What You Need to Know: Shopping Online for Holiday Gifting in 2020
I thought I'd spare you this time by not putting "COVID" into a headline, yet again. But it is undeniable; this year's holiday shopping will not be like any other. We are not likely to see people lining up around the block at department stores on Black Friday to take home a coveted item. Shopping will be online more than ever before as people will prefer to order by mail and have gifts shipped as opposed to giving them in person.
But with the loss of these in-person holiday gifting options, with planning, you can also lose some of that holiday shopping stress too! Think of it this way: you can enjoy The Gifting Season longer, if you are willing to just start thinking of and planning for gift giving a little earlier this year.
Etsy is already advertising holiday DIY kits for decorating, gift making, and baking. And here at CRD, we are getting busy as well! We usually don't have that much of a holiday season as most of you folks tend to shop for yourselves here, lol. But we will expand our ready-made selection this year so that you can buy a pendant, stud earrings, huggies, and chains for loved ones as well — or even just add to wishlists for yourselves 😘 We will also start listing more Stuller designs from our showcase (pendants and rings) in our Etsy shop shortly as well!
Stuller Earrings with Mahenge Spinel, SOLD.
Stuller Pendant with Namibian Tourmaline, SOLD
Without further ado, here are some things you need to know, as you prep for holiday shopping this year:
1. USPS has added surcharges to holiday packages which went into effect on October 18th and will continue until December 27th. On our end, we plan to cover the added cost with free shipping in the US for all jewelry and most gemstones except melees.
2. We expect shipping to be a little slower than usual, maybe not as bad as this spring but not as fast as other years. For this reason, we are upgrading all domestic orders over $400 to Priority, and starting December 1st, all orders over $100 will be upgraded to Priority as well.
3. While we still request a signature for more valuable orders, USPS is now allowed to sign for it on your behalf to allow for contact-free delivery. The drawback to this is that you may have an order delivered to you on a day you are not home. So please track carefully. In addition, for international or very valuable items, we may want to discuss FedEx with you.
4. International shipping is already delayed, some orders arrive within a week, others take three weeks or more. There's nothing we can do about this unless we upgrade to FedEx.
5. Regarding custom orders: consider doing those early as we are probably cutting them off before Thanksgiving, at least for holiday delivery. As an alternative, we can send the selected gem(s) to your loved one and complete the custom order with you (or them) after the holidays. We will set gems into studs and size rings as fast as we can. If we expect a delay (setters do get backed up, even if less so this year), we will let you know!
6. Regarding gifts: as you know, all of our gems come in pretty boxes ready for gift giving but you can always request extra wrap, or another organza bag, cleaning cloth, etc if you are giving or shipping as a gift. Just add it into the note to the seller. The same goes for our calendars, which will hopefully be available by mid-November.
Custom Opal and Ruby Pendant for C.
Custom Kornerupine Ring for M.
And FINALLY, we are working out our sales strategy as we speak, and you will hear more about this from me very soon, but just as a heads up: we will be starting everything earlier this year by at least a week!
More Studs Like These are in the Works
