Bellefeathers! 25 April 2007

Wow! Breaking News... The Bellwether is e-moving (or is that i-moving? LOL). Check out our in-progress new digs at www.thebellwether.biz!

I have the new site up and functional, but it has (as of this writing) only 41 of the 900+ items from the old website so far. Hey, I hear you laughing! Actually, it's not quite that bad -- first off, I found at least 5 typos and 1 dead email address on those 35 items (sheesh) and secondly, some of the 900 are old items that were removed from the website but not deleted from the server. The big fleece sale 2 years ago, for example.

Here's the deal: you _can_ order things on the new website. Currently (until I sort out SSL for your protection to my satisfaction) it takes check/money order or PAYPAL only (yep, Paypal!) -- you can click check/money order and ask for an online invoice if you really don't want paypal and tell me to email an invoice for non-paypal card payment. Because, this website has _new_ items on it that aren't on the old website -- bead spindle sets and the Signature Batt colorway Eggplant from Crosspatch Creations. Moving forward, I will be putting new items here and not on the old website. I hope to get the majority of the permanent listings up on .biz by the end of May, and will switch www.thebellwether.com over to point to the new webstore at that time.

Your input on the new website is welcome. Why am I changing, you ask? Because this tool is less expensive (_much_) than the Yahoo services. It also has the benefit of giving the shop a thorough spring cleaning!

Be looking for close-outs to be listed on eBay rather than show up on the new website. My eBay User ID is amelia.garripoli. My goal is to post/update 5 items a day -- either in the new shop, on eBay, or Spin-Sales on Yahoo! Groups. This process is also a paring down -- my focus moving forward is spindles, fine fibers, spinning tools, and nalbinding supplies; you'll be able to get close-out prices on weaving and knitting tools, some knitting pattern lines, and most of the non-spinning/nalbinding books. Feel free to email me an offer now if there's something you don't want to wait for!

(PS: I know the old webstore has many underlying URLS of the form store.carlsonwoollies.com -- that will end up being defunct, so if you have bookmarked pages, they may end up 404ing on you -- I apologize! I plan to capture as many of the published thebellwether.com URLs as I can and set up forwards, but I just don't know yet if the carlsonwoollies.com URLs will be something I can catch -- it all depends on how Yahoo handles store "closings". Keep your fingers crossed, and comment or mail in suggestions. You will notice in the new webstore that the shopping cart currently uses the host's URL for SSL, camelot-hosting, and my account name, poetread -- it's all "me"!)

And breaking news ... I'm selling a few of my gently-used spinning wheels! A Majacraft Little Gem ($400+ship) and a Schacht Matchless Double Treadle with everything -- Woolee Winder, High Speed and Extra High Speed whorls and bobbins ($800 + how-do-you-ship-something-this-big??) [sold, many thanks!]

Whew! what a busy bee, all this website work makes me! More to come ... feedback and questions always appreciated!

4 comments:

Heather said...

ah! a lil gem! how i covet it!
do you take payments?????

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Did you already sell your Majacraft? I emailed you from the kbb site and I'm very interested! Thanks!

Amelia of Ask The Bellwether said...

Thanks ladies :-) I'll get in touch via email with status.

Hello blog-land: I have a list of folks getting in touch with me about the wheel, and will post a new comment when the wheel is sold. I'd be happy to put you on the list. (And no, it's not a bidding war; just me being polite and handling inquiries in the order they came in...)

Amelia of Ask The Bellwether said...

Thank you!

The Little Gem and the Schacht have both been sold. I appreciate the questions, inquiries, and interest in these wheels and am very pleased to have found them great new homes.

Best wishes to those looking for a wheel -- I'm sure you'll find one you love!