With Us It’s Personal

Well, it is.

While we try our very best to give you a seamless, user-friendly online experience, we understand that there are times that the internet can be a bit lacking. Impersonal, even. And we’d like to remind you that we’ve always got real, live people ready to help you. Even better? Since we’re a local business, we’ve got local folks answering the phones. When you call us, you’ll talk to Kim, Bonnie or Jen (that’s me!), and we’re happy to answer your questions, help you decide on a category for your ad, or even assist with your wording.

And here’s something else that perhaps you may not have considered: we vet every ad. If something looks odd or scammy, we question it and follow up to make sure that it’s a legitimate advertisement before it even hits the web. So when you find a sweet deal on a rental or a job that sounds perfect, you don’t have to worry that it might turn out to be a Nigerian prince needing your assistance to transfer funds. We run interference for you so that you know the ads you’re checking out are the real thing.

FAQ: There’s a mistake in my ad! What do I do?

Questions. We love ‘em. When somebody has a question for us here at Paper Shop, we know that they’re either already advertising with us or thinking of giving us a try. We’re happy to help with and all inquiries, and we’ve found that a number of them are, well, frequently asked questions. Here’s where we take some time to talk about them.

First off, don’t panic.

Yes, we know it’ll be hard, but try to remain calm. Don’t let doubt and fear overtake you! If necessary, breathe through a paper bag to prevent hyperventilation.

Okay, okay. We’re exaggerating. And we don’t mean to make light of the dismay you might feel if you spot an error in your ad. It can be upsetting and it might even affect your chances of selling the item. And that’s why we’d like to know as soon as you’ve spotted the mistake. We’ll correct the ad, go over the new wording to make sure it meets your approval, and then we’ll instantly update the ad online and get the corrected version into print for the very next issue.

If you’re dissatisfied with an ad and it’s not during office hours, you can go to our website, log in (or create an account if you haven’t already), and fix the error yourself. Simply look up the ad under “Listings” in your account and use “Edit” to update.

We do our very best to get your ads published perfectly, but we are human and that means that the occasional error gets by us. Please don’t ever feel bad about bringing a mistake to our attention – it’s our job to get it right, and we always appreciate your input!

Classified Information

Your secrets are safe with us. And so is your email!

If you’ve checked out our website, you’ve probably discovered that it’s pretty simple to register. You’ve also likely noticed that we require an email address to do so. In fact, even when you advertise with us over the phone, we do ask if you’d like to share your email address with us.

And every once in a while, we run into somebody who’s a little leery of sharing their personal information. Guess what? We completely understand. Even leaving privacy concerns out of the equation, there’s always that dread of a new influx of spam.

We hereby promise you that we won’t sell, trade, or give away any of the information you share with us. And if you choose to share your personal stats when registering online (you can tell us things like  your date of birth, marital status and gender), we’ll keep ’em to ourselves, too. In fact we only ask those (optional) questions so that we have a detailed understanding of our customer base in order to provide you with the best service we possibly can.

On Display

Modesty is overrated.

There, we said it.

But when it comes to letting people know about your business or what you’re trying to sell, why not make a splash? We offer display advertising for as little as $13.50 a week. And we’d be delighted to go over all the options that we’ve got; give us a call and we’ll take the time to quote you prices on all different ad sizes. Best of all? No pressure. No need to commit to anything. We understand that maybe you’re not quite ready to advertise, or maybe you’re comparing prices. And we’re happy to oblige.

We also offer you the chance to get a photo of your item in print for just $4.00. You can choose that option when you place your ad on thepapershop.com, or simply mention it to us when you’re placing ads by phone.

The Times? They Are A-Changin’

And so is thepapershop.com.

You probably noticed something a little different when you visited us online in the last few days. Okay, okay – “a little different” is an understatement. As you might have guessed, we’ve revamped our website. We added some exciting new options and developed a more user-friendly interface, and we know you’ll love the improvements we’ve made.

With the changes we’ve put into place, it’s easier to save searches, keep track of ads that interest you, and even share your finds on Facebook, Twitter or Google+. We invite you to log in (it’s free), check it out, and see what you think. If you’ve got questions or find anything confusing, don’t forget that we’re here to help – give us a call at 1-800-537-9377 and one of our customer service reps will be happy to guide you through the new features.

The Web We Weave

… is pretty impressive, if we do say so ourselves.

We understand that some things take time. And adjustment. And, most importantly, feedback. And we’ve spent an incredible amount of time working on an improved and more user-friendly update to our website. We listened to your suggestions for improving your experience with us and we gave a lot of thought to new and exciting features you’d find both useful and enjoyable. We’ll be unveiling the fruits of our labor within the week, and we’d love to hear what you think.

Here are a few of the improvements we’re making:

• Expanded category choices for your advertising
• Easier ad editing options, including the ability to access ads you’re currently running so that it’s simple and seamless to make price changes, add information or fine-tune your wording.
• Share and share alike! You’ll be able to share interesting finds on Facebook, so it’s easy to recommend that used car to a friend who’s looking or to give pal with a new apartment a heads-up on that spiffy leather couch.

