Things don’t always work out the way you hoped!
Since I started the Masterclass some fantastic things have happened. I could not be more pleased with the way this course has gone for me, both in terms of the people I have met, the work I have done and the amazing amount of things I have learnt.
One other thing I have been doing for quite some time now is selling oil lamp glassware on ebay. I sell boxes of 4 oil lamp chimneys for Duplex burners. The majority of other sellers are offering single chimneys and they are charging almost £10 for each single chimney plus around £5 extra for postage and packing.
The boxes of 4 I sell are £20 with £2.99 postage and packing so I have offered a really good deal. Occassionally I get someone asking for just the one chimney but I only sell them in packs of 4. The reason for this is because the crates of chimneys I get come packed in 4′s in double wall cartons, so all I do is pop some ‘fragile’ tape around them, write the address on the front and go to the post office. The postage second class costs just £2.70 and the other 29p pays for the tape and pens and shoe leather!
This week I received the latest delivery of 2,000 chimneys. The company that make them have been bought out by someone else and the new owners have changed the packaging! Clearly in order to save money they now pack the 4′s in single wall cartons. This is a tragedy for me as I can no longer put them straight back into the post. Single wall cartons simply are not strong enough for our postal service, especially when the contents are glassware. Quel dommage!
So now I have to review my whole system as no-one makes boxes the size I need for 4 chimneys. Custom made cartons are way too expensive. And the whole thing is now much more complicated in terms of time as I have to repack every box of chimneys I send out. A big alteration I had not banked on. I’m sure it will be fine, I have found a box I can get them into safely but I will now have to buy extra packing too.
Sometimes things just don’t work out the way you hoped!
Enjoy the journey.
Hello Mandy, I’m sneaking an hour (ish) out of bed as I’m going a little stir crazy and my brain is brimming with things to catch up on.
I’m sorry to read of the changes to the boxes for your products. One little change can put a spanner in the works. Have you thought about wine bottle boxes? What size do the boxes need to be? I can have a look around the net for you if you’d like me to. It won’t put me any further behind as I can’t type while in bed as I have to lay on my side.
Let me know my friend, and I’ll see what I can do.
Bye for now,
Respect & Regards
Barry Wells
That is so kind, Barry. I have sent you a private email.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hello Mandy,
Finally got round to seeing your posts, I’m afraid my day job has overwhelmed me the last few weeks, on top of which I had trouble getting Camtasia to record audio at a decent level, then the trial period expired so tried Can Studio and works great (saved me a fortune), will post on it later.
Anyway I too am sorry to hear about the box change, things like that can throw a spanner in the works at times, until you work your way past them, as you will. One thing I would say is that you clearly provide such a better rate than other sellers that a samll increase to cover the extra packaging costs would not dent things too much I’m sure. I imagine you probably have repeat buyers too and if you were to let them know of the reasons I’m sure you wouldn’t lose many buyers.
I hope you manage to steer a way through it anyway. Regarding your other posts, everyone has points at which they think can’t get any further with something but having read many of your posts I don’t think you have too many barriers, and sometimes if you think you can’t do something it’s ok to leave it for a while and then give it another go later, sometimes we just have to be in a more positive state of mind to overcome a hurdle.
Good luck with the boxes and I’m glad you’ve been having some success with the marketing.
Best wishes
Dave
Hi Dave, great to see you here! Sorry you have been having difficulties – makes me realise just how much some people want to succeed with this when they keep pressing on through the hardships though. I hope it gets easier for you soon!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
Nothing ever goes according to plan, especially if the plan runs over several years. I have learned over many years (slow learner) that almost everything that happens, happens for a reason. Many times we will never know why until a long time afterwards.
Take my retirement. I have no idea why I picked the date I did to retire. Then the day before I retired, my 88 year old mother fell and broke her hip. Both her and dad needed a lot of help just to keep going. Well, I now had the time to help them out without trying to get a leave of absense. I had all of my time to care for them both….go figure.
Most things work out for the best. Take time to develop a delivery method that will better suite your needs. Maybe a simple request from your supplier would do the trick.
Good luck my friend!
Jay
Hi Jay, yes, fate is a strange thing we never can quite touch. Glad you could help out when you were needed. As for my solution, well, I will ponder on it!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
I agree with Jay, nothing ever does always go to plan, and thats an unfortunate fact of life ,however sometimes i find that when after all the heartache and messing about to put the problem right, you feel good that you did so of your own bat and start to avoid more and more problems as time goes on!
