Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Some excellent points have been made in response both here and emailed to me.  The experiences we have with our debit and credit cards when it comes to fraud will be highly dependent upon the policies of our own financial institutions.  Some banks are exceptionally good about debit cards, and others are horrible about credit cards.  Your mileage may vary!

Additionally, if you have your own credit card processor, the final say about what you can and cannot do with customer information needs to come from the contract that you have with your processing company.  There's not always common ground between those companies either!

Wouldn't this all be a lot easier if policies were totally uniform???  And that's not even getting into variations internationally!

Best wishes,
Kelly

The one that's sticking for me is this.  Go to your site, click on "Blog" in your menu.  Then click on the URSA link in the page that appears on the right.  That's when I wind up with your menu on the left and URSA page on the right.

Anyway, try asking your collector to go directly to the URSA site instead of clicking any link, might help narrow it down!

Best wishes,
Kelly

Hi Paula,

Your collector may first want to try clearing out old information in her browser, just in case there's something there telling the system she has already voted (from last year).

Also, I noticed that if I click from links within your web site, sometimes I'm still stuck in your frames (URSA award page appears on the right, your menu bar remains on the left).  When that happens, I'm still technically in your site, and that could also confuse the validation process for voters.

Just a few thoughts,
Kelly

Hello everyone,

We felt that this was an excellent time to discuss credit card safety!  Here is some information that you may find helpful to keep your credit or debit card safe, whether you are shopping in person or online.  For those of us who have our own credit card processors, we've included some tips to keep your own customer's information safe as well.  I realize that some of this data is centered around laws and regulations within the US, however most of the information here is suitable for anyone, anywhere.  Let's all do everything we can to fight fraud!

1.  Using your credit card in person.

We have all heard the advice to never let your card out of your sight when making a purchase in a store or restaurant.  This still holds true!   Advances in technology have added even more challenges though.

Are you aware of skimming?  Your card information can be stolen in a fraction of a second, right in front of your eyes.  A cashier may take your card, swipe it normally to pay for your purchase, and then slide your card through a "skimmer" to steal your information.  A skimmer is a small electronic device that records a card's information for later use, these devices are so small now that a cashier could conceal it in the palm of his hand.

We all know that cell phones can take photos now as well.  When you have your credit card out to pay for your purchase, keep the card turned over or covered with your hand.  Anyone near you with a cell phone could take a very clear picture of your credit card otherwise, which would provide them with your name, card number and expiration date.

Never throw away any paperwork with your card information on it.  If you ever get a receipt from a store that has your entire credit card number on it, make sure it goes through a shredder!

2.  Using your credit card online.

First and foremost, please reconsider using a debit card online.  Fraud will happen to most of us at some point in our lives, and credit cards give you far greater protection than debit cards!  Fraud on your debit card means that you've already lost money out of your bank account and will have to fight to get it back.  Fraud on a credit card is often caught before it goes through.  Even if fraudulent charges do go through on a credit card, they may affect your overall balance or put you over your limit, but you still haven't actually paid anything out at that point!

I found such good information in a couple of links about safe shopping online, that instead of summarizing them, it's probably best just to give you the links.  Here are two sites with online shopping advice from the government:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume … lt082.shtm
http://onguardonline.gov/shopping.html

Here is an article explaining the difference between using credit & debit cards (including when they are used fraudulently):
http://www.aarp.org/money/credit_debt/a … Cards.html

Several people have mentioned the possibility of using reloadable prepaid credit cards for online ordering.  This seems like a great alternative!  Here are examples of two such cards from MasterCard and Visa.
http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/e … t_prepaid/
http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prep … aid%20Card

3.  Accepting credit cards for your own customers.

Many of us have card processor ourselves to take our own customer's payments.  Here is some advice to help keep your customer's card information safe.

Never send or request credit card information over email.  Email is NOT secure!  If you do not have a secure checkout system on your web site and are not using PayPal, get your customer's credit card information over the phone or even by mail.  Whenever you tell an online customer that you accept credit cards, make sure you follow that up right away with a warning that they should not send their information in an email, and then tell them how they can get you that information safely.

When you have someone's credit card information on paper, don't just throw it away!  Use a shredder on the paper when you are done processing the transaction, then it can be disposed of.  If your customer requests that you keep their information for future purchases, and you are comfortable doing so, make sure it's in a very secure place like a locked box.

