Back and loaded with bargains

[krafty1]

Hi everyone

Back from hols very late last night after a looong delay.
Had a fantastic time and bagged myself loads of brilliant crafting bargains.

Think the best ones were probably the Big Bite, which I bought for £12.50, and the sizzix dies for 60p, and Sizzix alphabet die sets for £6.20
also got packs of K & Co embelishments for around 60p, endless yards of ribbon for a fraction of the price it would cost here. Also got loads of gorgeous brads that I've never seen here.
I virtually filled one suitcase with all my crafty goods and when I emptied all out this morning, it felt just like christmas morning lol hee hee.
Don't know what to play with first.

Unfortunately I've got a mountain of laundry to do first and heeps of mail to get through before I can play.

Anyway hope everyone's well and having a good summer so far

PS Did I miss anything exciting?

[crafty sara]

sounds like you had fun, & great craft goodies what more can you ask for.

Where was it you went on holiday?

[Fluffy Squirrel]

:O :O :O Where did you go on holiday? I need to go there - alphabet sets for £6!!! BARGAIN!!!

Glad to hear you had a fab time and you'll no doubt be like a kiddy in a toy shop when you get time to sit down and play with your new goodies

[krafty1]

Was in California, and didn't think I would really pick up much as the rate of exchange wasn't great when I bought our currency but there were lots of fantastic sales on and also they give you 40% & 50% off your next purchase slips with your receipts every time you buy something so of course just had to keep going back lol

[Louise77]

Glad you had a good holiday!
You've made me reminisce about when I lived in the states, I used to practically live in the craft store Michael's, you got SO much for your money and when I lived there the exchange rate was fab too...sigh.
It just shows you how much we get ripped off for things over here lol!

It would be great to go over and fill a suitcase with stuff to bring back (but knowing my luck I'd get stopped at customs and hit with a bill haha!)

Good to see you home safely.

Louise
x

[krafty1]

I used to practically live in the craft store Michael's

That's where I got the reduced sizzix dies and the alphabet sets - amazing price! Brilliant place isn't it.

Found Jo-ann's too and they had a sale on their paper, great quality, only 10p a sheet(would have cost me £1+ a sheet here), they had such a huge selection that I bought so much and had to end up buying a plastic carrying box to carry them home in but it's saved me a fortune

As you say, the difference in prices just show how much we get ripped off here

Hope you had a great birthday Louise

[crafty sara]

It a pity they dont have a website or do they ???? (fingers crossed/ toes everything lol)

[krafty1]

It a pity they dont have a website or do they ???? (fingers crossed/ toes everything lol)

Michaels has a website Sara, but as far as I know you can't actually order from it, it's just to let you see what they stock. Here it is

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/home

Would be great if they did though wouldn't it. Even with the shipping cost it would probably still be worthwhile with their prices

[nattynetty]

Sounds like you had a fab time, I kinda knew it must've been the States as soon as you mentioned those prices, I'd have been exactly the same and insisted hubby wore 7 layers of clothes on the way home to make suitcase room for the craft stuff

T
As you say, the difference in prices just show how much we get ripped off here

Just wanted to say that it's not your local craft shops that are ripping you off over here, we can't even buy the stuff wholesale at the kind of prices you're talking about. I think once the wholesalers over here have added on their cut to the costs of the product, shipping the containers over from the States plus the vat and import duties it's always going to bump up the prices by loads.

One of my suppliers has just informed me that the K&Co stuff is going up by 30% here so you bagged yourself a bigger bargain than you ever imagined

[krafty1]

Yes, the import duty and the vat are what put our prices up for sure netty, I reckon that the craft shops must only make a slim profit to stay competitive here, it's the same with everything once the officials whack on their duties, the price has already rocketed beyond belief before anyone starts to make a profit. Wasn't meaning that the sellers were ripping us off

A packet of cigarettes would probably only cost around 50p if it wasn't for government taxes

Just wanted to say that it's not your local craft shops that are ripping you off over here, we can't even buy the stuff wholesale at the kind of prices you're talking about. I think once the wholesalers over here have added on their cut to the costs of the product, shipping the containers over from the States plus the vat and import duties it's always going to bump up the prices by loads.

[Selina]

We just went to our home in Florida in May, came back with 97 kilos of luggage!!! So much beading stuff from Michaels and JoAnns its so unbelievably cheap. I used the 50% off your next purchase slips to buy wedding favour boxes for bracelets etc, they were priced at $19.99 for 100 and then cost me $10!!!! The prices just can't be beaten! Selina