Ecommerce packages got you down?

 The rise and fall of our economy have put our whole country in a new shopping trend.  This year has been the year of eCommerce.  The statistics are blowing away people and we are now seeing the byproducts of this being done. I am completely shocked by how much online shopping I have done this year and it really was not my plan at all.  The year has changed the entire way my life works.  I know work from home and pretty much been stuck in my home unless an emergency is taking place.  Never in my life did I think that my own state for putting me on house arrest for committing no crime, but here we are and what it has caused no one could have foreseen.  When I go to my front door each day and pick up my Amazon package it saddens me.  Because I know that I am going to pick it up, cut it open and toss the box in my garage.  It really is a fact of life that now my garage is a box pit and it has taken me a few months to learn how to get rid of all those boxes.  I want to do it the most ethically responsible way and that took some time to figure out.  See my trash company only allows us to have one recycle can each week.  This is a problem and not a fun one.

No one likes to work at getting rid of their trash and I am certianly one of those people.  I first just started to throw full cardboard boxes into my recycle trash can and I could fit anywhere from three to four.  This would have been perfect on a normal week, but since the pandemic, I am getting 10 or more boxes a day.  That means that I am constantly running a surplus of packages that are stacking up in my garage.  So after a week, I knew this was not going to work.  I started to work on different ways to figure the problem out but time won and I simply gave up.  Alas, my family could no longer take not having a useable garage and then I had to find a way to get rid of it all and not just put them in a trash bag to go to a landfill. 

What is really sad is that all of those cardboard boxes did not need to go to a land fill I wanted them to go and be recycled because everyone is going through the same thing and I didn't want to contribute to the harmful ways of huritng out the earth.  I want to promote sustainability. I think this was the best thing to do and it was worth the time.  So I started to use my hands to break down the packages and fit them in the trash can. 

It had to stop because I was only able to do this for a few boxes because it gave me paper cuts and blisters.  It also left me with uneven tears in the packages and they didn't fit in the can very efficiently.  So the next obvious step was to go out and get some scissors.  This was a great plan and it worked really well for a long while. So get to snipping!

Did you just get into eCommerce?

I know that 2021 is the changing time in our country.  We are now all buying from home and online for just about everything.  It is pretty cool, but if you are jumping into this industry it can be a bit hard. Now, I am so happy for you and the American Economy in general because we all win when people compete and build up a great economy.  This is a cool thing, but many people are just starting out and don't know the simple basics of selling online.  That is just fine and I want to help you understand the basics so you don't end up losing money learning the hard way.  I have lost money-making sales online and I don't others to learn from a mistake that could be avoided.  I like to learn from other people's mistakes, so let's go over some of mine so that you don't have to do it!

Now I want to go back to my first sale.  I sold my first thing online back in college.  Back then was my first time selling so I made accounts on Amazon and eBay.  This was really fun and a little complicated back then because it was all run on email.  We didn't have smartphones so you had to manually check on a computer each day.  Well back then you only hopped on a computer once or twice a week normally.  So it meant a lot of extra work to even see if someone purchased your item.  But I got lucky and within a few days of checking my book sold for almost as much as I paid for it.  I was too excited to really think about a lot of different things that would end up biting me in the butt.

Now, I got the buyer's address I decided I needed to get a nice package to send it in.  I went to my local big box store and found the aisle of cardboard boxes and decided to pick a nice one out.  I found that there were a lot of cardboard boxes to chose from and in fact I decided a bag was going to be better. It had bubble wrap in it already and I went with that one.  I got the bag but didn't trust the seal on it.  The bags were indeed not as sturdy bags then and I needed to buy the tape.  So I went to the tape aisle and got a roll of packing tape as well.  To be honest, once I checked out I realized I had just spent 10 dollars on supplies for the book to be shipped.  Then I packed it all up and went to the post office.  It was a cost of fifteen bucks or so to ship the book.

In the end, I only had about five bucks left in profit.  I was a bit sad. But then the money was transferred to me from the seller and eBay took ten percent and PayPal took another three percent.  With my time, gas, and energy put into this I lost money.  It all made me a bit sad at first.  I then realized I set my prices way too low and that I didn't take into account the money that the platform would take from me. Yep, I lost money. But I learned a whole lot!

Learning Ecommerce the hard way

 We all know that the new normal is actually a more communist normal.  But with this change, we have found that the state is gaining more control because we are now all shopping online and being tracked 100% of the time.  This is an amazing way to control a populous and with the fact that our only options by law in many cases are e-commerce, it is working.  Personally, this has led our company is fundamentally changing due to the pandemic.  It is simple, our state shut down our storefront.  The fact that we are a small retailer means we are not safe enough to have people walk into our business and yet the giant big box store next to us that holds thousands of more people is safe.  I am most definitely in a lawsuit with the state for pandering to a company that simply brings in more tax dollars than my business does.  But that is the main reasoning why we are changing our company to be an eCommerce-based company.  We have had to learn a whole lot of things in order to survive in an anti-business economy.  One of the biggest lessons we have had to learn was to shop in the correct places for our shipping supplies. Because if you shop the wrong place you may be out of business soon.

We knew things had to change in order to survive the unconstitutional totalitarian regulations.  This all started with the simple fact that we are going to have to sell our items online instead of in a store. With no more foot traffic, we knew we would all be on government assistance quickly if we didn't make a profit. That means we are changing from simply bagging our items or letting people who want to be environmentally friendly simply carry their items out.  Instead, now we have to use cardboard boxes or bags.  So in order to stay competitive, we had to make sure we were getting these items at the best cost.  It is really hard to compete with giant companies who are ordering these in massive quantities and sending them to customers at a fraction of the cost of what the average person can buy them for. 

