Blitsy
brings you the best craft supplies at up to 70% off. We are on the
frontlines of the crafting industry, discovering and delivering the
latest designs and trends from your favorite brands. You'll find steals
on products for paper crafting, needle crafts, kids, fine arts, jewelry,
and so much more!
The Good:
Blitsy has a nice selection of current items.
I was a skeptical at first. I find that when some stores claim to sell
"overstocks" at a discount, the merchandise is old, outdated or not
anything you would want to purchase anyway. Blitsy is selling current,
popular items from popular manufacturers. Recently, they had Tim Holtz
mini distress inks, Julie Nutting Prima dolls, Prima flowers, stamps
and embellishments, Memory Box dies, Bo Bunny, Basic Grey, My favorite
Things, Papermania and more. Other categories include fine art
supplies including gesso and paint as well as supplies for jewelry
making, knitting and crochet, sewing, kids crafts and more. They sell
craft items you would actually want to buy, not just the leftovers. All at less than retail prices.
Items were as promised: When I received my order, it was exactly as advertised and pictured on the website. Nothing to complain about there.
Oh Blitsy, I really wanted to like you. I really did. But alas, I cannot not. Here is why:
The Bad:
Prices are not that great: I don't know about you but I try to avoid paying retail prices for craft supplies. Ever. Crafting is a hobby for me so I don't like to pay a lot for items that I do not need. I am willing to pay full price for the things I must
buy- like food & transportation- necessities. ( Even with then, I
tend to focus on weekly special items in the grocery store circular and
try to fill up my car when the local gas station has $.05 off per
gallon). While the Blitsy site says they have craft supplies at up to
70% off, I did not see that level of discount in the papercraft
supplies I looked at. The discounts for the papercrafting category seemed to be 15%
to 30% off. Since I avoid paying retail pricing anyway, a 30% discount
when I have to pay 20% in shipping isn't much of a draw for me.
Login required, even to browse:
Retail websites that require you to set up an account and log in even
to look are a personal pet peeve of mine. Seriously, Blitsy, I came
to your website to see if I wanted to have a relationship with you and
you are demanding my name and email address before we even say "helllo"
No casual drive-by looking here. Annoying.
Expensive shipping:
Another pet peeve is web retailers who charge excessive shipping fees.
Apparently, Blitsy is determined to make it up for its product "discounts" by overcharging on shipping. My order cost $9.99 to ship.
I almost cancelled it when I saw the shipping cost. This is what I
ordered:
A
couple of Prima doll stamps, Prima color bloom spray in berry wine( new
to me and I wanted to try it) and a few colors of Viva Modeling Creme (
you can make and color your own for a lost less but I really like the
colors of the Viva creme)
My order was shipped in this box:
This did not cost Blitsy $9.95 to ship. My guestimate that actual cost to ship was $5.95
Slooooow order processing and shipping:
This is where Blitsy really lost me. I placed my order on February
13. I received my items on March 12. The items ordered were not
pre-order items nor did they site indicate that they were out of stock
when I ordered so I don't understand how it could have possibly taken 30
days to get my order. Now in fairness to Blitsy, on their website, in
their FAQ section, under "Shipping", it says:
"Shipping times vary by product. Many of our items ship within 2-3
business days, but others can take up to 7-14 business days. Every
product will have an estimated shipping date posted in the item
description. Please note, your order will ship once all items are
available."
I
did not notice the disclaimer before I placed my order but even at an
estimated 7-14 business days for order fulfillment there is no way my
items should have taken a month to arrive. Especially for items that I
could have walked into Joanns or gone to my LSS and purchased several
times over in the time it took Blitsy to ship to me.
Poor Communication: I
try not to get antsy when place an online order. I know that there
will be a lag between the time I order my items and the time they
arrive, no matter how impatient I am. However, the wait is so much
more tolerable when you know what the heck is going on. Blitsy did not
provide an order update. Not one.
Constant Emails/Spam-
Number of emails I rececived in 30 days updating my on my orde status: 0
Number of emails I received in 30 days urging me to shop at Blitsy: 59 ( I counted)
Seriously, Blitsy, I don't need to hear from you that much. At least ship my order first.
Although my order took about 3 weeks to ship, my credit card was charged immediately:
Different stores handle this differently. Personally, I think the
most appropriate policy is to charge the card only when the item is
shipped, but stores vary. Normally, shipping delays are not significant
enough for this to become an issue for me but you should NOT charge my card and then take 3 weeks to ship.
My verdict?: The
small discount off retail pricing did not make the order worthwhile
especially when the slow shipping time and expensive shipping costs are
factored.
Blitsy
is another entry into an already crowded retail space and they have
done nothing to make me interested in ordering from them. Slow and
expensive shipping for items that are minimally discounted is not a good combination for me. YMMV.
