Site update in progress. Good & bad news.

[blackrayne]

Bad news? Where?

 

Elizabeth, darling...UPS and FedEx are more expensive because they are more reliable. In the long run, you'll end up saving money on shipping, as you won't be reshipping packages they have gone astray in transit. I used to have a few online packaging suppliers bookmarked, but they are no more, but you can find great deals on boxes in bulk, so you won't be spending too much on packing supplies either.

 

As for price increases...they are necessary on occasion, and as others have said, I doubt anyone will have a problem paying a little more for your divine creations. I know we certainly won't.

[allamanda]

Looks like good news to me.

 

I think we are all aware that for the perfumes we love and desire to be available, BPAL needs to make a profit. Yes, some of us may need to slightly scale down our orders, but that is a small price to pay.

 

With regard to the mail; I was starting to plan an email to you for my next shipping quote and had decided to ask if it would be possible to use an insured / signed for service despite the increase in cost.

 

The list of new smells sounds amazing. How to delay my email in one fell swoop!! There are soooooo many 'must haves' on there.

 

I still feel there has to be a way we can reduce your administration workload. Is it possible to work out a price scale for International Shipping so we don't all need to email you?? Could we then post that we had made a PayPal order? We wouldn't need to give full details but you would know the order and payment should be on your statement. Maybe this could reduce emails further? I appreciate first-timers and non-forum users will still need to email, but maybe this could help? Is there a way you could post which dates emails / orders etc you are up to? If people know their email date is several away and that they can see when you reach it, maybe that will reduce the email queries further.

 

Here's to the day when BPAL will be your only job

 

Thanks for everything, well... maybe not for producing so many perfumes I love, my wallet is suffering!!

 

[ipb]

you can buy boxes about the size of the ones currently used for 25-50c/ea (depending on quantity purchased and the exact dimensions).

 

 

switching away from usps means that shipping overseas is going to be HIDEOUSLY expensive. and i'm talking, about $40 for a package less than 1 lb to ship to ireland (mind you, it's $5-14 with usps).

[chai_girl]

Beth...this is all good news! Nothing bad in there. I was wondering how you could be surviving with the prices the way they were. If you were to go out of business because you can't afford to stay in business...now that would suck rocks!

 

I don't mind UPS because they have a cheaper rate if you get the delivery to a business address instead of residential. I can have my packages delivered to work and save a few $$$.

 

I'm in love with the new scents already and trying to resist placing yet another order before my last one gets here. I want Beltane and Arcana!!! and I need to re-read the rest of the list because my mind went into a BPAL induced haze as I read the scent lists...lol.

 

Do what you have to do to keep feeding our addiction ~grin~...we love you for it!

 

Hugs!

[Morrighana]

Okay, somebody please explain Paypal to me.  I'm flipping out cuz I don't know anything about it and I don't have it.  When I mentioned it to my hubby in the past, he said something about identity theft and that I wasn't going to use it!!  Anyway, would someone kindly explain how it works?

 

 

Also, Question for Beth............Will you take a personal check if I don't use Paypal?

I also do not use or want to use Paypal, but have no fear, Beth still has us covered!

 

From the FAQ:

Can I pay by check or money order?

Yes, you certainly may. Please keep in mind, however, that we will not process any order until the money clears.

 

Please make all checks and money orders out to:

 

BLACK PHOENIX ALCHEMY LAB

 

Send the payment off – along with a completed order form – to:

 

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

1954 Hillhurst Ave Suite 10

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Edited April 14, 2004 by Morrighana

[Cegirls]

switching away from usps means that shipping overseas is going to be HIDEOUSLY expensive. and i'm talking, about $40 for a package less than 1 lb to ship to ireland (mind you, it's $5-14 with usps).

maybe international buyers could still opt to use usps... ???

[cookie]

Price increase? BPAL is so worth it!

Paypal? Not a problem.

Shipping carrier? Its warm enough - the brown shorts have returned. He can come to my door any day. The blue shorts are cool too.

New smells? That's the best news I've received in days!

 

The only bad news is that you hired two new people and neither of them were me! Please keep me in mind for the future?!?!

 

Cookie

[RogueFeenix]

I don't know about you guys but i know fedex is GREAT. never had one problem with them, they had hubs all over the place and on top of that they are good for small busnisses, plus i got connections there( plus i live in memphis, tn the hub of all hubs for fedex) :-)

 

Ups is ok but i WILL NOT ship overseas with them, they lost a package of mine of corse i got insuance but still it was an arm and a leg to ship it and then on top that they lost it. I only use fedex for overseas stuff never had a problem with it sense then.

 

As for the cost thing, , I know I'm not the only one who would be willing to pay a higher price, It sucks for you most of all but your wonderful scents really are worth it. We want to have these scents for years to come so i think we can handle the cost increase.

[darklorelei]

Your generosity and general awesomeness are fully worth a small increase, especially with all the snafus that have happened.

[clephan]

I love the idea of Schrodinger’s Cat.

 

Will the site update be complete in time for us to place orders before May 1st?

 

I have a nasty feeling this update is going to provoke a deluge of orders. Here's hoping the change of shipping will make this one painless.

[rosefaith]

I agree with many of the others above: everything you mentioned in your post, Beth, sounds like good news to me.

 

Paypal sounds great - it's nice to have the option NOT to use a credit card (I'm trying to be better about budgeting these days ).

 

Paying more for shipping sounds okay, too, if it will mean less hassles all around.

