Ordering online

[SilverCreek 0]

You can order manufactured brand named materials with confidence. You can order brand named natural dubbing mixtures and they will be very consistent. Off brand manufactured materials like tungsten beads, for example, may not match your expectations OR you may find they are great bargains. I always examine deer/elk hair, hackle, and bird skins before buying if it is from a shop I do not know.

 

As for fly shops, I've been to some shops where nothing interests me and others (Blue Ribbon Fly Shop in West Yellowstone, Mt.) that not only buy prime deer hides and processes it but also mixes their own dubbing. You can mail order buy their dubbing mixtures with confidence.

[Chia 0]

If I could, you can order from my local fly shop feathercraft. Great stuff.

[Patriot 0]

I was recently in the market for some Flexibody. This is a synthetic material used to make segmented nymph abdomens with. I learned of it in Oliver Edward's excellent Flytyer's Masterclass book.

 

That said, I did manage to locate it on a few US website's, but none - zero - took the time to show the actual color of your selection on their webpage. IMO, there is no excuse for this. I have built website's for 15 or more years and its a no-brainer to add thumbnails next to color selections. And - a lot of websites that sell hooks do not bother informing you of how many hooks are in the package they are offering for sale. Sure, you can take a guess based on price, but why should we have to guess in the first place? There is no excuse for that and makes me feel that they take us for granted.

 

A few days back I was trying to make an on-line purchase, but their cart would not save my choices. I shot off an email to the vendor and to my surprise he/she apologized and told me to update my java script (that was not the problem). Two days later I tried again and everything worked as it should have in the first place. Again, I shot off an email telling them that I was finally able to place my order. They responded with an "Excellent! Thanks for your order." In this case, I at least got a response from the vendor. I could have shopped elsewhere, but they had exactly what I needed (several items), plus they did not charge for shipping.

 

So, if you can't find what you need locally, you're at the mercy of on-line vendor's. I just wish some of them would take the time to test their webpages so they would understand what we have to go through when we visit.

 

Perhaps we should be able to 'rate' on-line vendor's in this forum? That would get their attention. Collectively, we spend a lot of cash on these website's, so if I was an on-line vendor I would probably want to stay on our good side. Just a thought.

 

Thanks!

[mikechell 0]

Probably not, Patriot. The "rating system" would be too subjective.

A web-illiterate person's inability to navigate a website might be a reason to give terrible ratings, even if the problem if NOT the actual website's, but the person using it.

Many people only remember a one time bad experience, rather than the multiple good experiences before that one.

Most people don't know "why" they don't like one site over another ... they just "Don't"!

 

On the flip side ... I seriously doubt if the majority of online sales sites actively monitor theses sites. Bad reviews here are irrelevant when we represent a small percentage of fly anglers/tiers.

Considering the number of active members here ... I'd guess we're less than one percent.

 

Makes for a great forum site. Not so much as a "protest" site.

[Patriot 0]

@mikechell

 

I can't disagree with anything you wrote, but I still think it would be beneficial to have the ability to 'pull' a vendor's chain if they screw up on a regular basis.

 

Case in point: Every order I have placed for hooks has arrived smashed. The Tiemco boxes are not so much a problem because TMC takes the time to enclose their hooks in a small paper 'envelope' that most of us are familiar with. Daiichi, on the other hand, is a whole different story. This past Saturday, my order of Daiichi 1160 hooks arrived and as usual, the flimsy plastic vendor mail envelope was smashed. When I pulled out the inner plastic bag containing my order, hooks were everywhere. One of the boxes had been opened previously (or was never taped) and about half of its contents were everywhere. When I was sorting the hooks out they were of two different hooks sizes, so apparently hooks had escaped from two boxes not just one as I thought.

 

I was beyond words. My first thought was that for all of these years, I had taken TMC's thoughtfullness of protecting their hooks (and their customer's) by using small paper envelopes, for granted. Had Daiichi taken this extra step I would not have had the mess that I just described. IMO, not expecting tiny hooks not to escape a folded box is totally beyond reason.

