Shopping online is not only convenient and fun, it also saves lots of time - time that we can spend doing other things. And it can save us $ money $ too! I have become completely spoiled, shopping from home in my comfy PJ's and slippers, whilst sipping a cup of hot tea with a warm puppy dog snoozing on my lap. Ahhhhhh. And having my purchases delivered right to my door? What's not to like?
Well, I can think of one thing... not to like, that is. When I let something slip up on me and order a gift at the last minute, the cost of express 2-day or overnight shipping by air, can be astronomical - OUCH! The major shippers' rates for Ground Shipping (e.g., UPS ground, FedEx Ground or Home Delivery) and the cost of USPS Priority Mail are quite reasonable to my way of thinking. And unless there's a big ice storm making major highways impassable, widespread power outages, or something else causing delays, I can usually expect to receive an order (from a company located in the continental U.S.), a mere three business days after I complete my on-line purchase. I often receive my goodies 2 days later! But next-day- and 2nd-day- air shipping prices make me want to cry. Just because I was a little forgetful or I procrastinated a day or two, now it's gonna take an entire fleet of jet airplanes, mega-quantities of jet fuel, pilots and crews, and who knows how many other folks jumping through umpteen-dozen hoops, to get that all-important item delivered in time?!!! "Why do today, what you can put off until tomorrow?", you ask. The cost of overnight shipping is why! LOL! It is a testament to American ingenuity and resourcefulness that we have reliable overnight shipping options, but it just hurts my little feelings to pay four to five times as much, because I didn't order that gift a couple of days earlier!
Sending documents overnight via USPS Express Mail in a Flat Rate Envelope is not terribly pricy. But I rarely, if ever, shop for gifts that will fit in a Flat Rate Envelope! On our website, RcPlanesandCopters.com, we sell items that range in length and weight from a few inches and ounces, to several feet long and weighing as much as 80 pounds. For a small foamie RC airplane that costs a maximum of $12-13 to ship via ground shipping or Priority Mail, the cost to ship it overnight, half-way across the US, is over $65. How depressing!
Last year, in the last few days leading up to Christmas Day, we felt our customers' pain, as they did their last-minute shopping, and encountered the overnight and 2nd-day shipping charges. Arghhhh!
So we put on our thinking caps and came up with something new, that might just be bordering on genius - lol! We already offered RC Gift Certificates that could be purchased as late as December 23rd and delivered by email before Christmas Day. So that was one possible solution. But we were hoping to offer another alternative as well.
What we cooked up, is: "YOUR GIFT IS ON THE WAY." The way this option works is, if you need an RC Gift FAST, but you want to avoid the added expense of express shipping, then, when you checkout, stick with the normal Ground Shipping method - but provide us with some extra information, so that we can send a colorful, personalized message from you, to the person receiving the gift. On or before Christmas Day, we will forward a YOUR GIFT IS ON THE WAY message to them (and we'll copy you on the message) (OR - we can send it to you and you can give it to them) to let them know that, being the thoughtful and wonderful person you are, you have purchased their gift, it's on the way to them, but it might not get there before Christmas Day. We can even include photos of the item(s) you bought for them.
Here's a SAMPLE:
What we cooked up, is: "YOUR GIFT IS ON THE WAY." The way this option works is, if you need an RC Gift FAST, but you want to avoid the added expense of express shipping, then, when you checkout, stick with the normal Ground Shipping method - but provide us with some extra information, so that we can send a colorful, personalized message from you, to the person receiving the gift. On or before Christmas Day, we will forward a YOUR GIFT IS ON THE WAY message to them (and we'll copy you on the message) (OR - we can send it to you and you can give it to them) to let them know that, being the thoughtful and wonderful person you are, you have purchased their gift, it's on the way to them, but it might not get there before Christmas Day. We can even include photos of the item(s) you bought for them.
Here's a SAMPLE:
Pretty cool, huh? Just think of all the money you will save! The deadline for YOUR GIFT IS ON THE WAY for Christmas 2011, is 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, December 24th. That is, you must make your purchase and complete the checkout process by 10 am on Dec 24.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for shopping at RC Planes and Copters.
- During Checkout, under "Bill To" complete your information, including your email address and phone number (in case we have questions);
- Under "Ship To", be sure to include the gift recipient's correct email address (or your email address, if you prefer that we send it to you);
- On the next page of Checkout, in the Comments box, type the personal message you want us to include in the email message (there's a sample below). Also tell us whether you want the email sent that day, or if you want it sent early in the morning, on December 25th.
- We will do the rest! We will compose and send the message according to your instructions, and we will copy you on the message
- When the items you purchased ship out, we will send an email message to you that includes shipment tracking information.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for shopping at RC Planes and Copters.
Happy Holidays!
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