Hello All,

Here is the email that I have sent to all who have requested
information about the IKEA weasel for those who may have not had the
chance to email or were otherwise still interested:

As requested, I have some more information about the IKEA weasel
(ferret). The weasel is $6.99, so it would be $5.94 with my discount.
The IKEA name for the weasel is Fanby, however, you won't be able to
find it in the IKEA catalog or on the IKEA website since it is a
free-range product (not something we normally carry in stock on a
regular basis). 

The weasel is made of 100% polyester, with a polyester filling, so
basically your basic stuffed animal. It is approximately 17 inches
long, from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, about two feet
long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, about 6 inches
wide at the hips (its widest point) and weighs about 8oz. This makes it
about two times bigger (in size at least) than the average ferret, but
not too much bigger than a chubbster ferret (as you can see from the
pics below, its not that much bigger than my chubbster Riley, who is
about 3lbs 10oz or so, and when he is in a really frisky mood, he has
no problems wrestling with it like he does his smaller siblings, by
jumping on its back, flipping it over, etc). So far, the only part my
ferrets have enjoyed chewing on is the tag, which I cut off, and its
eyes are sewn on patches, not the beady eyes that some stuffed animals
have. It will not be a problem for me to buy more than one at a time,
or more than one per person as I will be buying them as "gifts", which
fits within the guidelines for using our discount (as long as no one
tells on me). 

As far as shipping is concerned, that's a little more tricky to
estimate price, however, I'll probably just buy those flexible mailing
envelope/bag things that the post office sells, which probably cost
about $2 or so, and since the stuffed animal doesn't weigh a lot, it
shouldn't cost too much to ship unless it is being shipped Priority
(which I have no problem doing, as long as you're ok with paying for
the priority mail). Also, I am willing to ship to Canada too, as long
as you are ok with paying the postage to get it there. So, for a rough
approximation, I would say it will be about $9 or $10 total, per
stuffed weasel. 

If you are interested, please respond back to me, with the number of
weasels you want, the address(es) where the weasels are going, and if
you want it shipped normal mail, Priority mail, or some other kind of
mail, and if you want it by Christmas. I have Saturday-Wednesday off
from work and a pretty light school schedule during that time period,
so if everyone can get back to me in the next few days (by Saturday
night, if possible) I can estimate shipping costs for you and get you
a total by Sunday night, as well as give you my Paypal info (I'll take
checks too if you don't have Paypal), and then I can go into work on
Monday or Tuesday and buy all the weasels, and mail them out on
Wednesday. Of course, if you respond to me before Saturday, I'll
probably be able to respond sooner, but I'll still plan on getting them
on Monday or Tuesday and mailing out on Wednesday. I plan to go to the
post office tomorrow after work (I get out at 5:30pm Eastern) to get an
exact price on the envelopes, and I can check shipping prices online
since I have my own scale (purchased at IKEA!). Finally, if for some
reason not everyone that is interested in an IKEA weasel can meet these
"deadlines," I have no problem with making a second (or third) trip to
get more weasels (however, because I'll be doing a lot of mailing, I'll
set up "purchase dates" and "ship dates," like I've done so far, so I
don't have to go to the post office a million times since it seems like
no matter when I go, half the city is there). If you still have any
more questions, feel free to ask, and hopefully I'll be hearing from
you soon!

Erinne

and the fuzzies Fiona, Nigel and Riley

and my boyfriend Paul, who will likely be assisting me in the
purchasing and/or packaging and/or mailing of the weasels.

[Posted in FML 5450]