Comments on: Valentine’s Recap

By: pj

pj — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 15:43:34 +0000

hello! I’ve been reading about the progress of amai ever since i stumbled on your blog (got here from chubby hubby’s blog). You’ve inspired me to start a food business as well.
[just my two cents worth on the courier services. I've sent through FedEx and DHL before (never tried UPS) and I prefer DHL myself. Here (in the Philippines) they pick up your shipments free of charge--I just call their toll free number, they give me an estimated what time the delivery guy will arrive at my house, and they arrive right on schedule. Their online tracking system is really accurate, and their staff are very friendly and helpful. Then again, I could just be speaking for the DHL here where I live.. Anyway, I hope that helps.]
in any case, i hope amai keeps growing. best of luck!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 05:14:20 +0000

You have accomplished a great deal in a short time. You have already learned that the small details are of big importance to a business, especially one just getting off the ground. I think Amai has a great future and you along with it.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 23:48:40 +0000

I am amazed, but not surprised, at all you have accomplised! As for other thoughts on the subject, refer to Kristin’s comment! Extra help would not be a problem from this supporter. In fact it would be a pleasure…

By: Kelli

Kelli — Sat, 04 Mar 2006 22:40:56 +0000

Hi Carlos, Karen and Jee — You are official Amai testers! Thank you for your help in proving our cookies and brownies are worthy of the NYC market Looks like they’ll be coming to more stores in the area soon…

By: Carlos from Italy

Carlos from Italy — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 19:50:53 +0000

Ciao Kelli & Kathryn,

I want to say that your cookies are delicious! There are no other words to describe them. My girlfriend Colleen has bought me 3 boxes of cookies: Chai Alomond, Earl Grey and Currant and my favorites Lemongrass and Ginger.

Everybody in the family ate them!!! I had to hide the boxes from my mother so I can enjoy them next weekend.
Here in Italy we like eating those types of cookies while drinking Prosecco wine as a dessert.

I can’t wait to come back to New York City and get more delicious cookies from you girls.

Molto buono and Good luck!

By: Nahal

Nahal — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:45:55 +0000

wow. its truly a challenge getting started, but i have a lot of faith in you and amai. Amai has my support and love! keep goin’ girl!

By: jee

jee — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 17:00:21 +0000

Kelli, those cookies you made me for Christmas were so cute and delicious that I ended up eating the ones I meant to give away as gifts.

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 14:47:13 +0000

Hey Kelli, the cookies sound good! Were those similar to the ones you made for Jee around Christmas time?

Let me know if I can help you with the packing and stuff. I’m a sucker for making things look pretty.

By: Kelli

Kelli — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:28:42 +0000

Hi Jason–This is very helpful, thank you. The fact that FedEx offers a 10% discount for online printing is reason enough to switch. The reason I put this long story up about shipping is that I assumed there were many other people out there asking these same questions, and it’s great to hear how other people are doing it. Good luck with your business.

By: Jason Truesdell

Jason Truesdell — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 02:55:35 +0000

For YuzuMura.com, I found that I mostly prefer FedEx’s online and offline experience to the post office, and FedEx offers me on average better rates. I get overly confused by the bewildering array of rules that I have to follow to make the post office happy, although they have the price/delivery speed for most packages in the 0-2 pound range.

I’ve never paid for the privilege of dropping off packages and the only surprise charges have been when I miscalculated the weight or dimensions (both in my favor and in theirs). I once apparently accidentally set up a daily pickup for ground though I never used it, but when I discovered the charge, FedEx reversed all of them.

Also they give me good volume discounts on Express, especially if you generate the shipping labels online. After a quick call to them I even started getting a deal that beats their automatic 10% online discount by a wide margin, and a small discount on ordinary ground and home delivery stuff.

There are some decent software packages that do automatic shipping calculation, but PayPal isn’t one of them. Mine is built in to my storefront software, and mostly works reasonably well.

I know the stress that comes from filling individual orders, and I’ve made a few mistakes myself when I got rushed. I wish you luck on everything.