If you like the whimsical fairies by Linda Ravenscroft you will find her products here at Fairy Magyk, from her Tarot Cards to her latest fairy figurines!

You will find fairy costumes, fairy dust, fairy books and so much more at Fairy Magyk!

We offer fantabulous customer service and FREE post to Mainland UK. And right now if you spend £20.00 or more enter the code FM5 for £5.00 off your order!

The problem is, as spending increases, so does fraud and the number of online thieves trying to relieve us of our cash. Losses from “card not present” fraud, where criminals use stolen credit card details to buy goods online are increasing.

To help protect you we have some tips that you really should follow.

How many of you play on Facebook, My Space etc..and with these social networks we make a lot of new ‘friends’, many we don’t know from Adam. Yet as time passes on these social networks we find ourselves doing little surveys such as for example, cute questionnaires asking you to divulge 20 things you want to share with your friends, such as what is your full name, what is your favourite food, where did you grow up….many little questions that seem innocent enough, and we think, ok our friends are all sharing their little bits of information so why shouldn’t I add my input?

Think about it, when making a password in Paypal, Facebook , your bank, or anywhere else you expect a secure sign in, some of the factors on acquiring a secure log in requires secret questions like: what street did you grow up on? what is your favourite ice cream? simple questions that would help us access our accounts if we forget our passwords right?

So, if you have 20 or 100 friends on a social network that you have never met, don’t really know etc…they already, in most cases, know your name. Now, by flling in these little friend surveys they now know your pet’s name, your first crush, your first street you lived on, where you grow up..you get the idea now right?

Another tip for maintaining your online security is never save your passwords to the save password form on any site you log into. In fact don’t even save it on your computer! If you are prone to forgetting your password, write it down and keep it somewhere you can look at it. and maybe instead of using the actual password written down, use a clue that will help you remember what your real password is. example…chocolate 99…write down Cadbury instead of chocolate. I think you get the idea.

Sometimes, scammers try to scare you by saying your account is in arrears, or your account needs updating, and you think to yourself, I better follow this through!

NO bank. Paypal Ebay or any other company will ever ask you for personal information in an email OR ask for your password!!!!!

First and most importantly, if you’re unsure if an email from Paypal or anyone else you use your banking numbers online, do not click it open.

You should only follow these steps if you have some experience with web and email issues.Look at the html source of the email message or the web form.
In the html code, look for

The Tarot is a great tool for guidance and advice, as well as solving problems. Each Tarot card has a meaning of its own, and as you learn the cards and get to know them better, you’ll become a more effective reader. Anybody can learn to read Tarot cards, but it does take some practice. It’s a highly intuitive process, so while books and charts come in handy, the best way to actually learn what your cards mean is to handle them, hold them, and feel what they are telling you.

If you’re unsure of which Tarot deck is for you, look closely at the images of each deck you’re interested in. Sometimes you get a feeling that ‘this’ deck is calling out to you. Maybe you like the artwork on a specific deck. Purchase a few different Tarot sets that appeal to you and try each one. Each deck will give you different ideas and as you learn the Tarot, you’ll learn you have more information that you can work with. Once you know what you want, and where you want to go in your mind, you’ll be able to choose the one deck that suits you best.

Tarot is a feeling art. You can experience spiritual growth with the right Tarot cards for yourself. So based on my personal experience I would say find a deck that appeals to you and work with that for a while. Later on you may find another deck that will add to your knowledge..

These cards can give you practical insights on what helps keep a relationship strong, how to work with problems, and how to foster aliveness in love.

Oracle Cards:
Oracle cards are a tool that can help you improve communication, deal with issues,explore dreams, and reawaken vitality of connection.
The concept of oracle cards is similar to that of traditional Tarot cards. They are cards that are meant to provide the user with insight and guidance, usually from a higher source. This is often referred to as the higher self, a higher power or the Divine.

Oracle cards differ from Tarot cards in that they are not divided into suits or Major and Minor Arcana

Each card speaks about an essential ingredient for a rewarding relationship. Taking this information to heart can help you stay on a positive track. Using Oracle Cards to Promote Positiv feelings. You may even find it to be an oracle that helps you manifest your most heartfelt needs.