We all know that the quick way is Amazon.  The next process we went through was the one everyone goes to.  We started shopping on Amazon and pricing out what we could do with prime shipping.  We like to be able to get backups for products fast.  We saw prices went down about 10 to 20% but for those items, we also ended up with more than prime shipping.  Most of it was actually 2-week shipping for large quantities.  This means we have to buy much more than we need to ensure we don't run out. Because restocking is simply more complicated and not nearly as consistent. 

Luckily, we got wise and went to the source and found real large packaging supplies stores.  This was where we found cardboard boxes at their best prices and also bags too.  We learned that we could buy in bulk and cut down the cost by another 20% on top of Amazon prices.  Shipping took longer, but we were able to buy more for a much-discounted price and that was going to help us stay truly competitive.  So be wise and shop the right locations this year. 

A Brief Note On Some Trendy Cosmetic Packaging Styles

Cosmetic packaging has to be stylish and trendy to attract customers. Whether you are using cardboard boxes or flexible pouches, you have to make sure that your packaging solution complements your brand in the best possible way. The reason you have to pay attention to the product packaging is that it attracts your consumers. Due to tough competition between brands in the cosmetic industry, you cannot afford to let go of any branding opportunity. The right packaging is one of the most significant opportunities in this regard.

In this article, we will discuss some styles of cosmetic packaging.

Variations in types of cosmetic packaging

Every cosmetic product is different. The categories of packaging products include hair, nails, skin, makeup, and others. The packaging, therefore, has to be different for each of these categories. The packaging solutions that you can use may include jars, bottles, containers, sticks, and tubes. These packaging solutions come in different sizes. The material you can use for packaging can be plastic, glass, metal, and paper. With the help of multiple shapes and sizes, you can offer different pricing options to your customers. They can choose the one they want.

When it comes to the purchase of cosmetic products, customers want to see what they are buying. Using window boxes allows those customers to have a look at the main product. They feel more comfortable buying such products.

Printing and designs

When it comes to cosmetic packaging, you have to pay attention to the printing and designing. Since every age group of people uses cosmetic products one way or another, you have to make sure that you are targeting your audience through the right designs. Women are the most significant buyers of cosmetic products. They are always inclined to choose a product with packaging that looks funky and decent. Along with designs and patterns, you will also have to print ingredients and instructions on the packaging. Remember, the packaging design makes you a recognizable brand, so make sure to pay appropriate attention to this aspect.

Customization

The concept of customization in packaging is not new. Allowing your customers to choose the style of packaging is one of the best ways to win the loyalty of your customers. Although making changes to the printed packaging design can be a hard route of customization, you can consider adding extra touches of other materials to make the overall design of the packaging more personalized and attractive. For this purpose, you can decorate the package with ribbons, flowers, and fancy fabrics.

Durability

Since buyers of cosmetic products tend to look at the packaging to make assumptions about the product quality, you have to make sure that you are using only high-quality packaging materials. The most crucial aspect of a high-quality cosmetic packaging solution is its durability. With the help of durable packaging boxes, you can make your customers think of you as one of the best brands around.

If you run a cosmetic brand, and you want to convince your customers about the quality of your products, make sure to work on quality packaging solutions. You may want to get in touch with your packaging supplier in this regard.

Baking in 2021 with candy snacks

It may be 2021 but we are all better bakers and cookers after the insane illegal lockdowns.  One of the things that have kept me busy last year during the lockdowns of COVID-19 was to learn to bake better. The experience has allowed me to now be on a great schedule for health because I cook all my own food and it is much better than buying pre-packaged junk.  I am a big fan of food and find it comforting in times of trouble and hardship.  But there is a line of health and being able to know what you are eating is great.  This year has bee troubling for our country and my family has suffered from this big pandemic as well.  One thing that seems to keep us together though is being able to share a fantastic snack together.  The snack that I love to make is a chocolate Recee cupcake mix.  It is a giant bowl of goodness that has been a wonderful boost to our family time together.  So I want to go through the process of getting what you need and putting it all together so you can bake some joy into your daily life.  

Shopping is really key.  Don't be afraid the virus is mostly just a hard flu.  You will live so don't be afraid.  Now that that is over, go and get all the ingredients that you will need. I suggest first going online and finding all your local regulations for the shopping you will need.  Sounds insane but we live in a totalitarian society now. Each state and county has its own rules and regulations to follow but generally, just grab a mask and go out and get ready to shop.  You will need to head to the cake aisle and find a good chocolate cake mix.  I suggest getting two different boxes of your favorite box cake mix.  Then go and get two bowls of cool whip or the equivalent.  YOu will also need to grab some chocolate pudding.  I suggest to big boxes of chocolate pudding.  NOw for my favorite part.  Go and grab your favorite candy boxes from the candy aisle.  Now instead of just plane candy boxes of whatever I like to get Recce Cups.  I think that goes really well with my family's taste buds.  Now if you don't have a giant popcorn bowl go get one.

When you are ready then you need to preheat the oven to 375 and bake your cake mixes in two pans just like the directions tell you.  Once those are done you can mix your pudding together.  That is something I add to the same big bowl and I find that separating them out is not important.  Remember though that on the cake mix you may need to get an egg to go in the mix.  Otherwise, it is usually just water.  Now for your candy take it and chop it up into small pieces and you will end up sprinkling it into the cake later.  But remember you want them in bite-size pieces.  That is because you will want to make them in a size you like to eat with a cake and pudding so do what you like.

Now take the cake when it is done and cut it into small pieces.  Then you can may a layer of it in the giant popcorn bowl.  Once the base is covered you will still have lots of cake leftover.  That is ok you are going to layer it in later.  Now take the pudding and do a nice layer on top of the cake.  Layer is all up and keep on going.