There are a growing number of laws and regulations regarding truncation of credit card numbers.  The most cautious approach is to cross out all but the last four or five numbers of a credit card AND remove the expiration date on any copy you provide back to the customer (only YOU should have the full credit card number so that you can process the charge).  This is currently a federal law for credit card machines that print a receipt electronically.  The federal law does not apply to handwritten or imprinted (knucklebuster) receipts, however state laws vary and the credit card companies themselves have their own regulations.  To be as safe as possible, get in the habit of taking a pen and truncating card information on your customer's receipt. 

Does anyone have additional tips or advice to add?  If so, please share them!

Stay safe!
Kelly

I'm wondering if it's a mistaken attribution, perhaps a hangtag off one of your bears was accidentally switched with this bear's.  Anyway, it's seems more likely than the thought that there are two of you (hopefully).

Cheers,
Kelly

What a riot, never knew bears held onto their babies that way (or tried to, poor mom!).  Great photos and great timing, I'm just in the process of working on a sun bear's face!

Cheers,
Kelly

That has got to be one confused dog.  A camouflage dress with pink trim, and also appears to be playing with a cat toy.  Talk about an identity crisis!

Kelly

If I recall correctly, TBAI actually did arrange for a local television station to broadcast something about the show last year.  I seem to recall Cindy looking for an artist to be interviewed by them.

Something else... one of the biggest arts/crafts show promoters in the country does a special arrangement for a local food pantry.  They have people bring in canned goods to the show, which gets you a discount off admission.  I can't help but think that linking into a charity like that is good all the way around, including that more TV/radio stations in the area may be willing to give the show a mention that way.

My $0.02
Kelly

I'll be there, as will my mom, I think that usually the Monroes are there and a couple of other bear artists as well.  There seemed to be scant few bear artists in the room for the awards last year, particularly when compared to the doll artists who are there simultaneously for the doll awards.  I found it pretty sad, actually.  Many of the doll nominees were there to accept there awards in person, and almost none of the bear artists were.  So if you're a nominee, PLEASE do look into attending!

Jane, temperatures in D.C. in August are brutal, it is likely be 90-100 degrees F, and could also be quite humid.  I would also recommend staying at the same hotel, the awards program took some time as there were several other presentations beforehand, it was nice to just take the elevator up to my room at the completion.

Regarding having a representative accept your award for you... I can't actually recall anyone doing that last year???  If the artist was not there to accept their award, one of the Jones Publishing people stood up to accept it.

Hope to see you (or anybody else!) there!
Kelly

We had a lovely time at the show as well (and were pleased with our sales, which is always nice to be able to say)!  Had much fun chatting away with Ellen throughout the day, as she was just across from us.  I asked about you too, Shane, LOL.  It was a matter of looking at your table and thinking "hmmm, something is missing... no wait, someONE is missing..."

Best wishes,
Kelly

As far as distance from shows go, 300-400 miles sounds about normal.  Very few artists are lucky enough to live right beside a show venue, and with the way the shows are spread out all over the country right now, even if you lived right on top of one, you would probably only be close to *just* that one.  Many artists travel hundreds of miles or more to get to the shows they attend.  Most of the shows we do are over 300 miles away, and when we go to Schaumburg it's more like 900 miles.  We drive to all of them due to my mother's dietary restrictions (we travel with several coolers as we cannot eat out.)

My suggestion would be that if you feel the distance is prohibitive, look into making a vacation of it.  Drive or fly into an area, do the bear show, and stay around as tourists for a while (and that makes part of your trip deductible as a business expense at tax time, by the way.)  I'm sure you can find a solution if you want to.

Best wishes,
Kelly

If she'd like to browse a few non-Tami options,   :crackup:  I should probably put in a plug for my mother, who does steady fur bear commission work.  Mailing out two this week and starting on the next project.  We have a descriptive page on our web site about our work with fur, it's under "Custom Heirloom Bears" at the bottom of the page.

Cheers,
Kelly

Somehow I knew you and your Dad would come up with some great little bears, but those surpassed my expectations!  Truly wonderful creations!  I hope to admire some in person in the not-too-distant future, and run off with any little bunnies when your back is turned.  Oops, perhaps I shouldn't have warned you...

