if someone local ordered....

[chrisasst]

from your website, what do you do? say you put up flyers or something with you web address on it. someone that lives lets say 5 miles down the road orders. Do you ship it or deliver it, have them pick it up...? what do you do..

thanks

[BlackCrow]

that's a good question. I personally would feel more inclined to ship it to them simply because I dont want to start something I may not want to keep doing. This person may become a repeat customer...may pass your name onto others who live close by...do you want to keep delivering to this person or others they tell about you as well an they will expect you to deliver or be able to pick up. I also would not want strangers coming to my door to pick up a package like that.That's JMO.

[Fire and Ice]

Take them the first order in person and inform them that they will have to call and make an appointment to pick up their orders from there on. Unless it right on your way someplace. And it depends on how big an order it is. If it's small, tell them to pick it up themselves. If it's large, deliver it.

Fire

[soapmom25]

ship it, unless PRIOR arrangements were made. I've had complete fluke orders from customers not far from me (they found us through Google, not by advertising, so had no clue we were near to them) and I always ship even though I *could* deliver it for cheaper.

On the flip side, I have a local dentist office staff that orders from me, and they're welcome to order online (at their convenience) and I credit the shipping charge and just drop them off the next time we're in town ~ they love that personal attention!! Those arrangements were agreed upon before their first order though ~ I offered, they didn't ask.

I would not under any circumstances have somebody pick-up from me, but that's a personal preference. I'm not insured for customer pick-ups, and since our shop is on the back side of our personal property I really don't want customers at/near my home unless I know them!

[LynnS]

OMG this happened to me.I got a e-mail "love your candles" but not sure I will be able to attend shows you might be at. SO could I order on-line? I was in a dilemma that day and night. Husband in a wreck not far from us but the ambulance took him to a hospital about 35 miles away and for me not the closest or even a hospital I knew where it was. So when I answered I was in a tizzy and said "Yes the sale( had 3 for $10.00) is still for website orders and would be honored. If you prefer you can order on-line or else pick up or we can deliver.I was thinking ordering on-line and using a credit card and paying shipping to me would not be feasible.BUT I think she was fine with all that.She just wanted th candles.So far no order on-line and not sure I have seen her at shows.Have no idea who she is.

I might have scared her off with acting like she can come by or else we deliver.She was fine with website even though she might be 8 miles from us. Hope she stops at shows.She said she wished she would have brought more than the 3. Sure was a fast e-mail because show had just been less than a week.

LynnS

[sockmonkey]

Did they inquire about picking it up? I wouldn't want customer coming to my house for a variety of reasons.

1. You never know what kind of kook might be knocking at your door.

2. If a business deal goes sour, you sure don't want people to know your home address.

3. One customer might wind up telling other customers to pick up their orders at your home because they do it.

4. Very important one here--if you're not zoned or licensed for retail business out of your home, you shouldn't have customers picking up orders there.

[HeavenScentU]

Did the person pay for shipping online? If so, send it. If you decide to deliver it in person, I think I would give them a sample of a new scent they might want to try next time. This would cover the cost of shipping.

[SliverOfWax]

I don't consider this to be a legitimate question. Ask yourself: If I ordered from any bona fide retail website, would they sit around and wonder what to do? Of course not. If you intend to be taken seriously, treat your business like a business and never, ever allow a paying customer into your home.

www.SunshineWaxWorks.com

[David Fields]

I say SHIP IT...SHIP IT....SHIP IT. We used to allow people to pick - up...well..it got to where ...people would need a Birthday gift..and just want to drop in at all hours to pick up....then when they came...they would spend 30 minutes looking and picking out...and would want to know if we "gift-wrapped"?? GO FIGURE. A Business is a Business...Keep it that way..Professional...

JMO

Joyce (David's wife)

[Late Night]

I agree with everything Sockmonkey said. I also agree with Sliver...sort of. I think all questions are valid though.

One of my first orders was from a major company. In my enthusuam I forgot to check where it was being shipped from. Turns out it was a local company that offers pick-up service. I could have saved a bundle on shipping. But, they are a professional company and assumed if I wanted it delivered to my door then thats what they would do.

If they ordered it shipped then ship it.

[Scented]

You know, we'd deliver it for the personal touch.

[Jane42]

We don't have a website yet, but someone who had been at one of our shows had emailed us that they wanted to put in an order (30 melts). My business partner wanted to deliver it, because she lived within 10-15 miles of the customer.

I did not want to start that - with gas at $3.32 a gallon, this was not a service I wanted to become known for. Also, I have a "thing" about just showing up at stranger's houses in areas I am not familiar with.

Now, if she became a regular customer, I may reconsider.

Fortunately, we were having an Open House that weekend, so she was able to pick her order up without incurring shipping charges.

I online shop alot and I just consider shipping part of the deal. I say ship!

[debscent]

Keep it simple. Ship it the most economical way possible. Only ONCE have I delivered an order and it was an order from a craft show where the customer wanted 15 reed diffusers to give as gifts. I told her we would bring them to her office on the designated day. (She was my old insurance agent and I ran into her at a show)...outside of personal knowledge of the person, ship it.

