I love when customers call and emphatically state, “I cannot believe how much time I spent on your website last weekend – I think I listened to all the chimes at least five times!” As an online retailer, I love that folks take time on our site to pick out just the right chime.

But I know, I know – it can be quite overwhelming to encounter a wind chime website for the first time. There are SO many chimes in SO many sizes and SO many colors. And then there’s the sound of each to consider… it’s no wonder customers finally just pick up the phone and call us!

To help you choose, here’s a primer on the chimes you’ll find at BuyChimes:

Background basics:
1. We only sell U.S. made wind chimes. So rest assured, everything you buy here is made in the U.S.
2. We sell contemporary, traditional and semi-contemporary chimes (see below).
3. We ship many, many chimes as gifts. If you’re not sure if that special person will like a chime or not, take it from us, they will!

Chime basics:

Contemporary chimes have aluminum in the majority of their components. These are the contemporary lines of chimes we sell: Corinthian Bells, Bells of Vienna and Gentle Spirits. They have powder-coated (this means unique colors) aluminum tubes, top/crown and wind sail. The striker is a high-density composite material. All sizes have six tubes (only exception is the Gentle Spirits 27-inch chime at 8 tubes). The same sizes are always tuned to the same keys (in other words, the 50-inch chime in all three lines will always be tuned to the key of A). The only difference between the lines is aesthetic – the top/crown and wind sail look different. So pick the look you like the best & the sound will still be the same high quality no matter what. FYI – the Corinthian Bells chimes is our best-selling line.

Traditional chimes have wooden components to them (a top/crown, striker and/or wind sail). These lines of chimes are traditional: Arias, Arias Elite, Festival, Majesty Bells and Weatherland. They ALL have a wooden top, striker and wind sail. Couple of notes on these chimes: The Arias line was the original chimes manufactured by QMT Windchimes and folks that have those original chimes keep coming back for more. The Arias Elite line was upgraded several years ago and has a fine, clear sound – check it out!

Semi-contemporary chimes combine both a traditional look with some wooden components (the striker), yet achieve a clean, contemporary look with an aluminum top/crown and wind sail. These lines of chimes are semi-contemporary: Shenandoah Melodies and Majestic Spirits. All have five tubes. They are less expensive than the full contemporary chimes simply because they have five versus six tubes. The wooden striker also impacts the sound, but not significantly.

Sound basics:
All chimes that we sell are tuned to a specific scale or musical key. Which is great news for those of us looking for more than just a pretty chime! You’ll see the keys on every page for individual chimes. But regardless of the key, the bigger the chime, the deeper the sound. So if you’re looking for a “soprano” chime, pick a small chime. If you’re looking for a deep, “bass” chime, look at the longest chime within each line. They will also have the largest tube diameter, which creates that unique, gong-like sound that customers love! Most importantly, there are sound mp3 files for every chime – so be sure to listen. Just look for the pointy hand (manicule) in the middle of each page.

And please, call us if you find yourself on our website for HOURS listening to every chime five times! We’re here and we know these chimes.

- Carolyn
BuyChimes, LLC

One of the greatest pleasures in running BuyChimes is hearing from customers. You folks out there are simply wonderful! We so appreciate when you connect with us by emailing or calling with comments – both things we’re doing well and things we need to improve.

Here’s a little note I received today from Peter… “Thank you for all your help, I appreciate it. Also, it’d be cool if you could draw a monkey wrestling a shark on the box. Thanks! :)” Peter was sending this chime to his father – and decided to lighten our day here at BuyChimes with his very funny note. (In case you’re wondering, we did NOT draw the monkey. Though we talked about how great it would be if we could.)

Customers write little instructions like this all the time for us. Whether it’s “please switch to Green if Black is out-of-stock” or “please draw a monkey!”, we’re happy to help out. We’re not a big fulfillment company – we handle these chimes all day, every day (except Sunday). So if you write us a note, we’ll get it and do our best to meet your needs. We’re a small, family business and our customers do not get lost in the shuffle.

Hmmm – what else do chimes and monkeys have in common? Nothing! At least let’s hope so. Have a wonderful weekend – chime on!

- Carolyn
www.buychimes.com

Customers frequently inquire about how much or little wind will impact their chime. Our local paper had a fantastic article about the effects of various speeds of wind on trees, buildings, etc. Check it out here!

For wind chimes to ring consistently, the wind needs to blow. That sounds so simple, but truly, if you want to hear a chime on a fairly often basis, be sure of two things:
1. You pick a lighter weight chime (anything under 10 lbs.)
2. You pick a spot in your yard that gets wind or breezes.

Now if you have a wonderfully windy nook in your garden, then any chime will work! Lucky you. You simply have to pick the one that sounds or looks the best for your space – and of course there’s the household budget to think about too!

