~♥Galentine's Day Exchange♥~

[Mcakes]

***All gifts have been sent/received*** Thank you for all of your support ❤

We promised you something magical and fun to start off the new year...and now the time to play is finally here! 

Our previous rounds have been wonderful platforms for bringing us all together though our appreciation for beauty, treats and camaraderie. We're glad that you've  decided to join in on the fun!

Positive Energy and Unicorn Love Always, 
Mcakes & ZombieMetroAnt

Tips and Tricks

Spoiler

♥Ask questions! Anyone can ask anyone an anonymous question, that will help you get a better idea of likes and dislikes, haves and wants, etc. 

♥When you purchase something, click "Mark As Purchased." They won't see it, but they might be using the same wishlist for other gift exchanges, so this can prevent them potentially getting the same gift from two different people.

♥If you got something for yourself, remove it from your wishlist! 

Shipping Suggestions

Spoiler

How to ship abroad/add a customs label while still using online shipping:
1. Creating an account: First, you must create a free account on the USPS website. The paypal.com/shipnow site will not let you create customs forms.
2. Shipping Label: To create the shipping label, you want to use the "Click n Ship" function from the dropdown menu under Mail & Ship. Many of the directions from above are basically the same but the key difference is under, "Where are you sending to?" you will need to use the dropdown menu to select the country of choice.
3. Finishing the Shipping Label:Fill in all the corresponding information until the end of the form including the value of the package. The Canadians on the board may have more to speak to with this but I always kept this amount on the lower side so the recipient doesn't get hit with high customs fee. (average amount I would put would be $10-$20) A great feature is at the end of the page it will give you all your options for shipping. I can tell you on a personal note that when I ship to England I always choose first class international mail and I have never had a problem. Once again, delivery confirmation is thrown in for FREE.
3. Beginning the Customs Form: You will then get to a page that will you through step by step filling in the customs form. The first question will ask you to "Enter Package Information." This is where you can just write this is a gift box for a friend. You do not need to write anything more!
4. Customs Inventory: Next up is, "Enter Item Information." Okay, this one is a little tricky. If you want to itemize, and fill in every single thing in the box, you can. If you only want to do a couple, you can. I've done both over the years and both have been okay. I'm not going to tell you though that it will work every time so ultimately, the decision is up to you. Make sure though that you mark each item a GIFT so that the recipient does not get charged increased fees. Also, and this is IMPORTANT, the total that adds up for the all the items has to be the same total you gave on the previous page for the value of the box. So if you make something worth $1, that's fine! (Again, Canadians speak up hear if I'm wrong but my abroad friends always told me it was better to do this to reduce customs fees for the recipient.) Lastly, each weight of each individual item will need to add up to the to the total weight item, so I've honestly literally made up ratio numbers in the past. (I have never had a problem in years of sending packages)
5. Tarrif Number: Lastly, you do not have a tariff number so leave that blank. Okay, one last thing, choose your AES exemption. I would choose the second one having to do with gifts.
6. Obtaining the Label/Customs Form: The steps following this are similar to the ones from above except that I believe the payment options for USPS may also include credit card options as well as PayPal. Go ahead and print your label which will also contain your completed customs form. (Please note: you may need to sign your customs form before affixing it to your package) On a positive note, YOU STILL SAVE MONEY BY USING THE ONLINE POSTAGE SYSTEM!
7. How to actually ship it:For international packages, my personal advice is yes, bring it to the post office, and yes, actually check it in and get a receipt saying it was checked in by a postal worker. Since many international packages take quite longer than domestic and tend to get delayed at different intervals, you want to make sure that everything is okay when it first enters the system.

Duty Info:
US can receive a gift up to 100 USD. If you send from Canada and mark your gift as 100 you are actually saying it cost you 100 CAD. Today Google converts that to 75.87USD so your recipient should be ok and not pay additional fees.

Canada can receive a gift up to 60 CAD. If you send from the US and mark your gift as 60, you are actually saying it cost you 60 USD. Today Google converts that to 79.08 CAD. So your Canadian friend in this case might pay duties/taxes/fees.

I believe customs will check the rate on the day the item is processed. Seems Canada is at somewhat the same range recently but it does go down a bit. Just
things to keep in mind.

Participants

Spoiler

angel7594- gift received, thank you prettyinpa!

beadshopgirl- gift received, thank you MissPuff!

CC3616- gift received, thank you mermadelove!

ClassicallyFab- gift received, thank you mella900!

darkiceis- gift received, thank you ElleElleG!

