~♥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)

[ElleElleG]

@MissPuff OMG I completely understand this !!

[veronika23]

I agree that it always feels awkward requesting things and putting information down. I don't like it but I think I've put a good amount of info on mine to help whomever gets me. Or maybe not... I dunno. I guess the way I saw it was what kind of info would I want if I was going to purchase gifts for someone.  I guess in my mind I'm just trying to be helpful lol

[heartsmyface]

Yep, copying and pasting that sentiment.  I like surprises and am hard to disappoint and also don’t like asking for things.  I was a pain in the ash when we got married cause people wanted me to do a gift registry and there was nothing I could think of.  It felt bad and awkward asking for things from our friends.  It really is that someone took time to think of me that I cherish most.  

@MissPuff

[Ispend2much6]

@MissPuff  My husband would like to have your boyfriend's problem!  You sound super-sweet.

[MissPuff]

@Ispend2much6 Awww, thank you 🙂 It might also be that I have a shopping problem and no real impulse control...there's almost nothing left to buy! 

My mum, sweetheart that she is, has returned or exchanged almost every gift my dad has ever gotten her 🙂 HER level of specificity is legendary, getting her a gift that she likes and keeps is a real coup in our family! Thank god she's cute 🙂 

[Ispend2much6]

@MissPuff  Sounds like you have wonderfully close family!  My husband did the same, because he didn't "need" what I bought, so I gave up buying him presents.  He's really cheap, so I don't have to be, poor guy.

[mermadelove]

@MissPuff What?? You would think Your bf would appreciate that he can’t get it “wrong!” Lol🤔

[MissPuff]

@mermadelove It's been years and he's still all...

[mermadelove]

@MissPuff

[Ispend2much6]

@MissPuff  hahaha- kind of like this:

[mermadelove]

@Ispend2much6 this list is beyond perfect!

[Ispend2much6]

@mermadelove  It's pretty universal. 🙂

[MissPuff]

@Ispend2much6 HAHAHHA, sooooo accurate 🙂 "That's OK" and "WOW"...not in use for my current love, but I had an ex that this entire list would apply! Especially WOW, just...wow. No words for the stupidity.

[CC3616]

Guys! There is a big dylans candy bar end cap display full of valentines goodies at my local Target!! Someone hold me back. 

[angel7594]

@CC3616 I saw that display yesterday!!! It took all my willpower to stay away, which is zero lol. 😄

[CC3616]

Same @angel7594! Zero. I only got one for me and one for my galentine but now that I know it's there I need to avoid that section at all costs!

[prettyinpa]

I deliberately didn't go into Target today, waaaay to tempting at this time of year, almost as bad as Christmas candy, @CC3616

[heartsmyface]

Ugh, Halloween is the worst.  Those mini chocolate bars are harder to work off than ALL the Christmas candy!  @prettyinpa

[Ispend2much6]

@prettyinpa   As long as they don't have those Dove dark chocolate covered caramels, I'm okay. 😉

[tsavorite]

@Ispend2much6,

Fine, now I want to try those!  I'm sure that I would like them, too!

Because I need more habits like that.

[Ispend2much6]

@tsavorite  Well, well, well...they're available in milk chocolate...