Looking for The Wiggles merchandise? Look no further! The Wiggles Online Store
Written: Jul 23 '02 (Updated Sep 04 '02)
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I love to shop, my kids love The Wiggles, so naturally we all love The Wiggles Online Store. Since Wiggles merchandise is limited outside Australia, having a shop that offers a great selection with excellent service makes shopping for a certain soon-to-be birthday girl a pleasure.
If you don't know who The Wiggles are, visit my member profile page where I have links to my wiggliest reviews. You can also explore The Wiggles official website where you can easily access The Wiggles Online Store via a handy link. The URL is http://www.thewiggles.com.au
If you'd rather cut to the chase, go directly to
http://bne004i.webcentral.com.au/catalogue/vs14164/default.shtml
to enter the store directly.
A wide and wiggly selection...
In the USA, the only items that can be found at the local Wal-Mart or ToysRus stores are some of The Wiggles videos, maybe an occasional audio cassette or CD. Toys and other items can't be purchased here in the USA, save for merchandise sold at concerts.
At The Wiggles Online Store, there are dozens of unique and adorable things little wigglers crave. There are beanies and t-shirts, books and hats. Even underwear, Band-Aids and toothbrushes are sold.
Is your item a gift? Good news, there are greeting cards and gift wrap for sale. There is even a birthday candle offered. The items are separated by category as follows:
New Items
Big Red Car Ride-on
Books
Cards
Tapes
CD-Roms
CDs
Clocks and Watches
Clothing
Dinnerware
Dolls
DVDs
Hats Tails and Costumes
Morgan Crowley's Celtic Carol (an album by a singer featured in one of the Wiggles' videos)
Motifs
Party Goods
Posters
Wiggly Specials
Toys and Bags
Videos
There are also links to Greg Page's Website where the solo CDs recorded by "The Yellow Wiggle" can be found and to the Hit Entertainment store where videos and a limited selection of other items in the USA.
Formalities and formats...
There are some items that can't be sold to customers in certain countries. The explanation is as follows (as posted on the site):
"The Wiggles’ Online Store cannot sell video or music to the
USA and Canada as it is under exclusive licence to HIT
Entertainment in the USA (except for Morgan's CD).
Also, The Wiggles' Online Store can no longer sell videos to
the UK as Buena Vista has exclusive distribution rights for
The Wiggles videos in the UK.
- Video items include VHS and DVD format.
- Music items include CD and audio cassettes.
- All other items in The Wiggles Online Store can be sold to
the above mentioned countries."
Additionally, it is important to know that Wiggles videos are sold in two formats, PAL and NTSC. In the USA, Canada and several other countries, the format is NTSC. In Australia, the format is PAL.
Granted, customers from the USA and Canada can't buy these items via The Wiggles Online Store, but it is important to know what format is compatible with your equipment. There is a list of countries and their formats if there are any doubts.
Currency, calculations and shipping...
Since The Wiggles Online Store is located in Australia, all prices are in Australian Dollars. What does this mean to customers in the USA? It means that depending on what you order, the exchange rate will likely work to your advantage.
Shipping rates are as follows:
POSTAGE & HANDLING COSTS
ZONES --- 1 - 2 ITEMS ---- 3 OR MORE ITEMS
Australia --- $6.00 ------ $10.00
New Zealand --- $9.00 ------ $19.00
Canada & USA --- $13.00 ------ $27.00
UK, Ireland
& Europe --- $14.00 ------ $31.00
Asia, India,
& China $12.00 ------ $24.00
If you have an especially large order, they may need to charge extra shipping, but they will notify you via email if this is the case.
Insurance is not included, but is recommended. It is an additional $5.00
The shipping may look steep to the USA, but these prices are in Australian Dollars. There is a link to a currency converter, you may be surprised at how reasonable your order total can be once converted to US Dollars.
Examples: (exchange rate accurate for 7/22/02)
Shipping rates to the USA:
13.00 Australian Dollar = 7.12270 US Dollar
27.00 Australian Dollar = 14.79330 US Dollar
A t-shirt may sell for $16.50 AUD which is only $9.04 in US dollars. Adding shipping, your total in US dollars would be approximately $16.16.
