Thanks for stopping by to visit our "About Us" Page,
We have created this page for a few reasons, First and foremost to thank those of you who check in with us and buy from our auctions. Thank you so much! We've had a great time meeting so many
wonderful people and learning about places all over the world!
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There are now 19 ladies in our group and co-op from all walks of life, some of us are retired Grannys, other's working Mums, Professionals and homemakers, quilters, doll makers, painters and all round crafters! The group does several charity events each year, We'd LOVE to share information with anyone on how to help a charity, or do your own charity fund-raiser where you make items for sale for a charity, or raise funds for a charity close to your heart.
The Ladies in our group are Christians for the most part, we try to keep a Christan attitude and would appreciate the same, You don't have to be a Christan to be nice, so we simply ask that you treat us in a manner in which you would like to be treated, those bidders who swear at us, threaten, or are just downright nasty will not be tolerated, we are happy to take negative feedback from them rather than deal with folks like this. Remember without sellers, bidders would have no reason to visit ebay so being nice is a big plus on both sides! !
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We put this page together in hopes we can give you a bit of information you might miss in our listings
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1. We are located in the United Kingdom, the stores we work with, and sell from, are owned by a large company with main offices in both the United States and Australia, We have Sister clubs in many parts of the world.
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2. The auctions listed on OUR auctions are ALWAYS sent from the United Kingdom, unless otherwise stated, Please see our listing for customs information. This is the reason for what might be seen as high postage. Please remember the US dollar is worth about HALF the British Pound, so when we figure your postage we have to figure it in US dollars, then convert it to Pounds when we pay at the post office, unless your item is a post card or a letter the CHEAPEST is will EVER
ship to you is £.168 UK Pounds, so double that cost, and you get the US equivalent, we give you a discount where the post office gives us one and then a discount if you buy so much from us in a given weekend.
Postal rates can be checked at Royal Mail online
By the same token when you pay $4.99 US dollars for a pattern, we get £2.50 in GBP ! So we are selling at wholesale or less most of the time with our starting price.
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We ONLY ship on Friday, this is because the post office is a train journey away for most of us, we take turns going to the post and packing items, when the group gets together on Tuesday evening for our weekly club meeting, we try to get all our packages packed, If you have not paid by Tuesday NOON EST, we don't pack your item/s, this saves us time, and shipping supplies if an item should go unpaid.
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Your item could take up to 30 WORKING days to reach you if you are outside the UK, please remember a working week is M-F ONLY not all post offices in the UK operate on weekend.
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Payments MUST be received within 10 days from the close of your FIRST auction, We are happy to work with you if you will ask and you need a bit more time, but you need to contact us, please don't assume we know your intentions to make payment. We will be re-listing ALL items not paid in 14 days, we just can't continue to hold patterns for weeks and months at a time folks , sorry but we are going to have to start cranking down on this, in some instances we have held pattern for 6 or more weeks! It's just too confusing and not at all cost effective for us to continue to do this.
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3. We REQUIRE your first and last name for ALL packages being sent, the Royal Mail service seems to return packets sent with only a business name, no idea why, but nearly all the returns we've had in the past have been to a business address, therefore we will not ship to an address which doesn't include your full name.
Thanks for understanding.
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4. Because we are located in the UK, there could be a BIG time difference, we do our best to check mail AT LEAST twice a day, but you may have to wait a few hours or even over night before you receive an answer to a question.
If your question involves who makes an item or supplies you may require for it, we can't always answer that type of question, our patterns are in an online data base they have a small thumbnail photo next to them and a front office
order number, so unless the 2 or 3 ladies answering questions for the week or month have this information from personal knowledge we can't answer this type of question, we'll help where we can though.
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5. Although we sell a good many new items, because we seldom if ever purchase directly ourselves, we ask that you consider all of our items used. Remember that we have kids, pets, customers who pull things out to look at them and messy husbands, plus the person who owned a pattern before us may have smoked or not been as careful as we are with their patterns. Because of the nature of the product we sell, returns are not accepted.
