Soft Flex
More Than Just Beading Wire
Sara Hardin of the Soft Flex Company’s web site recently invited me to visit their site. I had the opportunity to browse the online shop and features and was pleasantly surprised by what is offered. More than just a beading wire supplier, Soft Flex has all kinds of products for your shopping pleasure, plus great “extras” that make their site special.
Soft Flex’s main product is flexible beading wire, with a plethora of colors and sizes available. Quality ranges from craft (Econoflex ™ 7-strand) to professional (Soft Flex ™ 21- and 49-strand) grades; I have used Soft Flex wire for all types of stringing projects very successfully. The Extreme 925 product (sterling silver wire rather than steel) is very nice for Illusion-type jewelry.
In addition to offering their brand of beading wire, Soft Flex sells other beading products – beads, findings, books, tools and other stringing supplies – with reasonable pricing. There are no discounts for multiple quantities, but you can get discounts if you have a tax-ID resale number and sign up for their wholesale pricing (minimum purchase applies),
Shopping is a little difficult to navigate – when you click on a category, you will only see a handful of items to purchase. However, if you click on links on the left side of the screen, you will be taken to additional items in each subcategory. (For example, click on the Findings link on the main shopping screen and you will only see four items to choose from. However, if you click on the 1-Strand Clasps link to the left, you will be taken to a section with 77 corresponding items.)
Once you figure out how to navigate, shopping is quick and easy.
Check out via a secure shopping cart using your Visa, MasterCard or American Express account. The first time you check out, you must sign up for an account, providing contact information and setting up an account ID and password. Personally, I like to opt out of signing up for an account – sometimes I don’t have easy access to my ID and password and need to order something as a “guest” and appreciate that option.
During account sign up, you can indicate that you’d like to receive additional emails for discounts and specials.
Shipping is reasonable with a $5.00 Ground shipping option. I added several items to my shopping bag and was pleased that the $5.00 option was still available, no matter how much I added. If you need your order faster, additional shipping options are available.
In addition to shopping on the Soft Flex Company web site, you can read design tips, articles about spotlighted designers, and book reviews. Another nice feature is “Ask Sara”, where you can send a specific question to Sara Hardin and receive a personal response. I also like the free tutorials, which include “shopping lists” of materials needed. One suggestion I have is to link from the tuts to the products (if they are available on the site) for really easy shopping!
Visit Soft Flex to see for yourself, and thanks Sara, for the invitation to “visit”!