Tarot and Oracle cards available in Fairy Magyk:

Linda Ravenscroft Enchanting Faerie Tarot (I use these)

Hanson – Robert Tarot

Healing With The Fairies Oracle Cards- Doreen Virtue

Selina Fenech Oracle Cards

Next week’s strike info:

Our International hub (HWDC) will be on official strike from 19.00 on Monday 6th August till 19.00 Tuesday 7th August. As a result, Royal Mail’s international services, Airsure, International Signed For and Airmail, will be subject to delays

All Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs) and our Network drivers will be on official strike from 12:00 noon Tuesday 7th August till 12:00 noon on Wednesday 8th August. There may be limited bulk mail collections but these are likely to be earlier in the day than usual

The following Mail Centres will be on official strike from 3am on Wednesday 8th August until 3am on Thursday 9th August: Gatwick; Reading and Dartford. Customers can continue to post items, as usual, on this day but we recommend posting in Post Boxes only. There will be limited business collections in these areas on Wednesday August 8th

The following delivery offices will be on official strike from 3am on Wednesday 8th August until 3am on Thursday 9th August: Crewe; Portsmouth; Gatwick; Reading; Truro; Swansea and Dartford. We regret that there will be no delivery services in these areas on Wednesday 8th August. Collections will be limited to a single collection from Post Boxes outside of Post Offices. This may be earlier than the normal advertised times

Parcelforce Worldwide’s guaranteed services will remain unaffected

Royal Mail’s Branch Direct, Sameday and Door to Door services remain unaffected

All other mail services will be subject to delay

And, just to help matters, the following mail centres are taking unofficial strike action, so if your buyers are served by any of these, they’re stuffed too:

Liverpool City Delivery Office
Chester Mail Centre
Newcastle Mail Centre
Aberdeen Mail Centre
Liverpool Mail Centre
Edinburgh Mail Centre
Kilmarnock Delivery Office
Johnstone Delivery Office
Glasgow G1 to G4 Delivery Office
Paisley Delivery Office
Glasgow G21 and G22 Delivery Office
Clarkston Delivery Office
Glasgow G41 and G42 Delivery Office
Glasgow G52 Delivery Office
Inverclyde Delivery Office
Stranraer Delivery Office
Ayr Delivery Office
Dumfries Delivery Office
Irvine Delivery Office
Motherwell Delivery Office
Edinburgh Airport
Royal Mail Scottish Distribution Centre
Glasgow Mail Centre

We’re smack dab in the middle of a majour disruption to postal services by striking workers. Right now, there’s currently a two week period of strike action taking place, with different departments of the postal service affected on different days.

This not only affects the actual days that the strikes are carried out, but it also seems to be creating a massive backlog of parcels in many areas. More and more people are complaining of slow delivery, items not being received etc.

If you’re an eBay shopper or an Internet shopper, please, please please be patient when buying items, and trust that your sellers are doing their absolute best to get your parcels to you.

Remember, sellers hands are tied because of these postal disruptions.

This (insert your adjective here) mail situation is completely beyond your seller’s control, and so very many people are experiencing delays.

I would like to keep you informed regarding postings and how they are affected by this strike. So whenever I can, I’ll post the latest strike info here for you.

On the days of announced strikes, I will not be doing any posting (unless it’s my courier).

This is from the Royal Mail site:

Business customers that use bulk mailings are asked to bring forward postings to the earlier part of the week if at all possible
We regret that on Thursday 26th July, Royal Mail’s Mail Centres will not collect from business customers
Please avoid posting on Thursday 26th July
There will be no delivery services on Saturday 28th July
Please provide us with as accurate and as early forecasts as possible
Tell your account manager or Customer Operations Manager (COM) as much as possible about your mailing plans. This will help us to plan our resources

Several months ago, I was in the market for a printer. I had been using my husband’s when I needed to print anything out so one day whilst we were out shopping we saw the Lexmark Z617 on sale and the price was quite good so we grabbed one.

What a mistake. It not only used up the ink quickly, but to make matters worse, the price of a new cartridge was just assinine.

Our mistake was not checking the cost of the cartridges before we left the store with a new printer. I could kick myself for not having the sense to do that!

Even the no name brands were way up there in price for this printer.

It didn’t take long to figure out Lexmark made up for the low priced printer with their over the top cartridge costs!

My personal advice..if the price looks good there’s probably a catch somewhere.

We’ve now removed the Lexmark and just bought a very nice Epson D88 Printer. It’s fast, it has 4 separate cartridges which are much less in price and it’s quiet. I’m really pleased with it.

I love shopping at Ebay! I love shopping at unique online shops where I can get neat things that wont be found in a major store chain, and that I wont see 4 out of 5 people having the same things I have.

There’s nothing like sitting down at my computer with a cuppa and searching for the things I’d like to have.

There are a few things about internet shopping that do irritate me. I will close the page and you will lose a potential customer if you have…

1. HUGE IMAGES that take all day to download…and I’m on cable!!
2. Broken images.
3. EMBEDDED MUSIC!!!
4. Stupid java script..No thank you I don’t want snowflakes dropping all over the page I’m looking at. I don’t want some stupid animated cursor either.
5. When was the last time you updated that page?????
6. Tables.
7. Frames
8. Popups
9. Banners

That’s just a few things that will cause me to close a web page.