 

Good for you for raising your prices! You deserve it, and you're a business person, for goodness' sake. You need to make a profit.

 

The new scents sound fabulous! I'm so psyched for Beltane - it's one of my favorite holidays! Arcana, Kali, and Schrodinger's Cat (not to mention all the others) also sound amazing.

[cj]

price rises do not bother me as long as i can still get the things i love!!! lush keep raising their prices but seeing as how i love their stuff and it works for me than i'll pay up. i feel the same about BPAL...these oils make me smell lovely (even if i do say so myself ) and I feel different amongst the swathe of gucci/chanel/burberry wearers. nothing against those scents per se i just prefer to smell a little different to everyone else!!

 

i think its a disgrace you make so little on your oils, its still a business after all!! changing the postal service provider sounds like a darn good idea too!! i must say the new oils sound gorgeous...but it just leaves me with an ever increasing list now! (mind you is that necessarily a bad thing???!!! LOL!!)

 

best of luck!!

 

claire xxx

[Gothabillywench]

Oh p-shaw! What's a few extra bucks?! For heaven's sake you could charge double & I'd still buy a shitload!!

 

The UPS/Fed ex sounds good- I'm happy to go with that as I actually think they work out cheaper for international (I think- been a while since i got something via UPS) & it's less stress for you guys so rock on!

 

I am soooooooooooo PUMPED about the new smellies!! Yay!

[littleblu]

Sweet heavens!! I was actually hyperventilating at those new scents!!

 

Old Prague? Kali? Oh dear oh dear.... prices going up do you say? I could not care less!! Your stuff is so much nicer than all the commercial stuff and cheaper too, and personally I think you deserve to make a godamned profit! Bring it on I say.

 

Re: carrier, as long as it does its job (gets to my clammy hands very fast my precioussssss), I'll happily pay for it.

 

You rock. End of.

[Gothabillywench]

Had to rush off before so didn't get to write my "woo hoos" about new scents. * Beth- the M.O's on it's way soon as I just pm'd you to let you know that I got the thing stopped & the cash has been sent back to me so I'll cash it & get it out to you again Here's hoping it's 2nd time lucky for your cash & my package this time!! & next time I'll have a credit card so will use that for next order to save this hassle, I really mistrust the USPS big time now. A package from Redwitche gets here in 5 days, another parcel from an online compant 2 weeks, & yours takes a few attempts & still to arrive?! Good to see they're consistent....consitently bad!!

 

to quote Eddie "I'm chanting as we speak" *we will both get our goods, we will both de stress & be happy little vegemites* ruff u

[Skallywag]

I agree with all here ..its all good news Elizabeth.

Just adding my tuppence worth...

[TygherRayn]

to quote Eddie "I'm chanting as we speak" *we will both get our goods, we will both de stress & be happy little vegemites*  ruff u

Augh! Not an AbFab fanatic! *hides* Darling Jason loves them .. so much that I just can't stand to see them anymore!

 

/offtopic

[malanna]

I don't mind. If it's good for you, that's good for everyone! Also, I was just looking at dresses (what I do when I have a lot of work, haha) online and saw this site that looks somewhat similar to CCNow. It's here, I linked their pricing section. They seem to be more reasonable than CCNow, but I don't know if it has everything you're looking for. But they may be partnered with PayPal and since you're already planning on using PayPal, then it may be useless.

[twistygirl]

Personally, I'm glad you've decided to switch to UPS or FedEx. Their reliability and speed of delivery and tracking abilities make the few extra dollars for shipping well worth it. And they give you options for what type of shipping you want, so you get to determine how much extra you are willing to pay for faster shipping.

 

And as for raising the price of the oils - like others have said, your oils are (IMO) already so reasonably priced for the quality and the tiny bit you need to use that an increase of a few dollars will not impact my ordering at all.

 

And as for Paypal - I use them all the time for things and have never had any problems.

 

I see this as nothing but good news.

[Reinaluna]

IM going to put in another order by the end of this week I have seen the good remarks about Old Venice and Old new orleans so I think that i will try them. I still cant wait to smell formula 54 and Perversian !

[Koumori]

I think most of your regular posters have said repeatedly that we'd be happy to pay a bit more if it meant we got our stuff more reliably and it helped keep you in business. That definitely includes me.

[lorajc]

Good Gods!!! My computer has decided to act up and I have been unable to log on. I was up for hours last night with my IPS so I could get online to read about the new oils. I'm about to have a coronary here.

 

The new oils sound really different and yummy. I can't wait for the update. My computer better behave now.

 

Questions for Beth - Is the price of the 10 ml bottle going up also?? How many ounces are in a 5 ml and how many in a 10 ml? I have always wondered.

[ipb]

How many ounces are in a 5 ml and how many in a 10 ml?  I have always wondered.

1 ml = 1/30 oz

so 5ml = 1/6 oz and 10ml = 1/3 oz.

[SilverGarland]

Hi,

Have you tried www.camden-grey.com ? The prices of their essentials are really low (compared to the places that I've seen), as well as their bottles and other packaging supplies.

[Vanilla]

Hi Elizabeth

 

I'll make this short. Perked up when reading a post in reply to your good news / bad news thread. Will you accept either of the above payment method [check/money order] for your goodies?

 

Your ever anticipating, PayPal-deficient, BPAL-deprived,

Vanilla

 

p/s: my real name is Melati and am soooooo stoked to see 'melati' listed in the ingredients for Rage. Melati is jasmine btw.

 

[merged with good news/bad news thread ~qs]