 

Will I purchase Daiichi hooks again? Only if I cannot find an alternative hook, and I will search very hard before I do.

 

On the other hand, if the vendor had used one of USPS's small cardboard boxes the contents would have been afforded a lot more protection than the flimsy plastic envelope that was used. Is the vendor trying to save us money by doing this? The answer to that depends on several factors one of which is whether they charge us a shipping fee or not.

 

Speaking only for myself, when I place an order I expect it to arrive in good condition. I fully understand that these vendor's live in a very competitive world and to compete they must offer their products at the lowest price possible. I get it. But, again, all of this struggle is for naught if they deliver damaged goods by trying to save a few cents and end up losing their customer's because of it.

 

I'm off my soap box.

[Bimini15 0]

Identify the problem and act in consequence.

Is it the manufacturer box, or the way the shop mailed it?

Get in touch and let them know.

Based on the response, you make future decisions.

 

P.S. For those who remember, I am never buying Sperry shoes again.

[j8000 0]

I like going into fly shops. I only get the chance a couple times a year if I travel just right. The shops I've ever gone to, I've never found everything I want, the selection isn't the best. But I generally find a few things I could use and pick them up. All other times I rely on ordering materials and rarely been disappointed weather it be a shop far, far away or an Ebay seller. Once in awhile I have to send a friendly "hey, did you ship my items yet?" But mostly everything goes smoothly.

[Patriot 0]

I like going into fly shops. I only get the chance a couple times a year if I travel just right. The shops I've ever gone to, I've never found everything I want, the selection isn't the best. But I generally find a few things I could use and pick them up. All other times I rely on ordering materials and rarely been disappointed weather it be a shop far, far away or an Ebay seller. Once in awhile I have to send a friendly "hey, did you ship my items yet?" But mostly everything goes smoothly.

 

I have to agree with all that you noted. However, when I purchase CDC on-line, I have to cross my fingers and hope for the best. CDC is the one item I wish I could purchase in person because you never know what you're purchasing on-line in terms of quality.

 

Recently I was wondering what I was thinking when I purchased CDC feathers that were about 1/4-inch square. These must have been bought many years ago, but these turned out to be perfect for the #22-#24 size midge flies that I have been tying. My biggest challenge using these small feathers is trying to hold them over the hook to tie down, but if there's a will, there's a way.

 

I've never seen CDC this small offered on-line, but who knows?

[rstaight 0]

Of the few responses I have read I see some of the same things I have expierenced. Go to a local shop and they don't have what I need. So if I need it right away, it's what can I substitute. Oh crap, they don't have that either. What else can I use?

 

If I can wait I will grab something just so the trip isn't a total waste and go home, get on line and order it. I haven't been upset with anything I have ordered for everyday fishing. I just can't stand spending as much for shipping as what I did for the items I purchased. With that being said, if I tied presentation flies some of the capes and saddles wouldn't make the cut. But then again a lot of what you find at fly shops wouldn't make the cut either. But I could at least look at it.

 

You have to remember, local shops will normally carry what their customer base will buy. After all, they normally don't have the deep pockets to carry inventory that will only make a few sales a year.

 

One example I have is a local shop we used to have that moved to another town because of the local wealth had goose shoulders in various colors. Why did he have them? A gentleman he hooked up with when he started the store said he should carry them. The gentleman that made the suggestion was an avid classic salmon fly tier. This shops customer base in North Westernish Indiana was small mouth.

 

When I was thinking about Classic Salmon flies I bought what he had in goose shoulders. One package each of red, highlander green, blue, and yellow. He said he had those hanging for three years. He has never, and probably never will restock those items.

 

So the only thing I can really add is support the local guys when you can. When they don't something you can use you have to order it and take your chances.

[brooktrout308 0]

My experience with ordering on line is not so good, a friend of mine who don't have a computer asked me if I could order him 2 - 6wt. DT fly lines in Ivory, before I got them he wound up in the hospital and them a nursing home for about a year, long story short when I finally got to give him his lines they were Tan not Ivory yea close but not what he wanted or what I ordered.