i have a lot of sympathy for others who are in rural areas, who rely on USPS to ship prescriptions, those who are differently abled, and other kinds of small businesses.

HOWEVER. I work in Hip Hop and we used to rely on touring and selling cds/vinyl/tapes/digital music to live. https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1288667326636871680

Now, touring is out. Friends of mine are out hundreds of thousands of dollars they normally depend on every year. Other friends had things booked overseas for the first time, they were close to taking their careers/finances to a next level. We've been shipping still however ...

for an example a package from California to Italy took 3 months to arrive (we'd paid the same rate as usual, normally about 10 - 20 days depending on customs.) Customers know we are SOLID about our sales and do not delay orders/have NEVER not shipped out a physical order in life.

I emphasize that because unfortunately there are a few bad apples in the bunch, giving the game a huge black eye, taking money for orders they never intend to send sometimes not even making the product smh, but that's a whole other topic of convo (kind of). More on orders...

For one client we currently have a few dozen orders to ship out. Many are US, which everyone has noticed by now can be delayed. Customers are happy to wait, we send tracking info immediately after dropping shipments. No worry. The rest of the orders are overseas/Canada though...

First of all, for this client, there are countries within this order he's never sold to before this project. There are countries on this order **I** have never shipped music to in my life before. I'm so concerned about how long it may take, EVERY DAY I wake up to set intention...

one of the things I ask for nowadays, to myself and to any macrocosmic forces with powers that be, as soon as I wake up every day; I'm thankful for the grand rising and hopeful that this is not the day I get news that there's no more USPS. Some people say use Fedex/UPS instead...

Trouble is two-fold. A) many people not privy don't know but ups/fedex/etc services hand off to USPS. So for a rural client, say a dude in Iowa who always buys a CD, it may now take weeks, months or maybe never to reach. B) I already get messages from clients overseas who want...

to try to get a "deal" or special price on the shipping and handling. Now, especially for vinyl and jewel case CDs, U do need a lot of items to ship. Pens, Envelopes, Bubble Wrap, Labels, Tape, Cardboard, etc. See U can't have a vinyl bend or break on the long journey to Japan...

Or melt but that's another story for another day. Personally I've never been one to charge a lot of extra for "handling" i'm probably always losing money by not charging for all those items (that U now have to order from Amazon, a whole other can of worms). But "shipping" ...

aka Postage? I can't negotiate that with the USPS. They're the cheapest they charge what they charge. I'm very fair and err on the side of the clientele not losing out. But people be asking to take money out of the artist share to cover postage ALREADY, they BEEN doing that ...

So if it goes all bad, no more USPS? Fedex/DHL/UPS charge 2 - 4 times more than the post office on average; and again they hand off to USPS so no one knows what would happen to shipping everywhere if USPS folds, shuts down or cuts way back. You might survive, readers at home...

Hip Hop as we know it, the music, the business, the artists (who are people too, with families, who DEPEND on touring & sales) might not make it. Not only will you lose music and many dope artists will revert to other ways of making a (much better than this) living, the whole...

ECOSYSTEM of Hip Hop is going to change drastically. Some people say why is $walasia writing this long ass thread, just buy the digital albums and everything will be okay right? WRONG. My favorite CD press, using them for years, website said it was being updated...I called them.

OUT OF FUCKING BUSINESS. no warning, no email to long-time clients, just poof gone outta here like so many other small clients. Vinyl manufacturers and distributors depend on HIP HOP TO SURVIVE, therefore if our biz can't afford vinyls, those plants may shutter FOR ALL GENRES...

So right there we're losing more recipes no matter what music we like. So that's the bad, what's the upside? How can we fix? What's next?? FANS, please buy ALL the music. I'm not even doomsday-prepping (heh) y'all I mean it this could be it. BUY IT NOW. If you're well off...

enough to afford to do so, please go to an artists' @bandcamp or personal site and BUY. Get merch, buy digital albums and pay more for them than artists are asking. You rich, u got your mama credit card, you love artist X? DOPE we love it pay $100 for the digital instead of $10.

Fan, you're struggling financially? You realllllly love artist x but can't afford vinyls or cd? NO worry we love you the most, buy one song for $1. another next week. skip coffee or cigs or whatever and use that to buy some music. Also, it is FREE to share links with friends...

If you're really into artist x, and have no loot, share on all platforms and tag the artists/labels. We all see the social media pages, we notice a die-hard fan who's damn near a digital street team. I PERSONALLY? Always email them free music, bandcamp DL codes for albums, etc...

I can't speak to what others do, but if i'm the manager, the label exec, the social media manager, or even consultant, if I know you are always helping us push, you'll be getting some free music, on God. Disenfranchised fans & people who NEVER pay for music, you can help too...

Go to the post office, or http://USPS.com , and BUY. $upport them. they SHOULD BE A GOVERNMENT SERVICE by they are not that's how we got here/why you're reading this long. ass. thread. Buy stamps, buy packaging materials, greeting cards, money orders, go USPS crazy! ...

Artists/Labels what can we do? First of all, go to http://USPS.com , they (i HOPE) can ship labels, packaging, customs slips, etc. to your pad or office. DO IT NOW before they stop. Or go to the post office and start grabbing allladat especially the customs forms, both...

If YOU can afford it, make an account with UPS, DHL, or fedex. in that order at least in my experience. Often you can pay on terms so pay, for example, monthly to UPS. they'll happily bring supplies to you, pick up packages, etc. Labels/artists who do this, if there's a real ...

shipping drought, U can become the shipping plug. If it gets bad, a smaller artist can pay you a small fee to use the UPS account. See where I'm going? Just an intuitive thought from one of the few women you'll hear from on this targeted topic... Regardless, treat the people...

who handle your mail/packages, whether you go to a post office or they're coming to you, LIKE GOLD. They're doing their jobs yes, but also risking LITERALLY RISKING THEIR LIVES so be nice. Leave bottles of water for them or just greet them kindly. Intro yourself, know the name...

I am not the world's foremost authority, I've just been doing this 4 a few decades. Want to see perfect setup for an artist, & someone who miraculously SHIPS EVERYTHING HIMSELF, visit http://BrownsvilleKA.com  (ORDER something & $upport). A blueprint & map of how it should be done.

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