In honor of our 75th anniversary, we are continuing to introduce you to each department that maintains and operates this small town, big business. A vital pieces of the puzzle that is SilverTowne, is our Fulfillment and Shipping Department.
If you have ever ordered silver or any numismatic product online at our website, you have had a package filled and shipped by one of our employees here at SilverTowne. Our shipping and fulfillment warehouse takes up more than half of our building space here in Winchester, Indiana, and is where all the packages, products, and orders filter through in some form or fashion, making it pivotal to what we do and how our business operates on numerous levels. This is especially the case during the holiday season when the fulfillment and shipping team is perhaps the MOST important and under the largest amount of pressure.
Heather & Ericca – Fulfillment
Our fulfillment team here at SilverTowne has over a decade of experience filling orders and handling all the inventory that we maintain. Printing packing slips and filling the orders is just a small fraction of the work they put in to keep all the inventory organized and straight. If you can imagine, they see A TON of products on a day-to-day basis on top of keeping track of each order waiting on products from other vendors that we sell.
“I would say we are an important cog in the machine,” said Heather, who predominantly fills orders for The Coin Vault customers, SilverTowne’s subsidiary company that runs primarily off a television home shopping show. “All the products that filter through here, Ericca or I see them. We print packing sheets and fill almost every order that ships from this building. Nearly every order touches our hands.”
Which is a lot of orders and even more products if you can imagine. Although a small-town shop, we function like the multi-million-dollar business we are.
Ericca, who works mostly with SilverTowne orders that feature silver bullion and more, was first hired four years ago to ship. Now she has her hands in just about every aspect of the shipping and fulfillment team. She prints and fills orders for SilverTowne, is the backup to Heather when she cannot be here, ships when she can, and scans the orders at the end of the line to make sure they go where they need to go.
“I really enjoy working with the people here,” Ericca stated. “It’s been such a learning experience, but the people I have around me every day make it worth it.”
“I thoroughly enjoy filling orders,” said Heather. “There are a lot of aspects to my job that people are not aware of like keeping track of open orders that need product from other places, or managing the inventory and working in the ERP system to make sure everything (which is a LOT) has its place within the system itself but also a physical location, and working with customer service to answer questions and emails. It’s a lot of stuff going on at once, so when I can just put my headphones in and fill the orders and not have to mentally tax myself so much, it’s nice.”
Jane – Shipping Manager
With over 28 years of experience, Jane leads the shipping warehouse with a ton of knowledge. She handles a great deal, including our carrier services, returns and replacements, and oversees a small team in the warehouse.
“All of our orders will take up to 5-10 business days for order processing and fulfillment,” Jane stated. “We deal with USPS, UPS, and sometimes Fed Ex. Under the UPS umbrella, there is also Mail Innovations and SurePost. All our packages go through those services. Some sort of insurance (security) goes out with every package, but depending on dollar amount and weight, that insurance can increase, which is what you want if you are a customer that buys in bulk or buys high value.”
Some important notes to add when it comes to our shipping policies:
- We cannot accept orders shipping to mailbox rental stores.
- We reserve the right to adjust shipping and handling charges due to excessively heavy packages when necessary.
- All orders place with SilverTowne are subject to review by the Company’s Credit and Review Committee. If an order is flagged for review for any reason, there may be a short delay in processing your order. SilverTowne reserves the right and may require alternate payment methods for orders meeting certain criteria.
- Any extra charges incurred by SilverTowne for shipments to countries outside of the United States are the responsibility of the receiving party. (Customers are responsible for all 'taxes and duties' incurred upon shipment by government regulations, ie Canada.)
- To qualify for "Free Shipping on Orders Over $99" the order must be accepted for a minimum of $99 in product(s) and the ship to address must be within the Continental United States (Domestic Orders) otherwise our standard charges for shipping still apply for Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Canada orders.
- As always, we appreciate your understanding of the shipping policies put in place, as it is our goal to provide you with the best possible customer service.
Mindy & Eric – Shipping
What we would describe as working “on the line,” some may call packaging and shipping. The line is comprised of a conveyor belt flanked by shipping stations that include packing materials like padded envelopes, boxes, tape, and more. Each station has a camera located above the packing area, enabling us to keep not only everyone who is shipping accountable, but to revisit when customers call in with reports of missing items.
“I see a lot of products every day,” Mindy, who has worked in the shipping department for almost a decade now, said. “That’s my favorite part is seeing all the different items we sell. You see a lot; you learn a lot.”
Eric, who has worked in shipping for the last four years but for the company in some capacity for 11 years, also works on the line.
“My schedule is quite different than anyone else’s in the department because I work for The Coin Vault at night when they do their live shows Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday,” he said. “I’ll come in around 2pm, ship for a little while, and then work the show. On Wednesdays and Fridays, I typically work the normal day with the rest of the crew.”
Being on the line can be stressful, mostly due to the holiday season. One thing our shipping and fulfillment team want our customers to remember?
“We are human, and we make mistakes,” Ericca said. “From start to finish, every part of a customer’s order is touched by an actual person. We try hard to ensure things are perfect when they go out the door, but it does not always happen. There are a lot of things that influence that fact, BUT we do try our best to make it right.”
