Hmph!! I know I have lived in England for a very very long time but the greediness of these Brits I live with sometimes floors even me. If you are British please don't stop reading because at the end of this post I have something quite interesting for you guys to know.
What's my whinge you ask? Well I know the price of cotton has gone up because I remember reading about it. So what have the British Quilt Shops done? They have upped the yardage price, in general, to £13.00 ($20.60) a meter. Yes I know they have to pay shipping and taxes on what the bring in and it used to be Pounds for Dollars all the time. Like if it cost $10.00 then it would cost £10.00 - about half as much again. I had a slight problem with this, okay I had a huge problem with it but I still supported the British stores because I didn't want them to close like most of the Cross Stitch shops have in this country. But this is ridiculous!!! I will not pay $20.60 a meter for cotton.
This is what I bought yesterday from Stitch Steals which I only just found thanks to a new American friend (at least I hope I can call her a friend):
It is Lost & Found by
Riley Blake
and yes I know it isn't a new line but it is still being sold in loads of stores in the States and how much did it cost me? Well excluding postage it was $34.99 (£22.00) and for this I get 21 fat quarters which is just over 5 yards of fabric. And what's more I really love it.
If you went to The Fat Quarter Shop which is a favorite of mine they are still charging $10.00 a yard as is Twiddletails which is another favorite store of mine. Now I know you have to pay postage.
What about VAT and the darn Flat Rate Handling fee you are charged if you now bring in more than, I think, around £15.00 but nowhere on the British Governments website could I find anything relating to this. The only thing I could find was you can import £230.00 worth of goods if they are a gift but don't bank on it because a friend of mine from New Zealand, hi Danielle, had her mother mail Danielle's wedding invitations to her here and they were marked as a gift and the Post Office seized them and held them hostage until the VAT and the darn Handling Fee were paid.
So how do you get around this? If you want to know please email me and I will tell you. My email address is patreeshal @ gmail dot com. I would gladly pay the tax, I pay it here and really don't have problem with it. It's the handling charge for charging me the tax that I have the problem with. So what about you?
Until next time ...
Lots of Love
Patti xxx
American by birth and MOUTH
but British in every other way
I've often wondered this too. I have a friend in Leeds who regularly complains about the price of fabric there. I send her gifts of fabric in a flat rate box now and then just to try and take some of the stress off of her pocketbook.
ReplyDeleteShipping is getting a bit ridiculous now too, and the post office people always give me the third degree. "Is this REALLY a gift?!" By now they should know I'm always shipping packages for swaps and things! :)
I think the price of quilting fabric in the UK is ridiculous! I ship a lot of my fabric from the Fat Quarter shop, I get a good service. The cost of the fabric I ship is often around £60-£70 pounds and so far I've not had a problem with customs. I did have to pay duty on a parcel from another US company but I can't remember which one
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy having those handling charges, but i guess with the economy the way it is if you don't pay for things in one area you pay for them somewhere elsse .... I am not looking forward to returning to the price of fabrics though lol
ReplyDeleteI like your postage tip too if it's what you told me about the other day! :)
PS any special fabric orders you want to have delivered to me here to bring back with me at the end of the month just let me know! I don't have unlimited capacity but I could bring a few yards back I'm sure! :)
I was in Australia recently and fabric was $24aud per meter. Now that is expensive.
ReplyDeleteI was in Australia recently and fabrics was $24 per meter. Now that is expensive.
ReplyDeletei love to support local but the price here is ridiculous even if you can get whet you want.....i always now get my fabric from the us except if i go to shows here. i havent been asked to pay by customs yet but will do so when they ask.....would love to know what your tip is?
ReplyDelete