My biggest grumble about internet shopping I have to admit is after I’ve made up my mind what I want, I add items to my shopping cart, then go to order, go through the forms, listing my name,address etc and etc …fill out my credit card details, hit send and get the proverbial “Thankyou for your order” message. Sometimes hours go by, or maybe a few days and the phone rings, or an email appears from the Internet shop I’ve placed my order AND credit card number with, telling me that they’re sorry but they don’t have this order number in stock!

Hmmmm….why can’t these Internet shopkeepers keep their stocklists updated??? Is it to attract customers to their sites? Oh look a hard to find figurine, this site has it, it DOESN’T say it’s not in stock, OK I’ll order it!..Now that is to me akin to false advertising!

One reason I enjoy shopping at ebay is because what you see listed is what you WILL get if you win your bid or buy the item now.

So..if you want my money, advertise smartly. Do not draw me in with listings that you are out of stock on. (word of mouth will soon sort your shops out) Keep your graphics simple and clear. Make sure that your items are photgraphed in the proper lighting and that they are exactly the way you describe them to be.

Remember, your shop will gain more consumers like me if you’re honest and updated with and about your stock. If I’m pleased with everything from entry to your site to delivery of my goods, I’ll come back and will tell other people about the great online shop(s) I’ve found.

The parcel took almost 2 weeks to arrive and when it did, it was wrapped in a thin cell of bubble wrap in a small jiffy bag. The postage on the stamp label was 1.27!! OK OK..I know there’s handling fees buried in there, and jiffy bags cost money as does bubble wrap. But certainly not £4.33 worth of packaging and handling! I accept I knowingly paid an exorbinant amount for something I really wanted/needed..BUT it just goes to show how some people are greedy and find a way to “take” a buyer.

So..I learned a lesson on how to be a seller, via my purchasing experiences.

I think, no I KNOW I give a fair postal rate considering the type of products I merchandise. I use the proper packaging items to ensure safe travel of each parcel I send. I don’t make any money per se on postage costs. If I charge £3.75, that covers the postage and the singular cost of each item I’ve used to wrap and secure the parcel. I don’t add into the figure of singular postage rates the entire lot it costs to buy 3 rolls of bubble wrap, brown paper, cardboard boxes etc..and no where in there is a fee for petrol! I’d have to charge triple the postage for that! *L* No..I keep my postage as low as I possibly can to ensure the customer knows he or she isn’t being taken on a ride to nowhere.

I try to offer discounts on multiple purchases but find that when I have to ship 6,7 or more items overseas, that’s when it gets sticky. I feel horrible inside when I can’t offer a discount to International customers. The postal service makes it that way with their ridiculous rules on box sizes, small packets, small letters and so on and so forth. If I go .1 over the allowed weight, I’m bumped into using a more expensive postal carrier.

Thankfully, my International customers see that (I’ll show them the Royal Mail site if asked) and they don’t complain about the costs of getting what they want to them. I never make money on International post. So why do I sell International? It’s easy to explain..I love the Faeries I sell, and I know some parts of the world don’t get them and so I love sharing those lovely Poppets with whoever wants them. To be honest, every now and then a bidding frenzy will take place on certain items, and at the end of the day, I’ve gained a little extra to put aside to help with some of the rates.

I had one woman email me once and she called me every name in the book and accused me of being biased against her country because I charged £7.50 rate to post to her country. I tried to explain I follow Royal Mail protocol, and have to pay for packaging out of my own pocket. She wrote back and she just wouldn’t accept my explanation, or that the Royal Mail site was accurate. (True in the latter, Royal Mail usually ends up more than stated on their site)

At the end of the day..My customers are getting from me, on ebay, a beautiful item, for so much less and had they bought their item(s) at a High Street shop it would cost them £20.00 or more if bought in a jewellery shop, not to mention parking fees, petrol and time.

I know I give good product handling. I wrap each and every item so carefully, that’s how I’d want to recieve a precious figurine if it were me on the recieving end!

I highly reccomend that people check the Royal Mail site, see the different weights and charts they use to estimate your cost, then I think once seen, the postal rates some sellers charge will make sense. You have to figure in the additional bubble wrap, outer wrapping paper, the box(es) the tape..it all adds to the weight. And Royal Mail gives no quarter if you’re over an nth of the weight they allow.

A good seller will never gouge their customers.

ALWAYS check your postal rates BEFORE you bid on anyone’s products, because if you don’t, and suddenly realize you’ve committed yourself to purchasing a £5.00 item and a £10.00 postage rate, you’re obligated to pay! Once you hit that confirm bid/purchase button you enter into a contract. Don’t allow yourselves to get bamboozled by a seller who wants to make up a low bidding product on a high postal rate!

That’s my bit for this morning. I hope this has somewhat enlightened you about postage costs.

Have a pleasant day!

Kate