Rina

I know how you feel! Here in RSA we have the same problem, but I order from America and with the custom fees included, it is still a bargain. The other day I ordered from Eleanor Burns for $3. Now THAT'S a bargain!

quilterken

Oh my gosh and I thought it was expensive here.
I'm glad you can get your fix from other places.

jitkaau

Similar to Australia. On line is sometimes O.K., but I ordered something for $8.99 and the shipping costs from the USA were $20 - in total, $28.99...

amandasgramma

The more you do it the easier it is. I can still remember how nervous I was the first time I bought international.[/quote]

I laughed when I read this as it reminded me of living in a very, very small town (population 246) in North Carolina a couple of years ago. The mailman would NOT put my packages in my mailbox even though it was a huge box! I knew it was because the mailwoman at the post office could make an issue out of the packages and the countries from which they were received. One day, my needles from Hong Kong came and she kept saying she couldn't believe they didn't open it in customs and then proceded to say loudly enough for the benefit of the crowd in line that I get strange packages from all over the world! Then she started saying she remembered a package from Spain just last week and another package from Ireland...etc. I laughed and said, "Yes, I like to order my yarn from various places such as Ireland. Please open it! It's just needles." So, she looked down her nose, through her little glasses at me and then looked up at the crowd, that was thoroughly interested by this time, and said, "WELL, if custom didn't see the need to open this package, I'm not going to second guess them!" And I thanked her and reminded her to tell the postman that I had an extremely large mailbox and I would love to have the packages delivered to the box. She sniffed and said, "Of course you do!" And...of course....the next time I had a package from overseas I found myself again eyeing her over her counter, waiting for her comments! It's was annoying at first but I learned to find humor in the situation![/quote]If my postwoman did that, I'd be talking to the postmaster. Your mail is private and her announcing that loud enough for others to hear is wrong. It's funny --- the way your describe it, but the implications she made we make me fume.............:shock:

jitkaau

You have managed to write amusingly about the postal service - perhaps you could start a column in the local newspaper, for the amusement of others who have suffered in the same way.

piepatch

You are to be commended for pursuing your interest in crafting and quilt making, in spite of outrageous fabric prices. A true crafter doesn't let anything get in the way of another pretty project, and you do such beautiful work !

#1piecemaker

I'm going to check into this. PM me with your address.

pineneedles4

I wonder how the pay in your area compares to where I live in Norman, OK. I know that here in Oklahoma you can get a nice apartment for around $650 to $750 a month. Minimum wage is $7.25 and I don't understand how anyone making that kind of pay can survive. But, my nephew lives in Laguna Beach, California where the min. is around $10 per hour but the same size apartment here in OK that rents for $635 costs $2,000. I have a friend that lives in a small town in Missouri and his rent for a 2 bedroom house is only $350. Sometimes I wonder, overseas if we're trying to compare prices, is their average pay much higher than here so it's more balanced than we think? I'm curious. Like in England, when I order there, the conversion rate is almost double the value for US dollars so I have to pay twice as much, but is their income so much higher that it's approximately the same percentage out of their income as here?

leonajo

This is all so interesting, I am going to stop whining about fabric prices though....

chickadee_42us

Wow. I hope the pay scale is higher too! When the fabric is here around $10 a yard, I start saying to myself, hum!!!