ElleElleG- gift received, thank you beadshopgirl!

fatimamummy- gift received, thank you SpaceLlama! 

gonerogue- gift received, thank you Ispend2much6!

heartsmyface- gift received, thank you PaletteAddict99! 

Ispend2much6- gift received, thank you unfungirl!

jozkid- gift received, thank you Lazybeautybeast!

lazybeautybeast- gift received, thank you ClassicallyFab!

LCResz- gift received, thank you txcatx!

lipstick4soul- gift received, thank you LCResz!

Mcakes- gift received, thank you angel7594!

meganlisa- gift received, thank you myumew!

mella900- gift received, thank you ZombieMetroAnt!

mermadelove- gift received, thank you jozkid!

MissPuff- gift received, thank you ohheyitscindyk!

myumew- gift received, thank you Tamara76!

NotCrocker- gift received, thank you gonerogue!

ohheyitscindyk- gift received, thank you heartsmyface!

PaletteAddict99- gift received, thank you Mcakes!

prettyinpa- gift received, thank you veronika23!
Sabrinas- gift received, thank you Samtian!
Samtian- gift recieved, thank you Sabrinas!

shimmerbait- gift received, thank you fatimamummy! 

sister13- gift received, thank you darkiceis! 

SpaceLlama- gift received, thank you NotCrocker!

Tamara76- gift received, thank you lipstick4soul!

txcatx- gift received, thank you sister13!

unfungirl- gift received, thank you CC3616!
veronika23- gift received, thank you shimmerbait!

ZombieMetroAnt- gift received, thank you meganlisa!

Shipping Deadline: On or before Galentine's Day (2/13)

[veronika23]

OMG you are fast @mermadelove! I'm freaking out because I have no idea when I'll be able to ship out. Everything takes time to get here and everything takes time to get delivered to the person.... OY! 😄

[mermadelove]

@veronika23  It's totally fiiiiinnnnee!!!! I am just ridiculously, notoriously early!  ANyway, if everyone sent out right away the fun would be over WAY too fast!!!!

[Ispend2much6]

@mermadelove  That's it; I was doing everyone a favor by being one of the last shippers. 🙂

[mermadelove]

@Ispend2much6.  NOWyouve got it!😜😉😄

[Ispend2much6]

@mermadelove   LOL!

[gonerogue]

@mermadelove I like the way you think! The more, the merrier ❤️

[prettyinpa]

Works for me, @mermadelove- I've never once come close to the spending limit, it's more like the box's capacity that holds me back, lol.

[mermadelove]

@prettyinpa  Tell me about it!!!! I was bemoaning the size of the large flat rate box, but I do believe I will be able to cram everything in!!!

[prettyinpa]

What sucks is the flat rate boxes have shrunk and the cost keeps going up. I used to ship my riding boots out West when I went on vacation and they fit with room for some riding clothes too. Now I have to fold my boots and there is zero room left over. Bummer. @mermadelove

[mermadelove]

@prettyinpa Mmmm, yes! I HAVE noticed that...... Not to mention they do NOT arrive always 'within 1-3 days." LAst year my mum sent a large flat rate TWO WEEKS before Xmas and it came on Dec 22nd!!!!! That's one reason I like to ship ASAP. I'd rather be 1/2 hr early than five minutes late........

[Beadshopgirl]

[Lazybeautybeast]

I went shopping for my galentine today!! I didn't do too much damage, but I did break my no-buy. 🤦 In my defense, I needed some travel items and basics. 🤫 Still have to plan the rest of the gift and get some more but I'm excited!

[ElleElleG]

Haha gifting others doesn't count @Lazybeautybeast ... now lets hope I don't fall down the rabbit hole and snag a few things for myself along the way, LOL

[veronika23]

@ElleElleG

[Lazybeautybeast]

XD So true! 

[Ispend2much6]

@ElleElleG  That rabbit hole is getting bigger and bigger...I'm the most excited about finding cute "fillers" and decorations!

[ElleElleG]

Oh h*ll 🙈 @Ispend2much6

[Mcakes]

Any shopping for your Galentine and for travel/basics totally doesn't count against your no-buy @Lazybeautybeast 😛 

[prettyinpa]

Thank goodness shopping for my galentine doesn't count, I'd have sunk my after birthday no-buy until spring sale 10X over. @Mcakes

[mella900]

Ovaries before brovaries

[Tamara76]

Lol!   @mella900