A brand new year...

Oh yes, we got a new year here - and apologies for taking so long to reopen!   End of one year is time to take inventory and restock.

On the down side, there aren't any new designs to look at in the regular bookplate line.  The round bookplates always have some new designs going on, so that's the place to go for new stuff!

On the up side, inventory has been restocked, so many of the popular designs are back in!  And there is a new section, called "LIMITED EDITION" where you may find bookplates you've been looking for.  These are bookplates I can't reorder - and they are some of the most popular Antioch designs - Cat on Books, Man on Ladder....


you may be able to find them elsewhere on the internet, but for now, I'm offering up what I have.   You can order these in"onesies" only - and you get a discount, if you enter the coupon code revealed in that section (PULLLEASE don't use that code if you order other things!)

OHHH yes, and there are new coupon codes, too, if you haven't made an account. Have you made an account?  If you make an account, I go in and make you a regular customer, which will give you a 10% discount every time you log in .. plus, of course, it has all your shipping info in there, ready to go.  And once in awhile, there might be other benefits.

But if you didn't do that, you get to use, one time only, a 10% discount.  That's in an email you get after you place your order.  You can use that one time, no matter who you are.  And then after that, you should have a 10% regular customer discount!

Teachers, booksellers, educators, librarians can apply for wholesale discounts, too.  They only need to set up an account and then let me know so I can sign them up - it's not magic, but in this day and age, it's nice.

The other nice news is that our prices haven't gone up (except maybe shipping - we can't control that!).  If you place an order over 50.00, you still get free shipping.

 Hope that helps you out in this tough and way tooooo cold New Year!  Oh.  and if you read this far, you can use this one time, too... a coupon code for the faithful reader... good until February 18, 2011 .. just key in when you check out, BLOGGIE2011

Of snow and thoughts on fear of setting up an account with Friendly Spirit

Unrelated topics - snow storms and reflections on the fears some seem to have about opening an account on my website- I wanted to post on the latter, but the former is on my mind!

We're in the beginning, I think, of round two of the Big Snowstorm of 2010 here in Ohio... the East Coast (from whence I came) is getting it much worse, so I am not about to complain. Just reflecting on how the power these days seems to go out, and stay out, more often than it did when I lived back East.

Even if the electricity manages to last through this bought of snow (it did fine through Round #1) I anticipate that the weight of the snow has got to do something to the connection to the internet at some point. Not a huge problem except that means I can't receive orders or process them until it's back on... we'll see how she goes.

Meanwhile, about setting up accounts -- much like "why don't people use discount coupons?" I find it puzzling when repeat customers don't set up accounts. It makes it easier to fill out the information to ship to stuff. There's nothing about credit cards or ss# or any of that personal stuff I wouldn't share with my own mother. Perhaps they think I'm a huge conglomerate (5'6, 140 pounds.. is that really THAT huge?) or that I'll bombard them with e-mails....

Actually, this blog is taking the place of most e-mails sent out to customers, aside from order confirmations which are all automatic. So, no, setting up the account just means you log in if you can remember your user name and password, and your bill to ship to info is all filled out.

I've also started adding those who have accounts to the special list of those who get a 10% discount, just for logging in (unless they have a wholesale account -- sorry, no double dipping!)...

Now, I could start on asking how come people who want to get wholesale won't open an account, even though the instructions explain you have to have an account, or I can't set you up as a wholesaler...

Perhaps there's the idea that I'm trying to lure people in to set up an account so I can collect information that will do something for me in a capitalist manner. Maybe there is something I could 'collect' but I simply am not sophisticated to know what it is.

There's really nothing evil in my intent to ask folks to set up an account - as far as I know, the account itself doesn't give me any information about people that I don't already get when an order is placed without an account (name, e-mail and shipping address).

And frankly, though I love doing business with my customers, I'm just not that into them...(I don't collect or sell info - as stated somewhere on my FAQ section).

Enough..time to go stare outside at the snow.

Shoveled and Mailed

There we go...6 inches of snow, as I measure it and more coming but all orders are shipped except two (7584 and 7585), which should go out on Monday. So, now I'm off for the week-end!

Meanwhile, can one of you customers tell me why nobody uses the coupon(s) for an additional 10% discount? Is it because you want me to keep the money? :)