Are these affordable nesting dies any good?

Hi Guys,
I'm new to scrapbooking and looking at getting a cuttlebug and some dies, and I found these affordable nesting dies...

craftonline website http://www.craftonline.com.au/shopping/c-diecuts-nestingdies.asp

Looks very versatile, and $99 for 12 different shapes seems amazing considering Spellbinder nestabilities go for $30+ for each shape.
But I'm worried... I can't even tell what the brand is.... do 'bargain dies' mean bargain quality? Will they cut properly? What's the catch? I'm thinking they may just be quite small (seems to be maximum of 10cm).

Any thoughts? Much appreciated, Ta!
Felicity

Hi Felicity,

I say go for it! I have heard good things about that site from my own research and even though it doesn't take paypal, it looks quite secure.

I currently have some xcut brand dies which are also a "cheaper" version of the spellbinders. These retail at around $14. Regarding the size... the xcut ones are roughly 10cm as well and I think these are a great size. They are perfect for cards but also not too small for LOs.

From what I have read about this site, they try hard to bring good quality items to their shoppers at low prices. This is a quote from an email I got from them asking about their prices and whatnot:

"We run on high turnover and small margins. We have been in business now for 9 years and our business is built on repeat customers. "

Hope this helps you. I'm thinking about buying them! Have fun with your cuttlebug I love mine

Yeah Felicity
I too have heard good things and nestabilites are quite expensive..
i say go for it ..
tell us how you go or what you decide.

Eeek, I just made a rather large order (considering there were other things I wanted too), and I decided to get the whole set of dies!

I hope I'm not being too ambitious since I still do not even have a cuttlebug. I wish the dies were a little larger, but the range will set me up well for making cards and things (I will probably mainly be making cards, I never seem to be able to finish a scrapbook), so i took the plunge.

Thankyou lani_kate and Rebekkah for your advice

Felicity

Nice work Felicity! Hope you enjoy them, and enjoy your bargain hunting for a cuttlebug They're great fun

You MIGHT need an additional C plate to work with these dies because they're thinner than cuttlebug dies. I'll let you know once I've got my dies

Yeah, I thought as much. It's so dumb that version 2 doesn't come with a C plate! Did you end up ordering all 12 sets too?

...an hour after my order the CraftOnline newsletter is sent to me saying free shipping on orders over $50. I've emailed them and asked them if I can get this offer, cause seriously my order was almost 4 times that amount! Grrrrr

Felicity

Not sure if you've purchased your cuttlebug yet but this is the ebay store I purchased mine from:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-Cuttlebug-Machine-V2-Die-Cutter-Embosser-SPECIAL-/350505945951?pt=AU_Scrapbooking&hash=item519bc84b5f

Thanks for the link. I haven't purchased it yet, but I shot off an email to Lincraft because they have a policy where they'll beat a price by 15% if it's lower in another actual store. So I'm hoping to get it for ~$102. Though with free shipping it might just be easier to get it off ebay
Actually, Lincraft have the bigshot reduced to $99 at the moment... do you have any thoughts on whether it's better than the cuttlebug? A lot of people love the cuttlebug so I'd always planned on getting it. But recently I was emailed this...

"Also, we recommend the Sizzix Big Shot Machine rather than the Cuttlebug for ease of use, reliability and functionality. It has a slightly larger platform than Cuttlebug and we have sold hundreds with no problems. The cuttlebug has handle and platform breaking issues which don’t occur with the Bigshot."

I haven't had any issues with my cuttlebug as far as breaking etc, nor have I heard of anyone who has.

The only experience I have with the big shot is at my LSS in classes. Sometimes my cuttlebug isn't as stable when I'm using it as the big shot is, but that's also probably just because my desk is wobbly

I choose the cuttlebug over the big shot because of the storage and portability. I don't have the space to have the big shot set up all the time, but I can fold the cuttlebug sides up and tuck it away in a shelf.

Hope this helps

Yeah that's what I figured - the cuttlebug is much better for storage. I have a lot of craft stuff so I think I'll stick with the cuttlebug. And it's cuter! haha. Thanks for the advice

More than welcome. Hopefully you get one soon and can start playing

Yes, it would be really good for Christmas cards and tags and things! I'm starting to wonder if I should buy some paper too, LOL!

Haha! If you're interesting in finding some scrapbooking things at good prices, I have a facebook album full of things I am selling at the moment.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.277839472249947&type=1

That seems like a good deal for the dies Felicity! If you do have problems with them being thinner than the Spellbinder's dies I would really recommend the cuttlehug metal plate... http://www.scrapz.biz/shop?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=5738&category_id=520

I got myself some thin MFT dies and really struggled with them in my cuttlebug and ended up warping my B plates after packing in more cardstock to try and get a better cut...really wish I had known about the metal plates before they are really awesome for thinner dies!

Thanks for the tip Aga! I don't have those metal dies, but I use the c plate with my MFT dies because they're so thin. I just use the A plate, a B and a C (instead of the two B plates).

I actually find myself using the ABC sandwich more than the ABB sandwich because most of my dies are MFT or xcut!

Our dies arrived the other day but I haven't had a chance to play yet as they were shipped to Nicky's house. But she says they're working well!

I too use the ABC combination of plates and haven't had any problem with MFT dies.

I got my dies the other day and they look AWESOME! And I'm getting my Cuttlebug on Sunday from Lincraft for $102 using their price match guarantee, woo!

Now, I'm planning on getting the C plate, and Aga your tip about the 'cuttlehug' is confusing me! Do you have to use this in addition to an ABC sandwich? Or do you use the cuttlehug instead of a C plate?

Hmmmm I use the ABC combo too but still had trouble getting a clean cut through anything thicker than paper? Maybe it was just these particular dies - they are very small button ones, or maybe it's because my cuttlebug has been used so often and a bit looser than it use to be, but I also read that a lot of other people had the same problem with thin dies, which is how I found out about the cuttlehug Anyway the metal adaptor plate works great and I'm even using it now with my spellbinders dies when I use felt or chipboard.

Felicity sorry to confuse you... .I use the following combo with the cuttlehug - A plate, B plate, metal adaptor plate (cuttlehug), die, paper, C plate.

Very very interesting how different machines work differently! Felicity, it's all just a matter of testing to see how it works in your machine. You definitely need a C plate though to use the nesting dies you purchased, and if the C plate isn't good enough, then I would look into getting the metal die Aga is talking about.

Most of all, have fun!!

I use felt and cardstock through my cuttlebug with the MFT dies only using the ABC combo so it does really just depend on each machine! They can be very tempermental at times!!

If Aga was having problems getting cuts through things *thicker* than paper, then that would imply that the cuttlehug isn't helping so much by adding thickness (because the stack is already thicker than ABC + paper + die), but perhaps because there's less resistance by using the metal sheet? I could imagine the contact between the die and the metal sheet is better, and so better able to cut through thicker materials.

I'm all set to get my bug on Sunday and the C plate soon after, wheeeee!!!!
I'll keep the cuttlehug in mind if I have any problems Thanks guys!