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6. Invoices and feedback are automated and manged through our auction management service
Please wait to pay if you want a combined invoice we don't have time to refund and re-invoice, I know that sounds harsh but ebay takes A LOT of time! Although we may only be able to leave dull automated feedback, know we'll never forget to leave feedback in response to yours
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7. Yep we have a bit of negative feedback, , but if you look you'll see it's from refusal on our part to deal with horrid bidders,someone who didn't look at postage cost BEFORE bidding, or from new pattern buyers who do not realise that not all patterns are made EXACTLY the same way and in no way do they resemble commercial patterns!! We do try to remember to let you know if a pattern is printed on both sides of the page, is in an language other than English, has a mark and so on, we may put your pattern in a new plastic cover if your is tatty and some items don't have plastic covers because the designer created them that way, we are human sometimes these little things do get overlooked :( but please ask us about it before you leave negative feedback for a missing piece or an odd cover, not every person is the same in the world, nor is ever pattern! A little about patterns in general.....
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A Note to NEW doll makers and pattern collectors. Each year we get at least one *unhappy* new doll maker/pattern collector who is unaware that 99% of the doll patterns we sell are created by individuals, as such they are not created in the same manner as big name, buy in the store catalog patterns. Most are created on a copy machine in the home of the designer or by a small copy center used by the designer, as resellers, we don't have quality control or input about how they design or market them. You will find the patterns may arrive in envelopes, paper bags, between sheets of colored paper, folded book style or flat and unfolded, often in a zippered plastic bag. They may contain pattern pieces on both sides of the paper, pieces that you need to tape together prior to cutting on fabric, pieces that need to be enlarged, or no pattern pieces at all, simply measurements within the pattern instructions. Photos vary from really great, to not so great and sometimes even downright poor, you may find them printed directly on plain paper, printed on paper then adhered to the pattern cover in some manner, glossy or matte photographs, line drawings in black and white or in color, or as the actual front cover.Some designers are very in-depth with instructions, others are not, we try to use their own descriptions of their patterns when possible. CD Patterns are becoming popular as well and you may find those offered from time to time. Designers create new covers, re-release and make changes to patterns all the time as we have recently discovered! Some have even quit making patterns for many years only to turn up again later under a new name. We are happy to see if we can find something for you, We get some really unusual patterns that turn up on Trade it Tuesdays. Please note we don't make copies of items you *HAVE MISSED* if you would like a pattern, please bid at the time the auction is listed. We buy at closeouts, yard sales, on ebay, at various auctions sites and auction warehouses as well as other outlets, please consider your pattern USED although it oft times may be new and simply be stock from our store or a Sister store, we often sell end of line, or where we only have one or two of a style left so it will auto reorder at front office for us, we do closeouts for others as well and buy a good deal of old stock. We do not have any smoking members, however the previous owners may have smoked, we do have pets and children and husbands though if you are allergic to any of those, please take care when bidding, we don’t know what the pattern packets may have been exposed to.
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If there is something we have missed on this page or in our listings, please take a look at our FAQ or drop us a line. Our intent is not to bore you to tears, but to try to inform you of every possibility.
Thanks again for taking the time to check in with us and for your custom! We really do enjoy this most days and try very had not to let a few bad apples ruin the whole bunch for those of you who are ROYAL GEMS!!
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We hope you find something you just can't wait to create!
May God Bless Each of you, Thank you for shopping with us
~All the Girls Across the Pond~
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**Because We ship Internationally ebay states we MUST include the following this is taken word for word from ebay: :
ALL Items are shipped from the UK therefore ALL of our auctions are international transactions! **All bidders OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM Please Note:*Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.*Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying.*These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight company or when you pick the item up, do not confuse them for additional shipping charges. *We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior. | | | |
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