Why Did I Wait SO LONG

I have wanted a dedicated shipping label printer for the longest time.  I just kept telling myself I hadn't reached that level and after all I was certainly able to stand up and switch printing paper for 4 x 6 labels in my Epson printer.  I mean it is only a little extra work but you would hear me scream in frustration when I would realize that I had forgotten to put the paper back in and I had wasted expensive label paper.  

It was just a few months ago that I decided to finally invest in a label printer for my business.  There are so many options and while price is a consideration I also wanted something that had very good reviews.  After spending some time researching, I made the plunge and purchased this model of label printer.  It's a thermal printer so no more printer ink, printing on labels by mistake and I can get my shipping labels free from UPS. I always compare shipping carrier rates using Pirateship.com and sometimes I do ship packages using UPS when they are less expensive than USPS  

Everyday when I print out my shipping labels I say to myself, "Why did I wait so long?".  The printing of the labels is lightening fast, the labels stick so much better than the inkjet labels I used to use and I'm not wasting supplies.  It may have cost me $120 but it has saved me time and lots of frustrations.  My advise to every small business owner, "Stop putting it off and buy yourself the equipment you need to grow your small business."

My Studio Equipment Recommendations

Branding and Recycled Shipping Boxes

Yesterday, I was making an attempt to pull off shipping and hazard labels off several recycled shipping boxes that I have received in the past from Amazon.  It was very tough going and the labels were winning.  This frustrations got me thinking last night about a solution and I thought I would share that with you.

First you might ask, "Why not just buy cardboard boxes for my Etsy business?"   I would agree with you if I were shipping out large quantities of boxes each week.  Most of my sales fit into one of the 3 sizes of rigid shipping envelopes and 2 sizes of 1st class mail envelopes.  In 2021, I made it a focus to up my branding efforts when I ship out art prints, cards stickers, recipe cards and other inventory that are rather flat.  Check out all my cute art on my ETSY SHOP - JULIE TOWNSEND STUDIO

* I hand write a small message on the outside of each envelope

* I print cute stickers to have on hand to decorate

* I stamp my own wrapping paper using rolls of painters paper that you can buy at the hardware store

* I cut tiny confetti pieces of my original artwork with my Cricut just to give that extra WOW factor

I have this part well covered and receive positive reviews that specifically mention these little efforts.  5 star ratings is what it is all about!

I just can't at this point buy boxes when they are arriving almost daily at my door.  I break down the smaller boxes or the ones I feel would fit my smaller canvases in and store them in my inventory room.  I even roll up all the brown packing paper and some of the bubble wrap to add to my shipping supplies.  Here I would like to say that I would use the word FRUGAL to describe myself but my kids would tell you that I was CHEAP,

SOLUTION:  I decided to design a full sheet sticker that actually looks like cardboard.  I don't want to wrap the whole box and the Post Office doesn't want you to use shipping paper anymore.  Besides, I have never been good at wrapping boxes!  I then added faint graphic images to make the stickers pretty.  I came up with 3.  The first design is using farm animals of course.  I have to go back and make sure but I think each of these farm animals came from a public domain site and are free to use and since I'm not selling these, I'm good to add them to my sticker.  2nd design was a pattern of flying bees that I downloaded off Pixabay.com and finally, the 3rd design is actually my little bees and doodlebird drawings.  They are all so cute and now I have chooses when covering up nasty shipping labels.

STUDIO PRINTERS - I might make a mention about printer ink here and I get asked often about my printers.   I have 3 printers in my studio - 1.  Canon Pixma Pro 100 (I use this for all my art prints and is expensive to use)  2.  HP 8035 (This one prints cards, stickers and other small items.  Quality is okay and I have it set up on the HPInstaink program for 500 copies a month $18.99)  The ink cartridges are sent to me automatically and are included in the monthly fee.  For a business I think this is a good choice.  My last printer 3. Epson ET 2650 is an Ecotank printer that I purchased probably 5 years ago from Sam's Club.  It came with bottles of ink at that time and I purchased an extra set of ink refills and if you can believe it,  I STILL HAVE INK.  I'm getting ready to pour the last of each bottle into my printer soon.  The print quality is not art level by any means but for all the household printing, packing slips, shipping labels and now these shipping stickers, it's as if I'm printing free. It's the perfect printer for just this type of label printing. I do have to run the print head cleaning utility pretty often but it has been a good investment.

I promise this is the last thing I'm going to mention today about my CHEAP branding efforts.  I just ordered some rolls of brown packing tape that will fit on my tape roller so that I can even cover up the Amazon logo tape and more tape never is a bad thing when it comes to shipping.  I'll let you know how that works.

Ten Dollars Saved is Ten Dollars Earned

You know that old wise saying of Benjamin Franklin, "A penny save is a penny earned?"  SAVING MONEY is exactly what has me SO excited today but we are not talking pennies here.  Face it, if you want to get your art out there and sell your art than you have to get the whole shipping thing figured out.  A few posts ago I shared about UHaul Mirror boxes (only $4.60) and how great they are for shipping larger pieces and today I want to talk about postage costs.

About 2 weeks ago I had the privilege of selling a rather large 24 x 36 inch painting to a couple that needed it shipped to Reno, Nevada.  I first went online and checked both UPS and USPS online shipping calculators and found that UPS quoted a few dollars under the price of the USPS.  I was skeptical but decided to take my box into a UPS office and see just what it would cost me.  With $500 insurance, UPS actually came out more expensive and then to top it off the employee claimed to be able to see the USPS rates there on this computer and  I would have to pay in the neighborhood of $240 if I used them.  What a bold faced lie that was! 

We loaded the box back in the car and drove straight to the neighborhood post office where I paid a total of $31.15 + $6.80 for insurance to ship my box.  Once again, I received confirmation that USPS is the best route for shipping for me and my business.

This week I found something so exciting that I decided I would share it with you.  It is a website called "Pirateship.com".  I know that shipping is always a confusing topic when it comes to larger boxes.  This sight gives you commercial pricing like that which is offered on EBAY and ETSY shops but you can benefit as an individual by openning a free account.  No fees involved and you can immediately realize the savings.  I have mailed 2 packages this week using Pirateship.com and am just ecstatic.

I decided to show you the comparison prices of Pirateship.com and that of the USPS Click and Ship quotes.  I entered in all the exact same information for my box into Pirateship.com and received a quote for $21.76.  That is a savings on just one shipment of $9.39.  No more standing in line at the post office for me.  I feel that I am one step closer to the time that I will have some many shipments a week leaving my studio that I will  have to declare an actually SHIPPING DAY.