A US shopping spree... from Denmark

I have a really lovely quilt shop locally – 15 min. drive. And I love going there and support them as much as I can. And believe me... I spend a fair amount of my hard erned money there. You see, fabric prices in Denmark are horrendous. $18-27 pr. meter and sometimes more for the Kaffe Fasset prints.  Another problem is that the range of prints are limited – at the shop they have a lot of Kaffe Fasset and bali prints and then some basic prints. Usually they don’t carry the latest fabric lines from Kaufmann or Moda.

So with all the temptations on line - new lines, great designs - I naturally  have bought some fabric from the US. Getting the fabric to Denmark however used to be a  real pain. First the seller has to agree to send to Denmark. Secondly, the international postage is often expensive. Thirdly, we have 25% tax of everything bought outside Europe we need to pay.  If it isn’t declared before, the package will be held at customs so delivery times vary a great deal and often involves several letters and transactions before the package is released. If taxes aren’t calculated correctly you even have to count in a fine as well as the taxes. All in all it used to be bit of a pain. An expensive pain.

Not so anymore though… I’ve started using ShopUsa to get my fabric here. It works perfectly smooth. When you register at ShopUsa you get an address at the ShopUsa warehouse in VA. This means I now have a US address and can purchase fabric from any shop even if they don’t deliver internationally.  I just type in a different delivery address than bill to address and pay with my credit card. All packages are then sent to the warehouse.

Today I received this eye candy from Fatquarterly - 19 pounds of various fabrics.

A huge pile of Terrain half yards:

I also got a mixed box of fabrics for only $55. This is a great way to build a stash. I got a lot of solids and lots, lots of prints. I've ordered fabric this way before - not from FatQuarterly though:

Of course there are always prints you like less or even some you don't like at all but I am sure that they will find a purpose some day... like these kids prints:

But there were also some great finds in the pile...

I can't wait to get started on something new!

So this is how it works. Once I’ve purchased fabrics at a US store I (of course) still need to pay the tax but ShopUsa handles this for me as well as the cost of sending the package here. Once I have registered my purchase at ShopUsa website (and this is very smooth) they give me a price for their charge (tax+postage). So far I their postage is VERY reasonable. They deliver once a week so I know exactly what day to expect the package.

I have bought fabric a few times this way by now and have to say I’m very pleased with the whole process. It’s fast and easy and 100% legal. It’s just less hassle than before. For every step you have an email notification, so you're on top of the transaction at all times.

I still buy most fabrics locally primarily because I really enjoy having the shop nearby and if I want it there, I need to support it as well. But for lines they don’t carry or a great offer like this box getting it from the US is a great alternative.