1. Order = Pay.
This took so long because we had to chase down every person who said they wanted a shirt and get them to pay for it. If we do it again, we say "place your order, pay your total, and you'll get your shirt when we hit the minimum order threshold or run out of time, whichever comes later." Pros, no chasing people. Cons, some people may demand refunds if things take too long.
2. Make it clear that the choices offered are the only ones.
We also had issues with a few people going "I want shirt style A, but this color from shirt style B." This, well, wasn't possible, because the shirts didn't exist, but we didn't catch that until Deborah was in the final review of the list. So if we do this again, we need to be very clear on the "what you can get is what's on that specific page" issue.
3. Set a maximum threshold.
This was a super-large order, which also slowed things down a lot. So there needs to be a "no fewer than X, but no more than Y" point.
4. Up the price for 3XL and up.
I hate this. I tried so hard not to reach this conclusion. But...it costs more to print a shirt that's between 3XL and 6XL, and we had a lot of those. I was never expecting to make money on this, and I figured, "well, if someone who orders a S is paying the same as someone who orders a 5XL, it all comes out in the wash." And it did, as far as printing costs was concerned. What I didn't do was calculate for mailing costs. It's about three dollars more to ship a larger shirt, especially if that shirt is not being mailed alone. If I want to be able to afford to print the shirts, and mail the shirts, I need to charge more for the larger ones. I'm so sorry. It's purely financial, and it annoys me deeply.
5. Print more extras.
This time, I ordered three extra shirts, and Amy, who is smart, ordered eight for her bookstore. Amy has been doing a brisk business selling shirts to filkers who missed the original order, and is a happy little clam. I still don't know which shirts are mine, because I'm in the shipping process. More extras would mean a happier answer to "do you have one you can sell me?" inquires.
...of course, all this is academic until I finish mailing. Still, that's where I'm at right now, and sometimes it's nice to think aloud.
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October 28 2011, 15:24:37 UTC 5 years ago
October 28 2011, 15:37:27 UTC 5 years ago
Holy balls, that is effing ridiculous. And it makes me so MAD. And I say that not as a disgruntled fatty (though I am frequently that as well) but as someone who regularly has to mail stuff off only to be faced with the absolutely ridiculous nonsense of the USPS. I should not get three different shipping cost on three packages the same size, shape, and weight, with the same amount of insurance, going to the same postal zone; or three different prices for one package from three different tellers and the USPS website. It makes calculating shipping for my larger items damn near impossible, and it's distressing.
I get that they're struggling, and that scares me because my bff works for them and would be screwed if she lost her job, but . . . ye gods. I only ship through them because the people at the UPS place look at me as though I were a syphilitic flatworm for no reason that I have ever been able to discern. (There is no resemblance.) At least the people at the post office I go to are super, super nice.
October 28 2011, 15:45:09 UTC 5 years ago
Feh.
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October 28 2011, 15:49:47 UTC 5 years ago
So I needed a little boost, because I was in day 8 and FRIED FRIED FRIED.
The head of the project on our end, a wonderful guy, ran up to me, grabbed me by my shoulders, read the shirt, and yelled "I LOVE THIS SHIRT!"
And everytime I saw him the rest of the day he giggled and patted me on the head (I was wearing a hat that he also loved) and said "I love that shirt. I really love that shirt."
It made the day go significantly easier.
October 28 2011, 15:55:57 UTC 5 years ago
Thank you.
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October 28 2011, 15:52:16 UTC 5 years ago
October 28 2011, 15:56:06 UTC 5 years ago
October 28 2011, 15:58:15 UTC 5 years ago
Sorry you had to chase folks.
I am not getting into the "larger sizes cost more to ship" rant ... not not not. I feel your pain about having to do this.
October 28 2011, 18:04:13 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 16:01:14 UTC 5 years ago
#4 is distressing, but realistic. I'm afraid someone -will- Be Stupid, but the fact is that your prices have to reflect the underlying economic realities, and those are based not (in this case) on society being fat-haters, but on the unfortunate fact that it takes more energy to move heavier things than to move lighter things (and you pass the savings on to us).
One of the most bemusing things about your fanac, to me, is how much of it involves packing up and mailing things (but they're cool things, so...)
October 28 2011, 16:57:57 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 16:06:26 UTC 5 years ago
And as someone who lives in Canada and ordered a 5 or 6XL, I thought $20 seemed kinda crazy low. Once my next paycheque hits, I'm going to send you an extra bit by paypal. :)
October 28 2011, 18:41:31 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 16:32:38 UTC 5 years ago
Do you want those who can to chip in for postage? We don't want your kitties to get mad at us!
October 28 2011, 18:42:33 UTC 5 years ago
October 28 2011, 16:40:02 UTC 5 years ago
It kind of sucks working with normal people sometimes.
October 28 2011, 16:59:23 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 18:43:01 UTC 5 years ago
This makes me happy.
October 28 2011, 16:57:48 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 17:04:43 UTC 5 years ago
November 1 2011, 15:02:20 UTC 5 years ago
October 28 2011, 17:37:56 UTC 5 years ago Edited: October 28 2011, 17:39:07 UTC
On the topic of charging more for 3x and up I understand. It makes me sad but its not your fault and I know that you will be reasonable while ensuring you don't end up paying out of pocket for us to get shirts.
Please let me know if you need me to send a little more for my shirt given this unexpected extra cost.
November 1 2011, 15:02:43 UTC 5 years ago
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October 28 2011, 18:19:06 UTC 5 years ago
While you didn't mail mine, would it help if I kicked a few more dollars your way to cover the higher shirt prices?
November 1 2011, 15:03:19 UTC 5 years ago
And thank you. I so appreciate your understanding.
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October 29 2011, 01:09:39 UTC 5 years ago
November 1 2011, 15:03:54 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2011, 02:04:52 UTC 5 years ago
So - to cheer you up - another Halloween Pumpkitten!
see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
November 1 2011, 14:52:13 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2011, 05:38:30 UTC 5 years ago
You didn't have to, and I know we appreciate it.
Hope nobody's being actually jerky about it.
November 7 2011, 19:10:35 UTC 5 years ago
October 29 2011, 06:03:23 UTC 5 years ago
Actual note: Having not received my first order yet I still feel confident in saying that if you offered a second chance to order I would probably order a second shirt and possibly a nightshirt as well. Is there a reasonable option to offer these shirts somewhere that would be less work personally for you because from the reaction I am hearing on here you are going to get way more orders than you can reasonably handle again.
November 7 2011, 22:30:18 UTC 5 years ago
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October 30 2011, 00:02:50 UTC 5 years ago
Whatever additional batch you do, you might raise shipping costs a little for all shirts to accomodate the larger ones. Up to you, of course. If you do another batch of Wicked Girls, I'd love to hear about it (and put paypal money where my mouth is).
November 1 2011, 14:53:30 UTC 5 years ago
It's difficult. :(
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