As I posted on Facebook this morning, I have decided, with a very heavy heart, to withdraw from the Auckland Art & Craft Fair. My current inventory is very low, and I have been waiting for the supplies I’ve ordered from the USA and Hong Kong to arrive. I’ve searched and searched for New Zealand (or even Australian) suppliers, but the very small handful that I’ve found have limited inventory and rather steep prices.
I have had three very frustrating situations with ordering supplies since I have moved back to New Zealand. Firstly, one lot of pendant settings and cabochons I ordered from a US supplier almost four weeks ago still hasn’t arrived. I was hoping to check the quality of these and then order more to make necklaces for the craft fair if I liked them, but it’s too late for that now.
Secondly, I ordered some 20 inch silver snake chains from another supplier on Etsy, only for them to tell me that they didn’t have any in stock, they only had 18 inch chains. I told them I didn’t want the shorter ones, but they didn’t respond and sent them anyway, as I found out when they arrived two weeks later!
Finally, I received one lot of brass charms that I ordered off an Etsy supplier a couple of days ago, and I am very disappointed with them. The photos on the supplier’s Etsy store are lovely, but the actual charms are very lightweight and cheap-feeling, and I’m not happy using them.
It costs too much and takes too long to send the supplies back from NZ to the USA, so not only was it a waste of time and money, I still don’t have the supplies I need. I have been searching frantically for more (using up my limited internet data allowance), but realized I will still have the same problem – the long wait for the supplies to arrive, and the uncertainty of their quality. The craft fair is only four weeks away, thus my decision to withdraw.
These frustrations are also leading me to consider closing up shop entirely. I don’t have the funds to be throwing at supplies that take weeks to get here and may or may not be usable when I can’t feasibly return them. The exchange rate and the cost of postage to have them sent here is also difficult to justify.
I’m so sad and disappointed. I have spent several hundred dollars on the business in the last few weeks. I returned the printer I bought (a miracle, given how difficult it is to return things in New Zealand if you just change your mind, thank you Bond & Bond), so at least that’s $300 back in my bank account (albeit briefly, the dog needs a growth excised from his gum and tested, to the tune of $500…) My regret at returning to New Zealand is mounting.
Anyway, watch this space, since I could well be announcing a closing down sale soon!
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