The recent changes in international shipping rates have really put a crimp in overseas sales of my laptop sleeves and bags. To ship an average sized sleeve to the UK used to cost $10.50Now to ship the same sleeve cost $20.00 which is about half the price of a sleeve.
When a return customer ordered one for a gift, I worried about losing a sale. She asked if their was any way I could send it cheaper and I told her I would research it . Everything else was just as much if not more.
I decided to see if there was anyway I could fit it in a flat rate envelope. I squished it down as much as I could and managed to get it inside but just barely. Then I had an idea. What if I put it in a plastic bag and sucked the air out ? I used a normal zip lock bag and my vacuum and it did the trick.
Last week I had a custom order from Germany , this sleeve was for a mammoth laptop . The shipping would have been $25 .00 I asked if she minded getting it tightly packed, she would need to press it herself and she agreed it was worth the savings.
Try as I might I could barely get it folded to put in the gallon sized zip lock I've used for 13" and 15" macs which are slimmer than most . Finally I folded it in thirds and then in half and got it in the bag. It took a couple tries but I was finally able to get it compressed down to fit in the envelope and to be able to close it without tape ( a postal requirement.)
