While we always attempt to be prompt answering email comments and questions personally, reading these commonly asked questions can answer many questions without waiting for personal response.  

Thanks, Gary O

 

 

 

 

FAQ s – Frequently Asked Questions:

 

 

Q:     I’d like to know more. How can I learn more before I start asking specific questions via email?

A:    You’ve come to the right place my friend! Start by reading this complete FAQ. Also you can find tons of cool stuff in our blog: http://willowproducts.blogspot.com/

Of course our catalog has lots of info too! Here’s a link to it : http://www.willowproducts.com/media/documents/Catalog.pdf

 

 

 

Q:     I use “Brand Casti-something” and what to know if your products are like “Brand Casti-something”   ?

A:    Sorry… while not everyone agrees, many artists find our products are better than Brand Casti-something … and we agree with those wonderfully smart and honest artists. ;-). Bottomline… if you like what you’re using, then why change? But if you want to explore please give us a try. Yes, you may change your workflow just a bit… but probably not!

 

If you want to know what is “most” like Brand Casti-something, then I’d suggest FUSE or ZEN.

 

 

Q:     What your best one?    Or what is your favorite?   What do most pro’s seem to favor?

A:    Best is too subjective. We offer a wide range of products to accommodate that range of artist’s preference. My favorite is ZEN.  Many pros love FUSE for bodies. And while it’s very very firm, many pro’s like 3Sixty (360) for small single piece sculpts like a face or detailed hand.

 

Q:     I use polymer clay.. you know Super Sculp-something. I’m looking for something like that!  Whatcha got?

A:    If you’re an experienced sculptor you already know that working with wax is pretty much the exact opposite of polymer clays. The workflows are really that different. Think about it for a moment….polymer clays are so soft at room temperature than you need wire to get them to stand up and before they are baked in an oven, a slip of the thumb can smash a face flat! But a hard wax is just the opposite. Our hard waxes like ZEN, FUSE, and 3Sixty are VERY firm at room temperature. You can hold them in your hand without losing the details. To make them soft , they need to be heated….. and when they are heated they become soft and malleable much like polymer clays. Let the wax cool to room temperature and it’s hard again. Now to credit polyclay you can’t bake wax into a unchangeable rock. BUT remember that polyclay is harder to rework. Wax remains pretty much the same for many years and can be modified, altered, or improved easily.

 

We do have some softer waxes like AIR and ETHER that do feel very similar to polymer clays even without heat. There has been some professional polyclay artists that declare them great because of that fact. Even the harder products like ZEN, FUSE, and Max11 that WHEN HEATED feel similar to poly, but AIR and ETHER feel similar to polyclay without heating.

 

To understand how the waxes that are hard at room temperature behave when soft, watch these videos:

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_model1.wmv

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_handle.wmv

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/zen_shaving1.wmv

 

Bottomline, if you want a wax that is similar in feel to polymer clay , then try AIR and ETHER.

 

 

Q:     I don’t have a hot pen… Is it a must?

A:    No! I used waxes for 20 years without one. Does a hot pen speed things up and allow you to do some special techniques… yes!

 

 

Q:     If I don’t have a pen, how do I work the wax?

A:    Even if you have a pen, you’re going to need to be able to heat most of the waxes in order to work them. Here’s a few videos to demonstrate:

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/360hot_air_setup.wmv

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/ADO%20TOOL%20hypo.wmv

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/Softening%20wax%20with%20blade.wmv

http://www.willowproducts.com/media/videos/Warming_wax.wmv

 

 

Q:     Do you give away free samples and then mail them to me for free?

A:    I wish we could…. Sorry . We’re not a large corporation with marketing budgets and lots of free time. We’re a home-based business and we have day jobs that allow us to continue this hobby business in the evening and on the weekends! But we do offer every wax we sell in small ¼ pound prices. You can find more info in the catalog.

 

 

Q:     How do I pay? What forms of payment do you accept?

A:    We use PayPal because of it’s speed, reliability, security, and ease. And our invoice system does NOT require you to have a PayPal account. PayPal invoices can also be paid with major credit cards, bank drafts, etc.  We will accept checks and money orders mailed to our PO Box but remember that these methods will slow down the amount to time it just to get your order started. We’ll have to exchange email to approve and will have to wait for funds to clear.

 

Q:     How much does it cost to ship to me?

A:    Here is the latest info ( subject to charge without notice without our control ): Please note that we do not charge additional fees for packaging or shipping . There is a nominal exchange rate fee added for international shipments by PayPal, but again we only access that charge as PayPal charges us. It is our experience and firm opinion that USPS offers the best combination of speed vs. costs.

Here's what USPS quotes as of Feb 2009

 

US:

1 pound ,        3-4 day delivery = $ 4.95

2-11 pounds , 3-4 day delivery = $ 10.35

12-19 pounds  3-4 day delivery = $ 13.95

________________________________________

 

Canada and Mexico:

1 pound ,       6-10 day delivery = $ 10.95

2-11 pounds , 6-10 day delivery = $ 25.95

12-19 pounds, 6-10 day delivery = $ 32.95

_________________________________________

 

World:

1 pound ,       6-10 day delivery = $ 12.95

2-11 pounds , 6-10 day delivery = $ 41.95

12-19 pounds, 6-10 day delivery = $ 53.95

 

You can find out more here:

http://www.usps.com/tools/calculatepostage/welcome.htm?from=home_header&page=calculatepostage

 

 

 

Q:     Can you track shipments in the US?

