What’s a Bead Garage Sale you might ask? Well, it’s lots and lots of beads at super bargain prices! Sometimes Jill makes ordering mistakes and orders WAY too much of a particular bead. Or maybe it’s some products we’re discontinuing so we can move fresh beads in. And it’s a lot of the little odd bits that accumulate over 12 years of a beading career.
We’ve been holding Bead Garage Sales about twice a year for a few years now, and we’ve got some tips and tricks to help you along the way. I know it’s wordy, but it will be worth reading through – I promise! It will help you grab that absolute must-have bargain to add to your bead stash.
The Bead Garage Sales are so much fun, and this is our biggest one by far! But there are a few weird things that can cause frustration, so here’s some help on keeping that frustration to a minimum.
1. HOLD YOUR HORSES
It may take up to two weeks to ship your order. This is due to the huge volume of orders we get during sales of this type.We’re not kidding – TWO WEEKS before it leaves our warehouse.
If you need your order sooner than two weeks, please make a note of that on your order and we’ll take care of it.
2. IT’S A SHOPPING FRENZY
A LOT of people will be shopping at the same time and that can cause problems when it comes to check out as it’s first come, first serve.
Example: there is a quantity of 1 of something. Three people put it in their cart. The first person to checkout gets it. The other two people get to checkout and that item is no longer available and the system makes them stop to remove that from their cart before it will let them check out. In the time it takes to do that, perhaps something else in the cart was purchased by someone else, and then they have to go remove THAT too. *sigh*
Unfortunately there’s no way for us to keep this from happening. So, to help, this time we’re offering fewer small quantity items. Instead, we bundled things and did grab bags.
Here’s what you can do to avoid the frustration:
If you have some items that are singles – throw them in your cart and go check out ASAP, even if you’re going to keep shopping. We have many MANY folks who make more than one (or two…or three…) orders and we will combine them on our end. If you have an account set up with us we’ll give you store credit for the extra shipping charges. If you prefer an actual refund for shipping, just contact us.
Your other option is to avoid the singles, or wait for an hour after the sale starts to do your shopping. Most of those collisions happen at the very beginning.
3. SET UP AN ACCOUNT
Before you hit the sale, make sure you have an account already set up with us. You’ll want to do this for several reasons – first, you won’t have to fill in your name and address and all that stuff when you go to check out – that will make it quicker!
Secondly, it’s worthwhile because we have a rewards program. If you log into your account when making purchases at Jill Wiseman Designs, you will get money back on your order to use on future bead shopping!
It’s difficult for us to find your multiple orders and combine them to credit you for the extra shipping charges if you don’t sign into your account too.
4. BEAT THE GLITCHES
Some folks have had trouble not being able to choose drop down options when putting in addresses or choosing payment type.
The work around seems to be – just put in the info without the drop down choice – hit enter – it will then come back with an “error” screen and THEN it will let you choose the drop down option *eye roll, but at least we figured it out!*
5. BEFORE YOU PRESS THAT BUTTON…
Important! If you are using your store credit AND PayPal to pay for your order, don’t click on the first PayPal button. Instead, click on “Proceed to checkout”. The next screen will automatically apply your store credit and let you pay for the balance with PayPal.
This sale is truly epic and starts at 9am CST Saturday!
We’re adding Preciosa bicones to our regular stock, but we’re pricing them for the Bead Garage Sale first! After they’re gone and we re-order, the price will go up to regular retail. It’s the same with a new line of gorgeous Toho metallic seed beads. Plus there will be oodles of firepolish. And there are so many grab bags – I’m being super generous as I fill them up!
I hope you have a blast!
x Jill