Thank you so much for your interest in our products.  DKW Specialties is a SMALL home-based business named from it's founders ... me and my husband:

D - Dave

K - Karla

W - Ward

Specialties ... Dave came up with that. 

I began selling many years ago on ebay to supplement Dave’s income.  I sold my kid's clothes on ebay once they had grown out of them.  In doing this, it gave me to opportunity to better learn the ebay system.  Unfortunately, however, Dave lost his long-term, well-paying job in 2002 due to a HUGE company wide layoff.  We were devastated, in more ways that one.

At that time, Dave had wanted to try to launch a business of his own, which had always been his lifelong dream, so we sunk what little savings we had into products to sell on ebay.  We bought a wide variety of items, things that we liked, in hopes that some (or all) would be well received.  Very little of what we had chosen was very popular, except for the kitchen ceramics.  Hence … our business finally got its footing.

We worked the business together all throughout 2003, and sold only on ebay during that time.  It was a very difficult task building a business from the ground up, but with teamwork, we slowly did just that.  But near the end of that year, we were forced to split up our team, in that Dave had to get a full-time job outside the home to “make ends meet”.  He tried to continue to help me with the business as much as possible, but that help slowly faded away as his own responsibilities increased in his career.  So now, it’s just me.  I am a one-woman show here.

Throughout the past few years, I have created a website which I am VERY proud of.  I have offered many items in both my ebay store and my website through the years, but the kitchen ceramics have remained the stable item of choice for my customers, so now, that is all I sell.  I did carry the entire KK Merchandise and KMC Inc. product lines.  Due to the volume of sales I had, and the amount of work associated with running a business of this sort all alone, I decided to CLOSE my ebay store in January 2008, and simply operate my website.  This decreased my stress level significantly and created a much more manageable work load for a one person company. 

Unfortunately, however, my KMC supplier has proven to be unscrupulous and unreliable, and I have had to remove HUNDREDS of KMC products from my product offering, which has seriously hindered my business.  I had approximately 3,000 items in my website from both KK and KMC.  Now I am back down to approximately 500 items, offering only the KK products.  KMC has a MUCH larger range of products in each theme, and MANY unique themes to choose from, however, for the time being, I am unable to get the KMC products.  My KK supplier hopes to be able to pick up the KMC product line in the future, at which time, I would be able to re-list the KMC products in my ebay store and website once again.

So there you have it.  That is who I am.  Despite the outward appearance, I am no large company.  I am just a mother of three who owns and operates this business from my home … all while trying to home-school my youngest child.  I manage every facet of this business including:  customer support, accounting, accounts receivable, accounts payable, purchasing, packing, shipping, damage control, and so much more.  Fortunately, I do still receive some much-needed help from friends and family when things get to be a little too much to handle alone.  I am very blessed to have a very loving, and helpful family.

But I tell you all this so that you will know my limitations.  I am not able to maintain inventory in my home (by law).  Therefore, I market the products out there on ebay and my website.  Once the merchandise is purchased and paid for (by the customer), I travel once a week (sometimes twice if sales are really high) to my supplier’s warehouse an hour from my home, buy the needed ceramics to fill current orders, bring them back to my home, where I pack and ship it all myself. 

In an effort to keep costs to my customers as LOW as possible, I recycle boxes.   You may receive a shipment from me in a grocery store box, or a Walmart box.  My garage is full of boxes of every shape and size.  I pack these ceramics with MUCH care and time, removing items from the manufacturer’s package (when necessary) and adding MORE cushion to help get it there safely to you the first time.  I use soft foam fill, Styrofoam fill (sheets, peanuts, blocks, etc.), and paper fill.  I get a lot of my packing materials from a local furniture store at no cost, so I don’t have to charge my customers any more for this material either.  I pass those savings right along. 

Hence, ALL my products are sold BELOW RETAIL.  My supplier thinks I am crazy for selling at the prices at which I sell, but I do so to remain competitive and to keep my customers happy.  That is the good news.

The bad news is I MAY require up to 5 business days to process your order and ship it to you.  I try to ship out as quickly as possible, but quite often, it takes the full 5 business days for me to obtain the merchandise, pack it up, and ship it out to you.  So if you are looking for lightning speed, I am probably not the seller for you.  But I assure you I will pack your merchandise with care, and will do everything in my power to get it there safely to you as quickly as possible.  And SHOULD you receive something damaged, I manage practically everything from this end in filing damage/defect claims with the shipper/supplier.  I am ALL about keeping it an easy and pleasant experience for my customers.  I have a lot of feedback from times past, so hopefully you can see that for yourself.

One thing you might want to know, however, is that if you are interested in purchasing these items using the least expensive option, you should check out my website at:

www.dkwshop.com

I offer ALL the same merchandise from my ebay store and a LOT more there.  And the good thing is, I am able to offer most of it there for LESS than I charge in my ebay store, because I do not have to build back into the sales price the ebay fees when selling from the website.

Oh, one last thing … because I manage this business from my home, I do not receive telephone calls from customers.  I GREATLY PREFER all questions or concerns to be addressed to me via email at kwarddkwco@bellsouth.net or dkwspecialties@bellsouth.net.  I have people calling here at all times of the day and night when I offer to help customers by phone.  99% of all matters can be handled by email, and I handle those emails as quickly as possible.  If you DO need to speak to me in person, simple email me and explain this, and give me a return telephone number to call, and I will return your call as soon as time permits.  Thank you so much for your understanding in this matter.

And that’s about it.  That’s who you are working with here if you decide to buy from me.  I am an HONEST, Christian seller here on ebay, and you can feel confident buying from me.  I always try to treat my customers the way I like to be treated when I am the customer.