As I wrote to you privately, Mayra Petretti advertises in the IOLI Bulletin -
in current edition on page 31. She is supporting an organization that we
belong to, and that is a good reason to patronize her business.
True. But she doesn't even *have* a website, much less an updated one (Lacy Susan's, apparently, hasn't ben updated since early July), so I cannot do a price comparison quickly. And, while I'm willing to support lace vendors - especially ones who advertise in IOLI and make it possible for the Bulletin to have extra pages <g> - I'm willing to do it *to an extent*. That the extent is limited is not my fault; I don't happen to have any shares in Enron or Haliburton, nor am I in the upper 2% bracket, so my income has plummeted even faster than the dollar vs euro has since the advent of the current administration.
I've been told that, at Lacy Susan, a small (198 yds) spool of Colcoton - either 34/2 (what I'm seeking) or 70-2 is $2.95. Susan doesn't charge for packing, and charges only actual shipping, so she'd be my first choice of supplier, unless I found someone who offered the same thread for at least 25 cents less per spool. I'm planning to buy *at least* 75 colours/spools (I'm trying to build up a colour range from zero) of the 120+ colours available, possibly more, if I get a "bulk buy" deal. 25 cents per spool difference can add up to many spools pretty fast, when you're buying a lot of them. Even if you have to pay shipping based on "per spending" (and, with that amount, I'm pretty close to free shipping for some suppliers, if I add a few more spools... 4-5 spools for free??? Ask me another question <g>).
OK. Susan charges $2.95 (plus *actual* shipping, no handling charges) per spool. I expect Mayra charges about the same base price per spool, and she's likely to be more businesslike about her shipping charges...
Googling and kind Arachnes brought up some other potential sources of the thread. One was Venne, which - judging by the *primary* language - is either in Holland or in Belgium, and which says it's the producer of Colcoton. It charges 1.9 euro ($2.40) per spool, but that includes 19% VAT, which I assume would be waived when the product was sent to US (outside of the EC). So, say, we're - roughly - back to *U$* 1.9 per spool...
Sounds good, but they want the money transferred to their bank account... My single experience of doing *that* (internationally) told me that it costs around $30 to do (and that was several years ago, when the US dollar was still worth *something* at the international scene). Add the shipping (more expensive in Europe than in the US) and Venne is out of the running, as far as I'm concerned; too much trouble for too little return.
The second possiblility which came up - both via Google and via an Arachnean - was a place in Minnesota. A place which caters mostly to weavers and knitters, called "pieces of string", and which sounds very much like our own lace suppliers - operating out of a home, on a shoe-string budget. No hard-copy catalogue to mail, among other things, which makes me "antsy"; even the small-time lace-suppliers (in US) tend to have those. And, although one of the pages on the website says that the website is updated "daily, weekly, seasonally", its "updates" page was written Aug 12... The dollar has gone down some more since then :)
I tried calling them today, but reached only an ansaphone, and not a very clear message recorded on it, at that. Not entirely surprising; if it's a small firm, on a Saturday, there's not likely to be anyone to answer the phone in person... The "email us" option was too complicated for me to cope with (Mozilla tried to take me through so many hoops, I gave up). I'll try calling them again on Monday, much as I hate the contraption called "the telephone".
The reason? Their *advertised price*, per spool, is $1.85. That's $1.10 less, per spool, than LacySusan's price... And, they offer free shipping on purchases above $200; given the per-spool price, that's 34 extra colours, to waive an $11+ shipping charge... Ask me another question :)
OK... The site has not been updated since Aug 12, and they *do say* that prices are likely to change (ie: go up) in September... Chances are, the per spool price will be matching more closely the European standard, after that update. Though... If they have a languishing stash, bought 4-5 yrs ago, before the current administration went into the never-never land fiscally speaking... Who knows? I just might luck in :)
I'll call them again, first thing Monday. And, as soon as I know more (like: the check's cleared, and the goods have been received. Or not <g>), I'll post a report. *Short*, hopefully :)
Yours, totally debillitated by a head cold (and, NO, it's not something I contracted in Ithaca; the incubation period is way too long). I managed to push the Rosalibre experimentation a (small) step today, but it was like wading through treacle... I even gave up going to the U film club (to see Farenheit 9/11) tonihgt; didn't think it would be "nice" to sneeze over the rest of the audience :)
I hope all of you who've written me on the Colcoton thread subject privately will forgive me if I don't answer each one of you; I don't have the energy right now.
---
Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet:
no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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