Information for tartan buyers

[Benning Boy]

The purpose of this thread is to gather in one place as much useful information as possible about placing bespoke orders for tartan. It is intended to help those who may want to order a variation of an established sett, one that is not kept in stock by tartan weavers, or those who desire to design and have woven tartan of an entirely new sett.


Primarily this is a thread where those who have “been there, and done that” can share knowledge gained with those wondering about how to go through the process themselves.Posts to this thread should contain only factual information based on the writer's personal experiences. This is not a thread for the posting of second hand information, or hearsay, or opinions not directly derived from the poster's personal experience. This is not a thread for the posting of unfounded opinion. However, opinion cannot be altogether avoided. When one who posts here expresses an opinion on some matter they should provide factual reasons for that opinion. Posts which might begin “If I were to place a bespoke order for tartan, this is what I'd do” are not appropriate. This is a thread about doing, and not speculating.


On the other hand, those who are undertaking a bespoke order of tartan for the first time are encouraged to share their stories relating the process involved, who they've worked with, how they arrived at decisions, what influenced their decisions, and other information that another first time buyer might find useful. Even if one chose not to go through with a bespoke order after some consideration, the reasons why could be of value to others and are appropriate to share.


Most are understandably reluctant to share personal financial information. However, in the end, tartan buying comes down to how much one is willing to spend to get what is wanted. Those who post to this thread are encouraged to share as much information about the cost of ordering tartan as they are comfortable with. Things that might be of value to others are design costs, if any, actual cost of the weaving, how payments were made, shipping/carriage costs, taxes and tariffs, unexpected hidden costs and that sort of thing.


When relating costs use standard abbreviations for common currencies. British pounds should be designated with the abbreviation GBP, United States dollars as USD, Canadian dollars as CAD, Australian dollars as AUD, Euros as EUR and so forth. This will help readers to understand more clearly amounts being discussed. Nearly all tartan will be valued in GBPs to begin with. Those living outside Great Britain should convert the value in GBP to that of their national currency and share costs in both currencies. For example, one living in the United States should present costs in both GBP and USD, basing the prices in USD on the exchange rate at the time payment was made.


Those who tell of orders they made in the past, but who do not know the exchange rate at the time they actually made payment, should, by way of example come as close as they can with their figures. If all else fails, use current exchange rates for illustrative purposes.


As X Marks readers hail from many lands it would be appropriate to include somewhere in a post the exchange rates for several currencies on the day in question, to better help readers around the world understand the costs being discussed. Especially those in Great Britain, who wouldn't ordinarily be concerned about exchange rates, should include in their remarks exchange rates for other common currencies to better help readers from elsewhere understand the costs involved.


Exchange rates can be found at these sites, among others:


http://www.xe.com/


http://www.oanda.com/currency/historical-rates/


Other information useful to potential tartan buyers could be relevant. For example, simply posting a link to another thread within the X Marks fora could be useful, as could a link to an outside site with helpful information. Feel free to post to this thread anything you think might further the overall purpose,even if only a link with brief explanation for it. Usefulness is the main criterion.


All who post should try each time to include a title with their post. When posting, at the top of the on-line form, is a window labeled Title: Use this space to describe your message accurately. For example, if you are posting about a personal experience title you post Personal Experience. If you are posting a link, title your post link, or something along these lines. Posting titles with each message will help readers to skim the thread for information they can use. Don't use the title as a headline to lure readers in, but as a way of labeling the posts to make research easier.


Please do not post to this thread things that are merely comments on the thread, Such as“I really like this,” or “this thread sucks.” To be most useful over the long haul the thread needs to remain as uncluttered as possible. The thread may suck, but entropy sucks more.


This thread does not exist apart from others. All X Marks The Scot forum rules apply here. As with all threads the moderators have the final say on matters brought to their attention. Any issues one has with this thread should be called directly to the moderators attention, and not made the subject of discussion within this thread.


X Marks the Scot guidelines on product reviews and endorsements pertain. See them here:


http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...rtising_policy