Author Archive | Don Nalezyty

Wait List Updates

Update 2023-09-07: Our current Wait List has ~1500 folks on it and the average wait is 28 – 32 Months. You can use this link to inquire on your status.

We’ve been on our new wait list process for a bit over a year and I thought it was time I send a general update about how it’s been going.  We also have some updates regarding GDPR that impact everyone waiting for their invite so I’ll cover both in this post.

We’ve been tweaking the process in small steps, but overall it has simplified things for Nic and I in terms of managing sales and ensuring everyone gets an invite and opportunity to order when they reach the head of the queue.   Occasionally invites are missed, but we’ve been pretty good about issuing new passwords so folks get to place their orders.  One challenge is invites ending up in junk or spam mail folders.  Invites are sent with my email address:  don.nalezyty@nicwestermann.co.uk, so you can search on that email address for invites or if you’re tech savvy – create a filter that places it somewhere you won’t miss it when it comes in.  If you happen to search now and discovered you missed your invite, send me a note and I’ll verify and slot you back in the queue so you’re not waiting an additional year for your invite.

Yes, I said year.  Based on the current list of 994 and how many we’re processing each month it’s likely a year to 14 months before folks that signup today will get an invite.  Nic’s overall forging capacity per month is predictable, but we have to factor in his time for teaching courses and the prep that goes into each as well as obligations that keep him from forging blades for folks on the wait list, so the number of invites per month varies. Our goal is to ensure we’re not taking more orders than he can reasonable fulfill within 30 days, so the invites go out in decreasing batches starting the second or third week of each month tapering off as we approach projected capacity. Typically we’re sending anywhere from 10 to 150 invites per month with the average month right around 75 invites, so about 900 a year.

You may have been seeing a lot about GDPR or EU General Data Protection Regulation, which is coming into full force on May 25th, 2018 a week from today.  We’re impacted by this as we store your personal information to send you an invite when you reach the top of the queue.  Part of GDPR is explicit consent to use your email address to contact you.  Without this consent we’re forced to remove you from our list.  The signup form has been updated so anyone signing up is giving consent and we sent an email to everyone on the list requesting you update your settings.  If you haven’t seen this email please search for an email from me and hit the update setting button in the email to opt-in.  As right now, there are 480 folks that have not responded to a GDPR Opt-in email, so if you’ve ignored it please respond as noted above we’ll have to remove you from the list.  Please note, you must select the check box for email to Opt-In, implied consent is no longer good enough under GDPR.


If you can’t find the email and you want to be sure you don’t lose your place in the queue, you can select the link below and re-enter your info.  It will generate an error and tell you to click the link to send an email to you to update your settings, please do so and look for the email and complete.


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Awaiting Changes

Don Nalezyty

 An Introduction

If you follow Nic on facebook, you will know that I’ve started helping with the website. Some of you may know me from the spoon carving community, but my profession is in IT. When Nic asked if I’d be interested in supporting the site, I was happy to help out with something that ties together two passions.  (Yes, I’m uber geeky!)

We’ve updated the technology and processes behind the scenes over the last few months. Much of this Nic has talked about here, but it has not really been visible in the shop until Tuesday.  We added a password protected section to the Shop and opened it to folks on the top of the wait list to place back orders. Nic will be working hard to complete these in the next month.

Wait Lists

One more visible change Wednesday was the removal of the old product specific wait lists. Those lists were limited and cumbersome to manage, so we created a new wait list. It is important to us the list is accurate, since it will be used to grant access to the back orders section of the shop. This will happen periodically when Nic is ready to take orders.

As detailed in Tuesday’s post, there was a great deal of effort to clean the wait list, but we would like to make it better. There will be an email going out soon to everyone on the wait list. You should update your information following the instructions in the email. This will verify that you are still interested and waiting for a turn to purchase some of Nic’s blades. I have added a page to the site to allow folks to add their names to the queue. You can find it in the menu under Shop.

This new list combined with password access to the back order shop means that everyone will get an opportunity to order rather than relying upon being online at the right moment and lucky enough to submit an order before all the stock was sold.  Given the long list, folks may have a long wait, but when they reach the front of the queue they’ll have access to the site for 24 hours to complete orders.

We’re both happy with how the last sale went. We hope this new more equitable system will make everyone else happier too.

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