I've ordered from Tristan's a couple of times and have never had a charge. Maybe because I used a debit card? Even with shipping from Canada, it's still close to half of the price that I pay locally. When I ordered through them, I got a door crasher that was something like 15 spools.
Prior to my conversion to Aurifil, I used Mettler silk-finish cotton... Now when I put a spool of Mettler in, I hate it! It seems likes it's all slubby and chunky. I've been trying to use it up.