Cool site of the week - 3/23/09

Look at me, on time for a change! Yes, it does happen ocassionally :)

Today's cool site of the week is one that's near and dear to my heart. I've recently ordered a new Majacraft Rose spinning wheel and I'm sooooo anxious for its arrival. Majacrafts are excellent wheels - smooth, beautiful, long lasting and high quality. Their parts and accessories are pretty much interchangeble between most of their wheels and they are very flexible in terms of positioning. For example, you can choose to have the flyer set up for right or left handed spinning. You can angle the the orifice, raise or lower the head, use a delta orifice or a fine fiber orifice, change whorls and ratios and more. I fell in love with Majacraft wheels after I received my first Alpaca wheel back in January (I purchased used from a fellow Raveler). Unfortunately, that wheel arrived damaged and had to be replaced, this is how I came in contact with Tracy at Woolly Designs.

Ok, I know you're thinking - "what's so great about another spinning wheel dealer...?" Well, there's a lot that's great about Woolly Designs. Tracy and Jean are fabulous! Majacraft directed me to Tracy (their designated US repairer/dealer) for information on fixing my damaged wheel. Tracy however realized that the broken base would require a total replacement and that the new base would need to be shipped from New Zealand. He also advised me there was a chance the new base would not fit my wheel perfectly. He gave me all the pros and cons and left the decision up to me - no pressure. Once I realized the cost to replace would be about the same as the cost to repair, it was a no brainer, I was getting a new wheel!

Tracy created a very detailed document outlining the costs and risks involved in both replacement and repair options. I submitted the document to my carrier for my insurance claim and they accepted it and sent me a check for my new wheel. Since Woolly Designs prices their wheels based on the current rate of exchange of the New Zealand dollar, I saved over $250 on my new wheel! Yes, that's right... two hundred and fifty dollars. YES - you read correctly! Here's how it works...

Most dealers offer Majacraft wheels for the average suggested price of let's say, $850 for a Rose wheel. Woolly Designs looks at the rate of exchange based on the New Zealand dollar. At the time I purchased my wheel the exchange rate was about $2 NZ for every one US dollar. That made my $850 NZ wheel, about $425! Woolly charges about $100 shipping from NZ + plus a small profit for them and voila! I pay $596 for my Rose. That's a savings of $254! Yes, its true. Woolly Designs has basically chosen to make less of a profit on the sale of Majacraft wheels so they can pass the savings onto the buyer. You gotta love that! I used the extra cash to buy a High Speed Head and a Lace Kit. My new Rose wheel is on its way with accessories, for less than I paid for my Suzie Alpaca wheel. This is why Woolly Designs has earned today's cool site of the week award! http://www.woollydesigns.com/

If you're interested in a Majacraft wheel, please contact Woolly Designs. That is of course if you want excellent service, support and have a desire to save money :)