was one of the best that I have ever had! Matt and I managed to get away 5 times, while most summers we’ve barely gotten away once. We went to wineries in Kelowna, hiked around Kalamalka Lake in Vernon, spent a lazy afternoon at Lost Lake in Whistler, spent a night partying at Cultas and visited a friend’s cabin in the Cariboo. Here is just a few pictures J

Landscapes aren't all that exciting, but we visited some really great places and I want to be able to look back on them all! So long summer, time to get back to work now!

New Fall Items

This is just a quick update to let you know about a few new Fall items that I've just uploaded to the shop!

All Spice Body Butter

Honey Cream Body Butter

Pumpkin Pie Roll-On Perfume

Watermelon Soap

Watermelon Roll-On Perfume

I know Watermelon isn't "Fall-ish" at all, but some of us are still trying to hold onto summer :)

New items can be found in the shop here!

A great surprise!

My 24^th birthday was a few weeks ago and Matt told me he got me something useful and practical, but that I had to wait for it. Naturally I sat there and guessed everything under the sun but he refused to give me any hints because somehow I always ruin my own surprise. Well this past Saturday morning, I finally got my gift!

We were heading up to Whistler in the morning, and 4 of our friends drove in a separate car in front of us. I was pretty pumped because it was a sunny day, and we had planned to spend the day at Lost Lake, then spend the night in a luxury suite in the Upper Village. As we were driving up, I showed Matt a sign for Whistler Bungee, just as a point of interest because I know he’s terrified of heights. All of a sudden the car with all my friends made a right at the sign, and Matt followed. I asked who was bungee jumping and he just started smiling and said “you are!”. I think I instantly got a stomach ache and my heart felt like it was in my throat. I couldn’t believe everyone had pulled of such a good surprise!

I was scheduled for the first jump of the day and the crew had yet to arrive when we got there. We all stood around for a bit, and I had a few minutes to prepare myself.

When the staff arrived I started getting pretty nervous as they were a group of groggy looking Australians, their forearms dotted with club entry stamps from the previous night. I think what scared me the most is that being the first jump of the day, there’s no one before me to test out the equipment that these probably hungover employees had just hooked up.

Before I knew it, I was standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down into the river. He counted me down, 1, 2, 3, and I didn’t jump. I needed a minute!

When I was ready (are you really ever ready?) I leaned out past the point of return, and stepped off the edge.

What a rush! I think the scariest part is willingly stepping off the edge, but once your falling you don’t even have time to think. An awkward, scared-for-my-life scream escaped, and I flailed like mad all the way to the bottom. After a few more exciting bounces, I hung out at the bottom, taking it all in.

They pulled me back up and I couldn’t stop smiling. What a great way to kick off a morning, a Saturday, and the start of a great trip away with my friends!

Way to pull off the best birthday surprise ever!!