Pitfalls and Shortcomings, Part 1: Shipping

So... the year is over, a new one has begun... and being that I officially own my own store (albeit, online), I have reviews to do.
Last year, I had some of my first sales, and experienced my first couple attempts at trying to ship merchandise out-of-state. It was... an interesting experience.

On Shipping:
My goal was to be able to ship within two business days of payment, however I have found that difficult to maintain. Although in theory, if I got up early enough I could ship any day, including days I work, in practice it's proven very hard for me to actually do this. I may have to reconsider limiting my shipping to Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days I usually have off of my normal job. Or, I could extend it to 3 - 5 business days, on the theory that I will at some point have time off in there somewhere. I really prefer a 2 - 3 day schedule though, because any longer than that feels sort of... excessive. And as a customer myself, I'm usually impatient for stuff!

Another thing I found out, was that packing materials are sort of at a premium without actually, you know, purchasing them. In the very beginning, my shipping estimates were not even close to accurate, and I had to swallow the difference of about 5 dollars on the first few that went out... and then after raising them, I found they were a little excessive when sending multiple items in one box, so I've adjusted them again. I think it's pretty close now, but the cost for the packing materials themselves may change that.
Also, note to self: Never pay for UPS to pack stuff, it's way too expensive, and it's my OWN artwork, so it's not like I don't have incentive to pack it securely.
In the near future, I need to get a postage scale so that I can have everything all printed and packed for drop-offs, instead of taking 30 minutes every trip to the UPS store. (Yuck.)

I should really formulate one, uniform and consistent packing formula, so that I'm not scrambling around anymore. I like the idea of using recycled packaging as much as possible, I could easily get a shredder to shred up old newspapers for filler instead of using Styrofoam peanuts, but the raku items may require some bubble-wrapping. I still need to solve my boxes problem though. I also like the idea of offering gift wrapping, but that is going to require some additional thought for pricing.