Sunday, July 31, 2011

New Policy

Village Craftsmen is happy to announce a new policy re. mail orders. We have been shipping pottery, jewelry, glassware, kitchen utensils, and much more for decades. The shopping cart software we use is efficient, and dependable...but we have never been entirely satisfied with the way it calculates shipping and handling charges.

So we have decided to try a new policy. For the months of August and September we are waiving UPS Ground shipping charges for mail orders that total $25 or more. You heard that correctly. Shipping is FREE for mail orders of $25 or more!

Do your Christmas shopping early and Save!! Click here to go directly to our on line mail order catalog: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/catalog.htm.

If this venture works well we may consider extending it. Keep posted!

Our latest Ocracoke Newsletter is Lou Ann's story of the Night Blooming Cereus Cactus. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news072111.htm.

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:35 AM

    Awesome news!

    This mainlander blogger has placed several orders to VC and has ALWAYS been extremely satisfied with the quality of merchandise and the extra attention given to packaging. Jude and staff do a superb job.

    However, with that said, I have felt the shipping charges were a little steep.

    Jude has just gone the extra mile again to find several items from my last order which were not in stock and no additional shipping charges will be added to my bill even though part of my order has already been shipped and received (including pottery) in perfect condition.

    It is a joy to be able to purchase merchandise from VC. What a thrill to have a box arrive with the return label from Ocracoke! Moreover, purchases made from VC web-site helps the local economy on the island and I feel very good that although I am six hours by car and ferry, I am supporting wonderful Ocracoke businesses like VC, Island Artworks and more.

    It's not the same as being in VC and smelling the wonderful aroma of cedar wood (?) as one enters the shop, but until I can drive four hours and board the Swan Quarter ferry, shopping VC's web-site will have to do!!!

    Thanks, Philip, for the good news about reduced shipping charges!

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  2. Anonymous9:18 AM

    Free is good.

    Wasn't it Blackbeard who first said that?

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  3. Anonymous9:28 AM

    I like it! Smart business decision-you might even say downright "crafty".

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  4. Anonymous11:29 AM

    The United States Postal Service has flat rate boxes-- if it fits is ships- why let a software bugaboo force your hand in a business decision? Consult the experts at USPS for all your shipping needs.

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  5. Anonymous12:38 PM

    True about the convenient USPS flat rate boxes, but can one still insure the shipment? I wonder......

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  6. Anonymous12:39 PM

    Dale? Is that you?

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  7. Nancy1:51 PM

    I wondered the same thing.........Definitely sounds like a plug for the USPS!

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  8. Anonymous2:18 PM

    We will be coming to Ocracoke the first week in October. Will we be able to go claming then?

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  9. Anonymous6:45 AM

    Another point from first Anon....I forgot to mention that the way VC computes shipping charges has been by dollar amount spent rather than by actual weight. Therefore, if a customer purchases pottery and cd's at the same price, the shipping charges have been the same in the past regardless of weight. That seems odd since postage amounts are based on weight.

    I am delighted VC is offering the free shipping @ the $25 or more level and I hope customers will take you up on your great deal!

    People should be able to spend a little more on merchandise now rather than paying so much on shipping/handling. :)

    Folks, one thing for sure, Jude and staff really do an A-1 job packing anything you might purchase. Nothing arrives broken. They take a lot of pains getting it done right! I know from first hand experience! The top quality handcrafted merchandise always arrives in perfect condition.

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  10. Re. clamming in October: Yes, you can still go clamming...but it might be cold & blustery.... Then again, it might be warm and calm! Clams bury deeper in colder weather.

    Re. Village Craftsmen shipping charges: This has gotten quite complicated over time (which is one reason we decided to offer a trial of free shipping for orders of $25 or more, in August & September). We have shopping cart software that allows computation several different ways. We opted for calculation based on item weight (not dollar amount) based on UPS shipping tables (our most reliable shipper) which generally was the fairest way. However, the software had a minimum weight of 1 pound. This caused problems when a customer ordered a large number of items that actually weighed just an ounce of so (e.g. 100 1 oz. wooden spoons would be calculated as weighing 100 pounds!). Of course, we adjusted the S/H when we received such an order (though I'm sure some people just deleted the order before we even saw it). Also, UPS adds a surcharge because we are an "extended or remote area." There are also minimum UPS charges depending on weight and destination. It got very confusing...and sometimes expensive!

    But enough of this. I hope our new policy works well. We are hoping for more Internet orders...and we think our customers will appreciate the offer of free shipping. We hope to hear from you.

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