Even with all the online improvements we’re making, remember, too, that we’re here for you. We’ll still have the same customer service reps to help you out in any way we can (even if it’s help navigating the new site).

Almanac

On December 19, 1732, Benjamin Franklin began to publish Poor Richard’s Almanack.  And while Old Ben’s almanac is one of the most famous, it was by no means the first. It wasn’t first in America, and it wasn’t even the first such thing to be published by a member of the Franklin clan: Ben’s older brother James began publishing the Rhode Island Almanack in 1727. Even more interesting? James often used the pseudonym “Poor Robin”.

Almanacs have been published for thousands of years. Copies of Babylonian almanacs, complete with lists of lucky and unlucky days (and how to handle each) have been discovered, and the almanac has been a staple in European publishing for centuries. While it’s not an especially common thing to find these days, modern almanacs follow a familiar formula by listing the days of the year along with holidays and other time-sensitive information for the upcoming months (we’re talking about things like tide charts, planting tables and even horoscopes).

We’ve got a soft spot for Ben Franklin, and we like to think that we’re promoters of a number of his philosophies – especially those of personal thrift. It’s our mission to help people sell their unused items and to help others save big bucks on purchasing those items. And now? We do it all for free. It’s completely free to advertise and it costs nothing when you sell. And that? Would make community-minded Ben proud, we think.

It’s About Time

This post, that is.

We’re hoping that you’re adapting well to Sunday’s time change. We spent a considerable amount of time bumping all our clocks back one hour, and while we were doing so, it got us thinking: did we create a time warp?

When you place an ad with us, we get that ad posted on thepapershop.com within 30 minutes. So, in theory, if you had submitted an ad at, say, 1:55 AM Sunday morning, the ad would have shown up online at 1:25 AM.

Our minds? They are blown. We knew we were good, but we’d underestimated our ability to work that kind of magic!

We understand that sometimes time is of the essence when you’re looking to sell something. And that’s why we work hard to get your items publicly available as quickly as possible. It’s also why we invite you to come on the air on Paper Shop Live! Saturday mornings to talk about what you’d like to sell – it’s easy, it’s free, and it’s really fun to do. Even if your stunning radio debut doesn’t immediately net you a buyer, remember that the show podcast is live for the entire week, and you never really know who’s listening.

A Real Pain in the Brass

First off: be grateful we didn’t opt for completely low-hanging fruit and go with ‘Sax Appeal’ as the title, because, believe us, it was tempting!

That being said, we ran into a bit of a conundrum this week. You know that we’re sticklers for organization and proper categorization; not only does it appeal to our bass-est (ha!) OCD tendencies, it also makes it easier for potential buyers to find exactly what they’re looking for.

As we’ve mentioned before, we’re constantly working on building the best possible website for our advertisers. And one of the parts of making a new site as user-friendly and easy-to-navigate as possible is working on revamping the ad categories and getting the ads appropriately sorted into them. It was all smooth sailing until we hit the musical instruments. Specifically, a saxophone. Woodwind? After all, it does use a reed, and that’s the very definition of a woodwind. But it’s quite often made of brass.

A little research told us that our instincts were correct: technically, the sax is a woodwind instrument (despite it’s rather brassy look).

When you place ads with us, you might experience a similar out-of-tune feeling. Not sure which category is right for your ad? No worries. Whether ads are placed over the phone, online, or via the U.S. mail, we promise to safely conduct them to the best possible spot.

FAQ: Why can’t I see the phone numbers in the ads online?

Questions. We love ‘em. When somebody has a question for us here at Paper Shop, we know that they’re either already advertising with us or thinking of giving us a try. We’re happy to help with and all inquiries, and we’ve found that a number of them are, well, frequently asked questions. Here’s where we take some time to talk about them.

So you’ve heard that all the ads we’ve got on our website are completely free for anyone to view. And perhaps you excitedly surfed on over to thepapershop.com to check it out for yourself. And then? Disappointment. Shattered dreams. Rending of garments. All because those ad phone numbers are still missing! What gives?

First off, calm down. You haven’t been excluded from some sort of free online ad party. We promise. In fact, the reason that you’re not seeing all that free ad goodness is quite simple: you’re either not logged on to our website or you’ve never created an account. And, either way, it’s a very simple (and free) fix. If you’ve used thepapershop.com before, simply log in, and – voila! – you’ll be able to see the phone numbers in every ad. Never used us before? That’s fine. Simply click on “Register Now” to create an account for yourself. Just enter your name, address, phone number and a password you can easily remember and you’ll be good to go.

Aside from the obvious benefit of being able to see everything we’ve got, creating an account on our website allows you to save ads you like and even save your search results so that you can go back at any time and check out items that interest you. It also makes it a snap to place ads when you’re ready to do so.