Here at BuyChimes, we don’t get much wind. So unless there’s a storm brewing, we rarely hear the gorgeous, big chimes that are hanging about. (That said, I LOVE how Hurricane Irene is dancing with my big Corinthian Bells 53-inch chime this weekend!) And that infrequency is actually quite perfect for us. The chime is hanging so close to our patio, that to hear it often might be disturbing – simply “too much of a good thing.”

I’d love to hear how the wind engages the chimes of customers – be sure to write and let us know! I’ll post comments on the site…

- Carolyn
www.buychimes.com

When I’m not working for BuyChimes, I work at another job at a nice, not-too-tall office building nearby in Northern Virginia. And, of course, I have a small wind chime (a Gentle Spirits 206) hanging by the window. (Not that I can open that window, but it reminds me of Carolyn and BuyChimes as I do my other work.)

This Tuesday, I was at my office and heard some rattling. I thought it was someone in the hallway moving furniture on a dolly, very FAST. The shaking kept increasing. I soon realized we were experiencing an earthquake (the one centered in Mineral, Virginia, and registered at 5.9 on the Richter). I went to stand in the office doorway. Other people began pouring out of their offices, and I decided it was time to leave the building too. As left, I heard the wind chime ringing! It wasn’t like the ringing you’d hear in a 30 MPH wind, but it was three or four tones. As I was scampering down the hallway, I thought, “Oh, the chime’s ringing.”

It never even occurred to me that something other than wind (or manually moving the sail) could make a chime ring. Has anyone else experienced or hear a chime ring as the result of an earthquake? Or maybe some other occurrence? We’d love to hear your story!

—Jeff

BuyChimes.com

Just when I think I’ve seen everything a wind chime can do, something quirky and new comes along!

As you may know, Keegan Bradley, a 25-year-old rookie golfer who hails from Vermont, just won the 93rd PGA tournament last Sunday. Congrats to him! And to celebrate his golf wins, his mother (don’t you just love proud moms!) “runs up and down the street like a crazy woman with wind chimes.” How delightful! (If you want to read more, check it out here.

And it is true. Chimes are so versatile. People think of wind chimes as simply hanging from a hook in the front yard. Yet, here are some unusual ways that customers have told me that they use and hang wind chimes:
- feng shui for the inside of home
- house blessing for new home
- memorial at the graveside of a relative or friend
- wind catcher in tractor-trailer
- calming force for mentally challenged family member
- harmonize with melodies of Mother Earth (no kidding – one customer is very into connecting with the Earth)
- AND NOW – victorious celebration of son’s PGA win!

I love to hear how customers use wind chimes! Even better, I’d love to hear how YOU use and/or hang your chimes. Send me stories and pictures – I’m busy creating a section on the site that features stories and pictures just like yours.

- Carolyn
www.buychimes.com

BuyChimes will be closed next week. No shipping. No phones. No nothing.

As many of our customers who are also business owners know, it can be difficult to manage vacations and time away from the business. The summer is a wonderful time to take a break – but for us, it’s also a busy wind chime season! In the past, BuyChimes has often closed down for shipping, but the phones and support services remained open. This year, despite a successful summer selling season (or is it because of it?!), BuyChimes is simply closing for week. (And then a few extra days to catch up on things!)

As Jeff put it so well… “If we’re so focused on sales for a single week that BuyChimes can’t REST, we’re missing the bigger picture, Carolyn. Sales are good. Life is good.” Well-said. Rest and time away is important. And we know that you agree!

We promise – we’ll be back before you know it! August 11. Until then, we do hope that you also have a chance to rest this summer season. And if you think of it – tell us what you did! We’d love to hear your favorite summer 2011 moments!

- Carolyn
BuyChimes, LLC

And I wish we could give a Free Lunch too!

Earlier this summer we began offering Free Gift Wrap on any order. We knew some folks would appreciate this, but we have simply been astounded at the number of customers that are taking us up on this offer! We are, quite frankly, thrilled. And the best thing – we’re hearing back from recipients of these gifts – they are every bit as delighted as we are – both in the wind chime AND in the presentation of the gift.

You see, if we’re going to offer Gift Wrap to our customers, we’re going to take the time to do it right. We know that a gift reflects back on the giver, and as our customer, you deserve to have that reflection be appreciation and thankfulness (and hopefully, a bit of surprise and delight too!). We never want a recipient to get a box that’s been poorly wrapped or shipped. And so we make sure (and then check again) that there’s no pricing information with the gift, that the paper and card match the occasion for the gift, that the outer shipping box adequately protects the gift, and so on. And from customer feedback, it appears that we’re doing it right!