A:   Priority can only confirm 2 things ( with paid confirmation, $.60 extra) : 1) That the package has left our address and 2) That it has arrived at your address. We can not trace in between. But so far out of Hundreds upon Hundreds of shipments I believe they have only "lost" 1 package due to their mistake. But confirmation is well worth the $.60 in terms of knowing that you package may be sitting at your post office.

 

 

Q:     Can you track International shipments ?

A:  International shipments use a unique serial number assigned to each form and while we can provide that number, it can do little to trace the shipment as it moves. We know that on boxes, it can help your postmaster identify your package once it is received in your country. On the 1 pound and less sent in envelopes it may help inside your country, but know it is of little help from here in the US. We know that other transportation provides better tracking and you can get the quotes on-line…. It will probably stun you as much as it does us… unless you’re “dripping rich  at which point none of this matter anyway! J

 

Q:     Can you make the Customs documents favor me in terms of what import duties I might pay?

A:   No… Sorry… and here’s why:  We know that some of our international community gets hit with additional fees imposed by their own country's import duties, tariffs, taxes etc. Please understand that there is nothing we can really do about it. We use the best fit harmonized code of 3407 00 00 which is relatively low in most countries. The ONE thing that the US government demands ( with threat of long jail terms for mail fraud) is absolute honesty on the Exportation Documents. This means reporting contents and their value to the best of our abilities. Additionally, most countries track 4 things :

 

1)     Who sent it? 2) Who is receiving it?  3) What does it weigh?  and 4) What is the value?

 

As you can see, since we sell by the pound, have a website , and we have made many shipments ( probably to your country) , fradulent claims would be a big mistake. Besides being easy to detect, both electronically and physically, it would put us and you at risk…. our business, our personal lives, all our customers in any given country, and possibly our family lives. We love our customers, but as you can see, we have no choice but to be professional and honest to the point of losing a sale. We just have to be that way, even if it is an old friend and his birthday J !!!

 

Lastly please note that if your credit card or bank transfer is made in currencies other than USD (this means almost all outside US), we have to pay an additional currency exchange fee. This is a change that is beyond whether US dollar is weak or strong, which is our problem not yours. Even though this fee is actually value based, we have decided to charge a flat fee of $1.50 USD . Sometimes we'll lose a few pennies, sometimes we make an additional few pennies. The important thing for you to know is that we're not charging you extra bucks just to hide profit!

 

Q:     I don’t see a place on the order form, where do I enter my credit cards information?

A:    We NEVER ask for your credit card information and if ANYONE asks it from you in the form of email DO NOT ever give it out! We use an invoicing system which has several advantages for you! You don’t pay until we’ve reviewed your order, established the shipping costs, and sent you an invoice. This means that you’re out of money for longer than necessary if we are out of stock. It also means that PayPal’s security system is in place and we don’t have to worry about the security of YOUR credit card information.

 

Q:     Wow… you offer too many to choose from! Can you just mail me a free sample of them all?

A:    We’d love to be a big and profitable enough company to say “Sure, no problem”. But the reality is that Jake and I are 2 guys with day jobs and family… and we each work out of our home-based shops. And only experience will show you the effort and cost that packaging and labeling requires, not to mention that the product costs us real money… and so does packaging… and the cost of mail. But to make it possible for you to try before spending big bucks, we do offer ¼ pound samples for sale… and at prices that are very low risk. See our on-line catalog for details.

 

 

Q:     I can’t get PDF catalog to open ?

A:    Please be sure you are using the latest and free PDF reader. There’s a link at the bottom of our homepage. If you still have issues, please email us.

 

 

Q:     Can you recommend what you think is your best product ?

A:    For general purposes, ZEN (G) is my favorite. For some very small work I like 360. For carving tiles and reliefs I use ICE.

 

 

Q:     I keep getting your voice mail when I call ?

A:    Please remember that we’re a small part-time business and we generally can not take calls during the workday as it would not be fair to our employer. Text messages or email can be answered more easily as we can fit them into breaks, lunch, etc. We do try to be accessible, but not to the detriment of our full time jobs.

 

 

Q:     I placed my order 15 minutes ago, but still have not received an invoice ?

A:    OK, I know that’s only happened a few times J  . If you haven’t been invoiced within 72 hours, then you may want to send an enquiry via email, which will be personally answered as soon as possible.

 

 

Q:     I paid my invoice yesterday , but still have not received a box?

A:    Remember the shipping delivery times as mentioned above. And of course we have a bit of work to do to get it ready. We try to time your payment to our shipping as tight as possible, but there can be a day or two gap. Our standard leadtime is quotes as 2 weeks. Often it is as little as 5-6 days. Sometimes it’s as long as 3 weeks… especially if we have a backlog and you’re out of USA. We are striving to reduce this leadtime as we can do so.