LAST MINUTE ADDRESS CHANGE & INTERNATIONAL SHIPMENTS
6 months ago
– Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 01:30:53 PM
This is a heads up that if you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO CHANGE YOUR SHIPPING ADDRESS FOR FULFILLMENT, you need to contact me via DM on Kickstarter within the next 10 HOURS to do so or I CANNOT be held liable for your pledge going to the wrong address/being returned to sender/getting lost/etc, especially international shipments. MANY opportunities have been given at this point for address changes and I cannot be held responsible for lack of paying mind to my many, many, many Updates.
Speaking of international shipments, I will be, in the following days, reaching out to about 199 of you whose shipping fees ended up double, triple, to quadruple what was originally paid with an option - either pay the difference in shipment or receive a full refund of your original pledge.
Once I am finished manually reaching out to those affected by the unfortunate price shipping hike I'm confronted with (due to the new year rate hikes, due to needing a fulfillment center, etc), you will either agree to be invoiced for he price difference in shipping or agree to a refund, whichever you prefer. If I do NOT hear back from you, your order will remain on hold for 4 weeks at which point it will be cancelled but not refunded.
There are simply too many of you for me to individually chase down after the manual reach out and I am only one person running this operation so PLEASE PLEASE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPERS, pay attention to your INBOXES over the coming week. If you have NOT heard from me by next week, it is basically a guarantee that your order did not have a shipping overage that needed to be accounted for and your tracking number was likely already sent to your inbox.
The trucks are due to arrive 4:00AM tomorrow my time and I have to be up to approve some things to get things going into fulfillment immediately, so I'll be up bright and early to hopefully start having tracking numbers shot out to ya'll starting tomorrow. :)
I Need a Vacation - Official Delivery Date to Warehouse + Est. Tracking Number Arrival
6 months ago
– Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 02:22:30 PM
The trucks are scheduled to arrive at our warehouse early in the morning on Wednesday, will be unloaded immediately, and then fulfilment will also begin immediately!
RELIEF is the dominate emotion at this point, but hip-hip-hoorays will be had soon!!
I've been given confirmation that it will take 3-4 business days to fulfill EVERY SINGLE ORDER (!!!) once things are in the warehouse so be on the look out at the end of the week/start of next week for your tracking numbers in your inboxes! WOOHO!!
In the mean time, check out some nice photos we got taken by a local Seattle product photographer we hired to take pictures for our website; Theodora Teodosiadis - she did a wonderful job and you should check out her work!
Speak of the Devil and He Shall Appear - CUSTOMS RELEASED US!!
6 months ago
– Tue, Apr 09, 2024 at 02:06:29 PM
It seems I spoke too soon with that last update!
Both containers were given a customs release and are being packed up to send to our fulfillment center!!!
And just in case anyone wants to see the (financial) damage), take a lookie loo at what customs charged us for this "routine, non prejudice inspection"
Make plush, they said, it'll be fun and profitable, they said (no one said this)
ALL JOKES ASIDE, I cannot contain my elation that they are on their way to the fulfilment center and once there, fulfilment will begin IMMEDIATELY!!!!
The best way to support us going forward (especially with these unexpected fees, oh my lawd), is to share your love for Weighted Wildlife when you get your little buddy in hand! We'll definitely be doing a big social media push on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, etc to get the word out when preorders are fulfilled and they're ready to ship, so nice reviews, sharing your new buddy, etc would really help me and the brand going forward out a whole bunch!!!
I have big plans that I hope will make Weighted Wildlife a sustainable, fun, and helpful toy line that will bring comfort to lots of people far into the future!!! Lessgooo!!
Customs Update - Waiting is the Hardest Part
6 months ago
– Tue, Apr 09, 2024 at 11:35:52 AM
I've been communicating and monitoring the customs inspection process daily since my last Update and the above is our most recent (an hour ago) update from our freight broker.
Every day is a mini agony as it is now simply a waiting game until customs finishes their inspection and gives us a release.
Neither me, nor the broker, nor the forwarder foresee any actual issues customs would have with the shipment, so they should be released the moment the inspection is clear.
I know this feels like it's lasting forever, and believe me, every day feels like a year for me as I must simply wait for updates from my broker, but I assure everyone I am doing everything within my power, as is my broker, to move through this process and get the plush to the fulfillment center.
Thank you all for your continued patience and understanding and I absolutely cannot wait until everyone starts receiving their heavy little buddies!!!
Alas, a Customs Delay
6 months ago
– Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 12:59:01 PM
In the wonderful world of shipping and logistics, routine and random inspections from customs and border patrol are inflicted upon weary plush suppliers such as myself and such an infliction has come to pass.
Yesterday, both containers were released from the Houston port and into customs inspection yard in Dallas, Texas, near our fulfillment center. We are in active communication with our freight broker and the fulfillment team to ascertain an immediate unload appointment the second customs releases us from inspection.
All our paperwork, safety testing, and brokerage fees are paid and in compliance, so we anticipate no real issues with customs themselves, just the unfortunate additional fees for inspection and delay in delivery due to the interception.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR FULFILLMENT - it is impossible to anticipate how long customs will take to do their inspection, which is likely just to be a full body x-ray of the containers to insure that what is in the container is what the paperwork says is in the container or a simple "tail-gate inspection" which means they might open a few boxes to go "yep, that's a heavy bear stuffed animal" and then pack it back up and send it off.
This could take any where from 1-5 days (the average) to 3 weeks (the unusual) depending on how backed up they are/what type of inspection they wish to do/etc.
If any other issues crop up, I will update you all ASAP, but I do not anticipate any issues and assume we were pulled for inspection due to being a new brand/new shipper of record/how heavy the cargo is vs what it is (plush aren't usually so heavy lol), etc.
The moment things are released it should take only a few days for the containers to arrive at our fulfillment center and then it will be off to the races in terms of packing stuff up and slapping shipping labels on them to go out :)
Thank you all for your continued patience and understanding!
