You may or may not have heard of people screaming, “DON’T SHIP TO ITALY YOUR PACKAGE WILL NEVER MAKE IT!” and it got me to wondering, why? I spoke to a friend who worked with United Nations for several years and was stationed in Italy for 2 years. He basically said 2 things, a) a lot of their customs officers are corrupt and a lot of the packages are “confiscated” and b) Italy’s restrictions for packages that allowed are a mile long!

So I went off in search of Italy’s List of Restrictions and found a huge list. Here are just some of the major ones I found:

Albums of any kind (of photographs, postcards, postage stamps, etc.).

Articles of platinum or gold; jewelry; and other valuable articles unless sent as insured packages.

Artificial flowers and fruits and accessories for them.

Bells and other musical instruments and parts thereof.

Cartridge caps; cartridges.

Clocks and supplies for clocks.

Compound medicaments and medicines.

Coral mounted in any way.

Ether and chloroform.

Exposed photographic and cinematographic films.

Footwear of any kind.

Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind.

Hair and articles made of hair.

Leather goods.

Lighters and their parts, including lighter flints.

Live bees, leeches, and silkworms.

Nutmeg, vanilla; sea salt, rock salt; saffron.

Perfumery goods of all kinds (except soap).

Playing cards of any kind.

Postage stamps in sealed or unsealed letters.

Radioactive materials.

Ribbons for typewriters.

Live bees, leeches, and silkworms.

Parasites and predators of harmful insects.

Roasted or ground coffee and its substitutes; roasted chicory.

Saccharine and all products containing saccharine.

Salted, smoked or otherwise prepared meats; fats; and lard.

Tobacco.

Toys not made wholly of wood.

Treated skins and furs.

Weapons of any kind and spare parts for them.

Live plants and animals.

Arms and weapons.

Human remains.

So the next time, your thinking about shipping internationally, take some time and figure out what the restrictions are for exporting to the country. It will definitely save you time, money, and headaches in the long run!

Well, I've been reading a lot lately on the Etsy forums from other sellers who are debating what to include in their packages (that are shipped to their customers). A little something extra, if you please...I've heard tons of ideas in the hopes of a proper thank you to the customer and of course, the hope of drumming up some new/repeat business. Here are some of the best ideas I came across and some of the ones I'm hoping to employ when I start selling again:

1.) Glass Marble Magnets
- They're really cheap and easy to make. I'm thinking about making ones to match some of my pendants.
- Tutorial: http://www.flickr.com/photos/honeygirl_studio/sets/72157594472276952/

2.) Bookmarks
- I was originally thinking about creating bookmarks but I'm still debating what it will cost.

3.) Samples
- When I'm creating new lines of pendants, I'm thinking about possibly including an extra pendant.
- If your wares come in a variety of scents, colors, etc, you could include a little sample pack in with their purchase, it will give them something to smell/feel rather than buying just based on a description.

4.) Promo items with my logo
- I was wondering and doing some basic research on sending promo materials like business cards, match books, note cards, buttons, etc in the package with my logo BUT when I receive similiar stuff, I tend to toss it out, so I'm still thinking on this one.

5.) Coupons
- Come on, everyone loves coupons! Free shipping, Buy 2 Get 1 Free, $5 off $25 purchase. Whatever tempts you will probably tempt someone else. If you can do it and it makes sense profit wise go ahead!

Things to Remember When Including Freebies:

- Pay attention to weight, you don't want to be adding to the overal weight which translates to upping the postage cost.

- Try to keep your freebies "cheap", that doesn't mean they have to look cheap but you need to make sure they're not eating into your profit margin too much.

- DON'T include anything edible because of allergies, medical conditions, the heat can melt the food and ruin the rest of package, and you tell your kids not to eat candy from strangers, so why would you?

- Be careful, when shipping to other countries, each country has their own regulations, you don't want your shipment confisicated because of a problem with a freebie!

- Try to keep your freebie relevant to what your selling, it will be easier for the customer to recall who/what/why/when/where they got it from.

Something else to keep in mind, no matter how great the freebie is, the best way to keep a customer happy and encourage that customer to come back is through:

a.) A great product at a good price!
b.) Awesome customer service, before & after the sale!
c.) Professional packing!