Bean Card Program & Shipping Changes
Posted by Helen Wang on
Greetings ❤️ I feel like for the past few months, I have just been sharing bad news, and I'm so sorry for that 😓 I have two updates today. The first, I was already planning on announcing next week. The second, came up unexpectedly on Friday. I thought to just get these announcements out together earlier rather than later.
0. Table of contents
1. Bean Card Program Changes
The bean card program is a concept I came up with before I designed my first sheet of stickers, 10 years ago 🥹 It has been a really unique part of TCMC, which is why it greatly pains me to say I have decided to end the program on February 28, 2026.
Moving forward, I will be focusing on the potato points program. I will be adding a selection of vinyl stickers, sticker sheets, and other fun rewards which customers can redeem on the website using points.
This decision was made as an effort to reduce a big part of my workload. It is quite taxing to record-keep: especially with stickers purchased at retailers, being traded, gifted, and unfortunately, photocopied. On new release days, we typically receive 500-800 emails, with the majority being for bean cards. While I have a rockin' assistant working alongside me, we still get very overwhelmed each time 😔
It is very hard for me to take things slow voluntarily, because I truly love working on TCMC so much 😭 I am very, very aware that this is stepping away from the charm that we have, towards something automated, and I am so sorry. I would not have made this decision unless I felt it was necessary for me to continue in the years to come :(
I hope in the long run, with a lighter workload and a lighter mind, I can give back in other ways. I hope to indulge in my random creative ideas, chat with everyone more, pack orders, attend more in-person events, host workshops, etc.
2. USA & International Lettermail
This second piece of bad news came-up unexpectedly this Friday. Canada Post started to refuse en masse, untracked lettermail of stickers to the USA & international countries. While some are still going through, we have received several cartons back as well. At this time, I do not feel comfortable sending lettermail and taking chances especially with customers' orders.
The biggest hit will be international customers who rely on lettermail the most 😔 I will be speaking with my accountant about obtaining an IOSS number for prepaid duties in the future. In general, I will continue to look into solutions to mitigate this issue but at this time, this is an abrupt end to untracked lettermail which we do not have a say over.
Snail Mail Subscriptions: Because these are only sent 4 times a year, we have an alternative that may work. I want to double check some things first before confirming, but I will keep customers updated.
3. Shorter Summary
Bean Card Program
- Ending Februrary 28, 2026. We won't be accepting cards in exchange for freebies after this date.
- Starting February 28, we will launch a restructured points program on the website. Customers will be able to redeem a variety of vinyls, stickers, and discounts using reward points. We will be doing a recalculation of the rewards to ensure it will be fair for customers.
Shipping Changes
- We can no longer accept lettermail orders from USA & international customers. All USA & international orders will have to be (un)tracked parcels.
- This is because Canada Post is returning some of these shipped lettermail.
- I will be working diligently in the coming weeks to find other shipping solutions, in hopes of lowering shipping costs for our customers.
- This does not affect Canadian customers.
4. Personal Note
It has always been important for me that my work is accessible to customers. It means the world when customers choose to spend their dollars at my store.
While I was stressing over the bean card program announcement, getting hit with this shipping challenge has in honesty, been more devastating to me personally. (One of our machines also randomly broke yesterday, but I will save that for another day 🙃) As mentioned earlier, I will be trying my absolute best to find other solutions in the coming weeks.
Thank you for reading. These changes do not benefit customers much, if at all, and I completely understand any disappointment. Shopify does not have a feature where we can respond to blog comments (whyyy???) so if you have any questions, please email thecoffeemonsterzco@gmail.com so I can properly get back to you! Thank you again for your time, and... um... bye 😭
Comments
My question is the same as Dianna Payne. Also if we have to redeem bean cards by Feb 28, will we be able to since there is no letter mail shipping to USA. Thank you.
hi helen, do what’s best for you and your health. we appreciate you. xoxo
What does the end of letter mail mean for an order currently in process? My last update was that it shipped. How do I know if mine was one that was returned to you and what would be the next steps in that case?
Thank you in advance!
Will you have the second half of the year Weeks kits available on the 19th?
Does this mean that if we donot redeem bean cards we already have by end of February, we will lose them ?
Does this mean that if we donot redeem bean cards we already have by end of February, we will lose them ?
Does that mean no shipping to USA at all or just one type of delivery has ended.
Old and confused…
Dianna