Not to worry – we’ll keep wrapping gifts for free for the rest of the summer. And remember, if you’re not quite sure which wind chime to select as a gift, just call! We’re happy to help you pick out just the right chime.

- Carolyn
BuyChimes, LLC

Many customers email and call us because they think BuyChimes makes the wind chimes that we sell. We do not. We wish we could be that creative and imaginative and BIG, but we’re simply not. We only sell U.S. chimes online. We do, however, readily point customers to the manufacturer, which is QMT Windchimes. They ARE that creative and imaginative and BIG!

And, as you might tell, we’re quite partial to their chimes. They’ve had a commitment to keeping the company U.S.-based for years, which we love. And they’ve produced beautiful chimes in lovely colors and designs, while consistently keeping the high-quality workmanship for which they’ve been known. They’re located about 15 miles west of BuyChimes, in Manassas Park, Virginia.

Here’s an excerpt from the “About Us” section of their website…. “QMT Windchimes originated in the Florida craft show circuit in the early 80’s. Mike Throne camped in the back of his van and traveled to craft shows selling different products, including windchimes from a local producer. When his source for chimes dried up, Mike began to fabricate his own windchimes, with an eye toward continually improving his designs. Working during the week in a 10’ x 20’ warehouse, he produced the chimes that would be sold on the weekend. Mike was determined to offer the buying public a chime that was as beautiful to see as it was to hear. And it worked; the demand for his windchimes soon overwhelmed his ability to manufacture chimes so he took a deep breath and became a young entrepreneur following the American dream. He hired his first employees, found our facility in Manassas Park and set down roots in the community to produce windchimes for wholesale trade shows.”

With such a fantastic American success story, BuyChimes has been delighted to promote their chimes for the past ten years – and from the sheer volume of sales we experience year after year, our customers are clearly delighted as well. It’s a winning combination!

- Carolyn

These days are tumultuous for our country – too many folks looking for work, gas prices going up (thankfully, coming down a bit just in time for July 4th), political leaders dashing rhetoric here and there. I don’t know about you, but too often, I find myself jaded by it all. But there’s no room or time for my cynicism! Here’s why…..

Americans like me and you all over the country have tremendous pride and certainty in our nation. I know – I talk to them (you) every single day. Folks like Wanda just outside Richmond, VA who was happy to find a wind chime made in the U.S. and even happier to learn they are made here in her native VA! Or a customer in California who clarified that she only buys American products – if there was any question as to the country of origin, she needed to cancel the order. There are many, many other customers just like this.

Our customers’ fortitude in all that is right about the U.S. (despite the gloomy times) – and their choice to buy U.S. – this is why there’s no place for my cynicism. You all inspire me to keep doing what we do here at BuyChimes – sell only U.S. made wind chimes. It’s tough competition, let me tell you. There are PLENTY of chimes made outside the U.S. that could boost our company profit. But that’s not who we are.

So on this July 4, 2011:

Laugh deeply with friends and family.
Marvel at the fireworks.
Dive for candy at the parade (it IS for the kids, right?!).
And most of all, celebrate the U.S.!

I know I will be.
- Carolyn

Customers often wonder why some wind chimes sound like church bells (or chapel bells) and others don’t. Many, many of you look for a deep-sounding chime, so here’s a wee primer to answer that question…

The chimes that most sound like church bells are the biggest in height.  In fact, around here we call them “the tall, skinny chimes.”  The long tubes on the chime, coupled with the relatively small diameter of those tubes, create this sound.  Whenever I’m downtown at noon, I hear the local Catholic church chimes – THAT’S the sound of these chimes.  Every line of chimes we sell has a chime that sounds like this.  You simply need to look at the overall height to find it; look for the tallest chimes. 

You don’t need to look for the most expensive chimes, because the costliest chimes are large in both tube length and tube diameter, which creates a more gong-like sound. The Corinthian Bells 74-inch chime is a perfect example of a church-bell chime; the Corinthian Bells 65-inch chime is a gong-like chime.

The sound and tone that resonates with one customer can be completely different from what another customer is looking for – so be sure to listen to each chime’s sound file on the site! Customers often wonder if the chime really sounds like it does online – I always answer “YES, it does – even better!” And really, that’s the truth. No sound file can capture the random sounds of a chime blowing in the wind. The sound files will capture the basic tones; but the actual chime hanging in your garden will surpass that sound every single time. So if you like the sound online, you will LOVE it in the backyard!

As always, simply give us a call if you want any advice or an opinion about a chime, especially if you’re gifting one to someone else. We’re here. And we know these chimes. (To be honest, we wouldn’t be selling them if we didn’t.)

- Carolyn
www.buychimes.com