I really hope you get there, good luck Mandy , and i`m sorry i couldn`t think of a solution for you i can only suggest you google a search or maybe even browse the forums?
TTFN….Ed.
Hi Ed, thanks for your words of encouragement. I did think of another solution – hire a packer!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
Sorry to hear about the change in boxes. But, you know it was done for a reason and no doubt you will learn something from it. It is also a good testimonial as to why we should have multiple streams of income…not just one. Had you been reliant on this income alone it certainly would have made it more stressful!
I always enjoy your posts…I’ll be back.
Kathy
Hi Kathy, thanks for your positive words. You are absolutely right (read Jay’s comment here about timing too!). Hope to see you on the JTFC soon! Can’t wait to see what your membership site is about!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hello Mandy,
John
I think you must have had a better education than me. I had to look up ‘Quel Dommage’, I have never come across this before. Every cloud has a silver lining – your problem has given me a very useful new phrase for ‘What a Pity’. Thanks Mandy!
Oh bless you, John! If you read my profile you will realise I lived in France for 3 years so I’m afraid I have a habit of slipping a little ‘francais’ in from time to time.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
What a big bother! It’s one of those things you’d wish would not happen … there are other challenges in life that are more welcomed
I hope it all works out for you though … and with your know-how, I am sure it will! As you know, I am also off to a fresh start …
Until soon again!!
Svenja
Hi Svenja, do you know, now I have started the re-packing system it doesn’t seem as onerous as it did before I was doing it. It just costs me more but I stuck an extra 50p on the postage and packing so I only lose 30p on the carton and a bit for bubble. Not so bad. I was just having a moan! You know me…
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi, Mandy
Very true, and as you so eloquently stated, “What a bummer!”
Even so… Svenja has you sussed for being resourceful,
and I can confirm that you are consistent and persistent.
Thou shalt overcome, sans doute.
Success IS the journey. Enjoy.
KenW
Hi Ken,
Did I really say that?? Oops, not my usual style!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
If everything went smoothly, we would be worried but this is a tricky one!
Good luck with the solution and keep blogging.
Sparkles
x x x
Thank you, Rosie, lovely to hear form you.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy
Glad to see you are coming up with a solution already. I didn’t doubt you for a moment.
Regards
Ann
Thanks, Ann, it hasn’t caused as much trauma as I thought it would – already managing the new system quite well.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hey Mandy,
Havn’t been on in a while as I had a few problems to sort out but I always love reading your blog, it is so interesting!! I also love that your making another source of income, it just shows you can sell just about anything online!! Would love to know could you provide any tips on how to drive some much needed traffic to my blog, I need to grow my list as I have been away!!
Until Next time
Paul
Hi Paul, it’s great to see you back! I will send you my blogging guide and would suggest when you have a few fresh posts on your blog that you join the Warrior Forum and make sure you pop a signature on your comments there. I saw an instant increase in traffic after joining this forum. Although my list hasn’t grown yet I know it will come eventually if I keep posting.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy,
I’m glad to see you have already overcome this challenge! I wonder if you could get away with raising your postage cost slightly more to absorb that 30p? Your deal is still a lot cheaper than competitors.
Hooray for the drama of the French language – Quel dommage expresses so well one’s sentiments at a time like that!
Cheers
Sue
Hi Sue, there’s always ways and means, aren’t there. I did consider putting the whole charge onto the postage but decided against it. And yes, the French language is a peach!
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Mandy, funny how everything just seems to start running smoothly then something crops up and upsets things. Then again, if everything was hitch free wouldn`t it be such a boring life. ( no offense to anyone who likes BORING )
Regards
Colin
Hi Colin, you are so very right, it is what makes life interesting (if a little frustrating at times too!).
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Hi Many its amazing how just a few little things can create such hassel, last year I was selling an anti wrinkle serum and doing rather well then bootes the chemist bring out their own range, it gets on the news and kills this product stone dead for 6 months!
just shows we cant take anything for granted.
Take Care
Rob
admin@robert-corrigan.co
http://robert-corrigan.com
You are so right, Rob, we just have to go with the flow, don’t we.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy
Nice post thanks, i’ve been looking to get into ebay selling for a while now but keep putting it off, this has helped a lot, D
Thanks for visiting. There are some great products available if you want to read up on ebay selling. Please visit our site http://thejohnthornhillfanclub.com for a range of good quality and affordable ebooks on the subject.
Enjoy the journey.
Mandy