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Wire hunting…
The first thing you’ll need is wire!
The first thing you’ll need to try wire crocheting is wire, of course! Lots of wire! In my case, I soon discovered that my husband’s electronics leftovers were far from enough…wire crocheting eats up wire and it is so addicting that we find ourselves wanting to try all kinds of wire in as many different colours and gauges as possible with a never ending assortment of beads. So, believe me, we get hooked by the hook!
My quest for craft wire
Well, I started my quest for wire in my local jewellery and craft shops…at the time I wasn’t very comfortable yet with the idea of buying online…Even now I still prefer to buy locally. Even though European consumers are well protected by the law and can count on fair cooling off periods, I still like to examine things before I buy them. So, there I went on my local quest, but I was quite disappointed with the results.
Disappointed with local sellers
At the time, Portuguese jewellery suppliers were just starting to discover a whole new world for jewellery crafts. Consequently, I found out that online commerce had an offer much more attractive than my local shops. For instance, I couldn’t find smaller wire gauges which are my favourites to make more delicate pieces. And most of the time, I had no guarantees at all that I was buying nickel-free wire, because that wasn’t clearly stated on the package and the sellers wouldn’t give me any certainty either. And, believe it or not, because there was so little offer and no competition among sellers, the prices were significantly higher than those of some online shops even after we added the shipping costs!
Buying online – a whole new experience for me
Since then, I’ve been noticing some positive progression and we now have a little more choice available both for products and for prices. Jewellery crafts are beginning to flourish here in Portugal so merchants are adapting their offer. But back then, it was a completely different scenario and I finally decided to try buying online. This wasn’t easy either, since the biggest offer came from the USA and I was determined to buy here in European Union, so I wouldn’t have to deal with Customs’ taxes or issues and I could count on European consumer protection laws.
I finally found some nice online shops, namely two British suppliers and a French one, which I tried a few times and was quite happy with the results. In the meantime, I’ve been collecting other contacts that seem reasonable too and that I intend to try in the near future. I’ll share those experiences here too. Please keep in mind that I’m not endorsing or recommending these suppliers. I’m only sharing my experience fearing that in some locations you may, as I did, come across some difficulties to find a nice assortment of craft wire and jewellery supplies, offering quality tools, different kinds of wire with multiple choices of metals, colours and gauges, as well as a wide choice of beads. But, both local and online offers are growing, so I’m sure there are many other good suppliers that are worth trying out.
Some tips to help you take your buying decisions
However, if you live in the European Union and you happen to come across some difficulties to find what you need in your local suppliers or if you simply decide to try buying online for any other reason, I think it may be useful to tell you about my experience with these few shops. But, most of all, I believe it is fundamental to share some information about our European consumer rights, to help you to better assess online offer, in case you are an online shopper beginner as I was. So, later on our posts we’ll come back on this issue to list some tips on how to buy safely online. Meanwhile, to carry on with our Creating Crocheted Jewellery series we will:
- Share information about our own online suppliers;
- Provide details concerning wire and jewellery supplies to help deciding what to buy;
- Present a very easy to make and lovely crocheted necklace.
Technorati Tags: beading, beadwork, Bijouterie, bijouterie crochetée, bijutaria, bijuteria, craft wire, croché, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery
Tags: beading, beadwork, Bijouterie, bijouterie crochetée, bijutaria, bijuteria, craft wire, croché, Crochet, crocheted jewellery, jewellery
Related Articles:
- What tools are necessary for wire crocheted jewellery?
- What about beads?
- What’s the best wire to start with?
- Where do I buy the wire to make crocheted jewellery?
- Once upon a time, a wire crotchetier was born…
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