Never ordered from them...but they take Paypal so you will be protected. The Trapara has Fuji sic guides and a Fuji reel seat. The St Croix has stainless guides and their own reel seat. The Trapara weighs in at 2.4 ounces....a similar length with the St croix is going to be slightly heavier. The better value between the 2 is the Trapara...of course depending on what you have to pay for shipping. I have owned both. You will get a lot of fun with that rod for crappie and Gills. It is just as sensitive as the St Croix panfish if not more so.
Here is good write up from Russian website. Out of 56 reviews on the website it gets 4.5 stars out of 5.
"The Major Craft brand has released a budget series of Trapara rods , specially designed for today's popular trout fishing. Despite its low price, the Major Craft Trapara line is of excellent quality and has excellent working data, making it suitable not only for beginners to master trout fishing, but will also be able to satisfy the demands of sophisticated trout hunters.
The Trapara series is divided into two types of Native and Area, each of which is intended for fishing in different conditions.
Spinning Trapara Native intended for fishing in fast currents: on streams, in the upper reaches of large and small rivers. They have more rigid forms and are distinguished by fast formation, as well as good power and long range. Such a rod will cope well with fishing on stubborn wobblers. Great for tvichingovoy animation.
Spinning Trapara Area differs from the “stream” models more soft, parabolic structure. Best of all, these rods are suitable for fishing on mini-lures and small wobblers-krenki. Area spinning rods have good throwing characteristics and do an excellent job of throwing light baits. Models of this orientation are also well suited for catching fish such as rudd or perch, and can also be successfully used for techniques such as nano and microjig.
All Trapara spinning rods have high-quality equipment: reliable fittings and flow rings from Fuji with silicon carbide inserts and an ergonomic reel seat. Also rods are equipped with handles of high quality cork. The only difference is in the type of the handle - the spinning of the “stream” directivity has an integral handle, and the “area” rods used on lakes and ponds have been equipped with separated handles."
Regards