:hug:
Kelly

I would like to jump on the bandwagon and also agree with what Sue Ann is saying 

I would estimate 95% of our sales are from shows, and that's where most of our collectors are as well.  There seems to be VERY little overlap between collectors who go to shows vs. collectors who shop on the internet.  While we do have some of our "show" buyers on our email mailing list, they seem to like looking at the web site and chatting occasionally, but most wait to buy until they see us at the next show.

eBay... oh boy.  The highs are high and the lows are low, what more can I say?  My mother has requested that I start listing our bears regularly on eBay.  Heaven help us.  Unfortunately the eBay collectors are very unfamiliar with us as it has been a LONG time since we did much with our bears there, and I think we all know what a problem it is to not be "known" on eBay.  I always get the impression that everybody is waiting for somebody else to bid first on the "unknowns" or "lesser knowns".  Anyway, I expect a very hard, long, uphill battle on that front.  And even though I know I shouldn't take eBay results personally, I probably will anyway.  <sigh>

By the way, I wouldn't worry much about those negatives in the big picture, your feedback score is still very good.  The fact that they are in a foreign language might actually be beneficial in a way, as most people understand that there can be lots of problems with international shipping such as cost, length of time, duties and so forth.  If I were to take a quick look at your feedback (without knowing French), I would presume that those negatives among otherwise excellent feedback was just one of those things, and it wouldn't stop me from bidding.

Keep your chin up!
:hug:
Kelly

Wow, fantastic!  Soccer teddy is a cute and creative little fellow, and very deserving of a cover shot!

:dance:  :hug:
Kelly

There is a perfectly legitimate form of backstitch called "split backstitch", where you go through the previous stitch.  It can result in a very smooth line, and would be perfectly acceptable for bears as far as I know.  That having been said, he's not doing split backstitch correctly.  That top photo shows the error.  Those little bitty far apart stitches need to be much closer together, and that is where each one pierces the center of the one next to it.

http://www.fruncesybordados.com.mx/Spli … stitch.htm

Cheers,
Kelly

I'm just doing a site update now, and would love to swap links with you!
http://www.cannabearpaint.com/

Thanks!
Kelly

Hi Jennie,

I'd be happy to swap links with you!  Your web site is gorgeous, by the way!
http://www.cannabearpaint.com

Kelly

I'm doing some web site updating this weekend as well.  I'll go ahead and add your link to my site, if you want to add mine with this update or next or whenever.

http://www.cannabearpaint.com

Thanks!
Kelly

Pili bigemini.  The theory that it is happening due to drugs/trauma is probably an accurate one.

Just call me a whiz at obscure Googling 
Kelly

Because you accept checks, it is possible that the buyer put a check in the mail and just didn't think to tell you about it (that happens regularly).  That being the case, you wouldn't know you'd been paid until the check arrives.  I always ask buyers to let me know if they will be sending payment by check or money order, so I know to look for it in the mail (AND I know it will take more time to arrive if that is the case!).  I would suggest adding a time limit for payment in your auction details, something like "payment expected within two weeks of auction's end".  Then you can send a polite email reminding a non-communicative buyer of the 2 week deadline, and ask them to let you know if payment has been put in the mail.  Without an existing payment deadline, I would just ask the buyer the latter part of that question.  Hope this helps!

Kelly

I fight dry hands all winter.  I use Eucerin, but just the regular stuff.  I tried some of their extra therapy type cream before, and it burned like anything.  Turns out I am sensitive to one of the "extra" ingredients.  Anyway, just regular Eucerin works fine for me.  Keeping it on my hands during the day is a lost cause, instead I rub Eucerin all over my hands before I go to bed and wear a pair of light cotton gloves over them (this type of gloves is frequently available where they sell beauty and skin care products).  Works like a charm. 

Kelly

Yup, all the good places have been mentioned!  And I had no idea Sassy Bears now carries Tyber in quantity... there goes my budget for the month (thanks a lot, Krista!) 
        

Kelly

Well done to everyone who entered, and of course special congratulations to those who received the Industry Choice nods this year!  I enjoyed looking at the photos here as well as the other TOBY entry conversation, and I must say that quite an array of talent has being displayed! 
:clap:  :clap:  :clap:

Big hugs to everyone,
Kelly

I checked our stash and we have some of the rusty beige that Sue Ann has, and also the same honey that Daphne has.  But no luck on golden tan!  Let me know if either of those would help, though.  Good luck to you, Judy!

Kelly