[cindym]

I have several local coustomers that buy in volume 3 or 4 times a year. What I usually do is meet them at a coffee shop, buy them a cup of coffee and chat for awhile. They are both awesome people, I actually did the wedding favors for one of the woman's daughters wedding. I say meet you customers, you don't have to have them come to you house.

[Luci]

I have one or two customers that are also good friends, so they come to my house. However, my other local customers who are acquaintances--I meet them somewhere and do what Cindy just said.

[bells4shells]

Why not put an option in your checkout process that lets your customer choose to have you deliver for a small fee? This would be cheaper than mail and you'll know right away if your customer wants that 'service'. I had to deal with this when I set up a friend's online shop. Something to think about!

[Tallbabydoll]

I have, and would again arrange for a public place to meet for her to met with you and pick up her order at a time and place you need to go to anyways. I would say something like, "I don't usually deliver but since your so close, maybe we can meet up. I plan to be at Wally World on Tuesday evening, would there be a convient time for you to met me there that evening?" If it's not a good day for them, maybe rework your scedule a little to accomidate them, and take someone with you. I would never met with them alone. That is until you really get to know them and feel confortable. This gives a personal touch, makes the customer feel special and saves them $ but your not causing any additional expense on your account. With every order I gave a sample of another scent they didn't order. Locals I usually give at least 2 and ask them to pass one on to a friend and throw in a few business cards. I also frequantly throw in a tart even if they don't purchase any. I take this opportunity to introduce this product, tell them the up sides of it's use, and where they can get a burner. A couple of ppl that were good customers I gave them a burner from the $ store and a tea light to get started, and they began buying tarts. So for the $1 cost of the burners turned into about $100 in sales to date on just the tarts that they hadn't even heard of before. HTH gl

[racolvin]

I specifically offer a Local Delivery option on my website, for a fee. I deliver with a lovely gift bag and printed tissue paper, etc. But I charge for that service and in fact just recently had to go up on that, with gas prices rising. I only do deliveries once a week (Wednesdays) so I can make a day of it doing the deliveries and try to optimize my gas usage.

As an example, I charge $5 for local delivery and by doing them all on the same day and doing the route planning properly, I actually come out very profitable on the deliveries. I might have $60 in delivery charges for 12 orders, but total gas cost was maybe $15 if I do it right.

I try to deliver to workplaces as much as possible, since residential could take you just about anywhere. I do reserve the right to ship or change the delivery location if I don't feel safe going into that area. If I don't feel safe going to a certain place and the shipping is more expensive, I'll eat the difference and ship it.

[MochaMama]

Wow, I just asked DH this question before I logged back on (yeah, like I ever log off ha ha).

A friend of mine placed an order on the website. I know her, have worked with her, etc. etc. I am probably going to just drop it in the mail, because it's easier and she paid for shipping.

Now if she had emailed me beforehand - I probably would have offered to drop it by.

However, I think that you should go ahead and ship it. At least it's done and over with and you don't have to make arrangements about getting there, the customer being home etc.etc. When you drop off stuff there are too many variables and you're way too busy for that!

[Blest2BAmerican]

I do not people to pick up orders from me because my business states that I'm not allowed to do business out of my home. I will deliver within my town for free if the order is $25 or over. Otherwise, I charge $2. If they wish to have it mailed I will do so.

[Candybee]

There is also an insurance issue at stake. If you let customers come to your home to pick up an item you better have business insurance to cover yourself in case they slip or fall on your doorstep. If your homeowners insurance finds out you had a 'customer' injure themselves while picking a sale item up at your home I doubt your insurance will cover that and in my case they don't!

[eugenia]

I do local shows to establish a local presence. Yesterday I had two shoppers at my home who purchased over $200 of items in 40 minutes. The appointments were scheduled. How does this differ from an open house in your home??????

e

[Fire and Ice]

I do local shows to establish a local presence. Yesterday I had two shoppers at my home who purchased over $200 of items in 40 minutes. The appointments were scheduled. How does this differ from an open house in your home??????

e

That's an excellent question, Eugenia:confused: Not that I've ever had an open house

Fire.

[eugenia]

One of them is coming back for more stuff tonight and that's A-OK by me!

e

[candlebean]

I offer customer pickup on my site, but under the ordering info, I do say that because my business is run out of a private home, that the customer pickup option is only available for people known to my company. I've never had a problem. I have had people email me or call me and ask if they can meet me somewhere or have me deliver, and I will deliver if they are close to me. Delivering has worked out well - one woman works about 10 minutes away from me and I've delivered 4 orders to her - every time I drop off an order she orders more stuff!

I also have a wholesale account that is about 15 minutes from me that I deliver to, which I like because I get to go to the shop and see my stuff and talk with the owners about how things are going. They like the personal touch and I think it makes them order more.

But I would never have strangers to my house - you never know who is going to be on the other side of the door when you open it. If a customer is close by and chooses to have something shipped, I would ship it. Maybe they don't want strangers at their house either....