London: habby hell (part 2)
July 27, 2010
Dritz 11 mm snap fasteners, pack of 7, USA: $2.49 at Joann’s.
Prym 12 mm snap fasteners, pack of 6, central London: guess how much?
If you guessed a whopping £5.88, you’re right! That’s US$9.13, or more than triple the price.
That’s a horrendous price for a package of snaps. Such things were once so cheap it was almost embarrassing to buy them, but times have changed. I wonder if it’s because sewing is a hobby now for most people rather than a serious way of economizing. If they suspect you’re buying for fun rather than necessity they just treat you like a big old money tree.
Speaking of hobbies and being embarrassed, I’m just now catching on to your meaning when you say “habby hell”. All this time I thought you were making a typo, or maybe it was some cute London way of pronouncing “hobby”. Well, duh, of course, it’s short for “haberdashery”, isn’t it. Yes, I noticed that you talk about going to the haberdashery to buy sewing notions, but I didn’t connect it with the title.
In Canada, “haberdashery” usually means a store that sells accessories for men – ties, socks, gloves, hats, etc. I don’t know if there are any left in existence, which is too bad because it’s one of my favourite words. I would love to be able to say I’m going to the haberdasher’s to pick up some Irish linen handkerchiefs and a tartan scarf for my husband. The equivalent for ladies was a millinery shop.
Sewing supplies come from a fabric store or a crafty-hobby big-boxy type of place, or worse, a dollar store. It would be so much more fun to call it a haberdashery, even if it wasn’t any different in reality. I don’t know if I would like it enough to pay your prices, though.
It made me laugh – at least one other American has pointed out that you could have it worse – you could be paying what we pay for health care! (Which, believe me, even with insurance, would be ALOT of patterns and other sewing stuff!)
Rena
May I point out that you get to live in London? I, for one, am jealous.
(And don’t ask me how much I owe various medical providers right now, please!)
In other words, everything is a trade-off.
Rena
Ouch. Was that at JL or McC&W? I try to buy all my basic habby online, either from Sewessential.co.uk (where they stock the cheaper Hemline brand that’s half the cost of Prym!) or on eBay when I have advanced warning for a project. But for specialist stuff I usually have to head into the West End to MacCulloch & Wallis or Kleins. But at least we have access to this stuff, full-stop. I’d rather go into town than pay the eye-watering shipping costs for ordering online at McC&W, for example…
I wish I lived in the States… you have such amazing prices… I paid 4 $ for 2 very simple dress zippers…the problem I find with stocking up on notions is that you never have what you need…
Are they as expensive in less expensive parts of England? …And ordering from Hong Kong works really well for little electronic parts.
When it’s too painful, just think about healthcare.
Yikes! I thought notions were getting expensive in the States lately–but I’m absolutely floored by how pricey it is for you! (And how depressing this is; now I feel so badly for all the UK/European sewists who have to put up with the prices.) I like the idea of American tourists bringing cases of notions with them for trade (me, I’d be wanting English tea of various sorts in trade
–that’d be perfect! haha!
♥ Casey
blog | elegantmusings.com
Hmpf, I guess the price is so high because it’s exactly the same in Euro in Germany. And Prym is a german company. I can only guess that they are the last ones how cater to home sewers in Europe and are therefore able to dictate the price. In addition I fear the snaps aren’t even made in Germany or Europe as the company-homepage is only mentioning “globally networked production facilities”… la,la,la * trying to ignore things I can’t change*
I paid €11 for 1000m Gutterman just yesterday. I know it’ll take me a long way, but compared to prices elsewhere, I wonder who’s RTW pockets are getting lined. Next time I’m in Canada, I’ll be stocking up and if you make a list, I will be happy to “La Poste” some your way!
I, too, can mail you care packages because I guarantee I can get those snaps for 99 cents in Texas. The price differences are often consequences from political choices but I don’t think you want the blog and comments to turn towards that contentious direction. I do admire your tool collection and I would only suggest a dressmaker dummy. That is the Holy Grail tool that I still lack. Wendy Bernard, in her book Custom Knits, gives a good tutorial on making a homemade version. I have seen different versions in Threads magazines as well. I keep holding off because I keep having hope that my body shape will change first (i.e. lose weight).
I’ll be away for two weeks starting this weekend, but there’s a JoAnn’s down the block from me, and a post office down the road from where I work. Or at the latest I’ll probably be back to London next summer if shipping costs are a problem.
Your readership can make care packages happen.
I absolutely feel your pain and lament with you over the price of notions, fabric – especially FQs & organic – and patterns in UK. I often say how envious I am of American sewers and everything that is available to them at great prices. I now buy my patterns from USA as still cheaper with shipping and my notions from Asia in bulk. It feels insane?!
love the idea of care packages from US penpals
I used to regularly travel to States so would get items sent to my hotel. Sadly a package of several patterns went awol andI lost my money so stopped doing that.
I wonder if it would work to make a pen pal in the USA and get them to mail you cheap Jo-Ann’s sewing notions, kind of like a care package? Can you buy from Jo-Anns and ship to the UK or does the shipping cost make it not worth it? (I suppose having to wait would be a pain, too..)
Our trims are reasonably priced in Canada but we don’t get the same kind of crazy sales like in the USA – no 99 cent patterns!
OK, well then I have a proposal. Americans who visit the UK or Denmark should bring suitcases full of notions, which can then be traded. I will take trades in Treo and Appelsin Squash in DK, and Cadbury bars and touristy tea towels in the UK.
Those cost 59,50 kroner in Denmark – that’s 6,67 pounds sterling. So it could be worse.
Really?? Are they made out of PURE GOLD in Denmark?
That is insane.
now I’m MORE thankful to be an american. LOL
Holy MOLEY. Why is everything so much more expensive? You’ve got VAT figured into the price, but it can’t be that much. I live in Podunk, California, and I often wish I could get the stuff available in big cities (we have Joann’s and a quilt shop), but at least I can buy notions without going broke.