I wanted to address a few questions... Some I get quite a bit, others just cropped up. Let me just start off by saying most of these are "complaint" style questions that have come up. I truly believe that you can't please all of the people all of the time and am okay with that but I also figured some of you, my customers (many of whom have become like friends and/or family quite quickly) might also be wondering some of the following...
Why did I name my business "Rebecca Mail"?
It seems like a fair question, after all, I am not famous so what gives? To be perfectly honest, I was very uncomfortable with the name initially myself but let me share the back ground and how the name came about.
For several years I was in direct sales and one of the ways I encouraged my team was sending little care packages. (I seriously LOVE to send gifts!) One of the girls on my team posted a picture of what she received on Facebook and said she was so excited when she got home and discovered some "Rebecca Mail" on her porch. The name kinda stuck and became what everyone in my downline called it when I would send them an encouraging care package. Over time I even started calling these special packages Rebecca Mail too. When I was getting ready to launch my subscription box business I had several other names I was testing out but people who knew me kept asking why not go with "Rebecca Mail". I was afraid people would think I was conceited or self centered so I didn't want to go with it. In the end Jen and my family won me over to the idea... You see, I really do want you to feel like you are receiving more than a subscription box, that your box is a gift from me to you. By putting my name on every box I am keeping the spirit of the "Rebecca Mail" of the past alive.
Why do I put "RebeccaMail.com" on most of my designs?
It really isn't an in your face marketing tactic or an attempt to get my name out there more. In fact I know that for some people it ruins the look. The thing is, I license most of the artwork images I use and the licensing agreement requires I clearly post that info on items I make for resale. I do try to make it as small and as unobtrusive as possible.
Why don't I include the shipping in the price of my box?
This is such a tricky question to answer. In a world taught by Amazon Prime that shipping should be free, to many people charging for shipping is akin to price gouging. Trust me, I am not making any money from the shipping. When we were getting ready to launch we got quotes on shipping our boxes directly from the source and were confident we could include the shipping in the $35 price. We were led to believe our shipping costs would range between $4-$7 per box so we allotted $5.00 per box of the $35 you pay. Imagine our surprise when the shipping averaged over $10 per box with shipping to the west coast coming in at $14.85 per box. That is after our discount for being a commercial shipper! By adding a $6 flat rate we almost break even on shipping each month.
The question is why don't I change the price of the box to $41 then? Because as we grow I will be able to negotiate lower shipping prices and my commitment is to pass that savings on to our subscribers. Changing the overall cost of the box is far trickier than adjusting the shipping cost and I really look forward to the day when I can announce the shipping prices are going down!
I would love to answer any questions you have, about our box or about me, so feel free to comment below if you have a question and I will answer as many of them as possible in a future post!
Thanks for listening,
Rebecca
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