If you ordered even a half-dozen shirts, your shipping would be about $14.79 USD which seems high, but the items themselves are quite reasonable, so the total can still be a good value.
More from the site:
Method of Payments:
All payable amounts to be in Australian dollars
- all prices shown on this web-site are in Australian
dollars (AUD)
Payments payable to "The Wiggles"
Australia: Payments accepted by:
Bankcard, Money Order, Cheques, Visa and Mastercard
New Zealand: Payments only accepted by Bankcard; Money
Order, Visa, Mastercard; International Bank Cheques
(in Australian dollars only)
All other countries: Payments only accepted by Visa,
Mastercard
and International Bank Cheques
(in Australian dollars only)
You may want to contact your bank if you are unsure as to the specifics of currency conversion. Your total will appear in AUD when placing the order, the adjusted total is usually handled by your credit card company.
Isn't that special?
I recently placed an order that worked out to be an excellent value. I had ordered a greeting card and a Dorothy Hat and Tail set. Dorothy is a dinosaur, a favorite character among fans. The hat is a darling baseball style cap with "teeth" and eyes. It sells for $16.50 AUD. The tail is the same price and is an adorable plush dinosaur tail with an elastic waistband that fastens with velcro.
The set was on special for $30.00 AUD, a savings of $3.00. The set was only about $23.56 USD including shipping. (rates can change daily, I will see the exact adjusted rate on my credit card statement)
To compare, the only item other than music and video items, sold in the USA is the tail. It is $12.99 plus $3.95 shipping or $16.94 USD total. It would cost $16.16 USD shipped from Australia, which is a small savings. When you look at the special, what child wouldn't be excited to get a hat and a tail? For only about $6.62 USD more than the shipped price of the tail only, you can get the set all the way from Australia!
Shipping didn't take as long as I'd expected. Though the website states that orders can take up to 4 weeks to arrive (outside Australia), my order arrived in less than 2 weeks. Not too shabby, I've had Amazon.com orders that took longer to arrive and had higher shipping to boot.
To review, the rates may look high but when you consider the substantial savings on merchandise once converted to US Dollars, the shipping is not bad at all.
I can't comment on how the rates work out to other countries, but the exchange rate between the Australian dollar and the US dollar is favorable for customers in the USA.
My shopping experience...
I have a 56K modem and found the store to load as fast as I expected. There are photos of the items being sold, and a click places them in your cart. The main store page is easy to navigate, there are clickable graphics for each category.
You can ask questions via email, I found the responses helpful and friendly. My shopping experience was lots of fun. Knowing how fast orders can arrive, I will no doubt order from The Wiggles Online Store again.
***UPDATE I ordered a Wags the Dog hat and tail along with a book a little over a week ago. It arrived on 9/3/02 in super condition, the items were even nicer than I'd expected***
While I admit I have a small complaint about the Dorothy Tail which I would not want to even attempt to send back, I'm pleased. The elastic on the belt immediately unraveled somewhat. I am not much of a seamstress, but so far I have been able to improvise and my daughter loves her Dorothy duds.
Quite honestly, the hat and tail are nicer than I expected.
***UPDATE As of 9/3/02, the tail has not unraveled more and is still just fine, played with daily no less***
Overall...
The Wiggles Online Store is a great place to find nearly everything you could possibly want related to The Wiggles.
Since The Wiggles are becoming very popular here in the USA, American kids are begging for wiggly stuff. So far, The Wiggles Online Store is THE ONLY place to find most items with the exception of eBay. I am told that purchasing from The Wiggles Online Store is a better value than purchasing the same items at the concert.
While not all of the items are available at concerts and certain concert items aren't available at the store, you would be wise to check the online store before buying from a theater lobby. You may save some money. And the aggravation of standing in line.
Since I love to shop and we all love The Wiggles, I'm very pleased. If there are little wigglers at your house, you'll be pleased too.
Do not let the prices fool you, the currency conversion may just work to your advantage!
Recommended:
Yes
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About the Author
Location: IL
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