Additional charge for orders less than £20 at Irregular

[Leon]

I'd imagine it's to try and encourage people to order a bit more?  We put the maximum postage charges in place to try and do the same thing, so folks who order over £100 aren't paying any additional shipping costs from that point onwards.

Sorry. What's "an order less than £20"?  :-

I wonder  if it's something to do with the ability to order online now from Irregular and it's to cover admin charges from that

Possibly, depending on how their site works.  Some of the 'off the shelf' e-commerce sites can charge a hefty fee on every transaction, upto 3% in some cases.  PayPal also charge for their service, starting at 3.4% + 20p for small turnovers and reducing as you put more business through them.  We're currently on 2.4% + 20p per transaction which is generally fine.  It only stings a bit on small orders or custom stuff where you're losing the 20p every time.

It's one of the reasons we don't sell individual bags of MDF bases on eBay, there's just no point.  You sell a pack for £1.25 but then eBay take 19p, PayPal take 23p, and you've lost 34% of your sale already.  So you end up only listing high value products, high profit items, or things that don't require a labour cost like the I-94 decals.

[Orcs]

Sorry. What's "an order less than £20"?  :-

One where you have forgotten something and have to send an email to Leon saying "please can you just add this"  followed by another one an hour later saying "and this"

Not that I would ever do that 

[Westmarcher]

I was not commenting on the extra cost.  Irregular have been more expensive than Pendraken for some time ...... etc.

OK, See where you are coming from now, Orcs. Hands up. I've misunderstood. Apologies. 

As some have said, it could've been indeed worded better (I didn't spot the extra 2p added on to the 20p cost of the Irregular's foot and thought it was included in the 20p).  At a guess, am I right in thinking that Pendraken is now not only better quality wise than Irregular (IMO) but also price wise across the board?   

[steve_holmes_11]

Sorry. What's "an order less than £20"?  :-

It's what you tell the Mrs.

[Dr Dave]

And equally importantly, compare the quality. I'd rather have 20 quid's worth of Pendraken than 50 of Irregular.

Yes. Pendraken figures suitable for what you want... or what could just pass as Anglo-Saxon asiatic footballers!

[FierceKitty]

Sorry. What's "an order less than £20"?  :-

...ummm...I think I saw one in a museum once, but you needed special permission to view it.

[steve_holmes_11]

On reflection, this sort of thinng isn't unusual, it's just that Irregular appear to be stating it in a non-standard way.

The typical approach is "P&P is 10% of order or a minimum of £2.20".

It's  fact that there's a minimum cost of delivery, even if the order's a single 2mm figure, so weems fairly justifiable.
Maths nerds will observe that Irregular's approach hits hardest when the order's up at the £19 range, while the traditional approach hits tiny orders hardest.

I've grown used to the £20 hurdle when shopping on (non Prime) Amazon.
I'll often add on some stationery, aquarium accessories or paperbacks to avoid the £4.50 postage charge.

[Terry37]

All I can say is that Leon and company have only been super fair to me, so I am happy to pay what they need to stay in business. Wither it be large or small orders - but I suspect to those of you who are dedicated 10 MM gamers, all of my orders would be small since I am really a 15 MM gamer. That said though, too many things Leon offers still fit mighty nicely in my projects!

Terry

[Norm]

Increasingly, in the tough retail sector, it is becoming more important to target your spend on those places that are important to you and that you want to ensure a future trading relationship with. This is true of everything , whether it be a fave coffee shop, camera shop, local corner store, high street book shop or a figure supplier. This was virtually my sole driving force for buying / supporting BKCIV (which hopefully will arrive today :-), I have had my shipping notice).

Irregular, like most of our industry are good hard working people and like most in the industry are not driving around in the latest swankiest cars or hoarding their money in off-shore accounts. It is a tough tough climate for them and I am confident that for the most part, we are getting a good deal from traders in general and the wargaming world would be a poorer place without them ..... especially in our smaller scales, which is a much more fragile sector of the market than 28's.

Many (many!) moons ago, as a teenager, I was buying from Irregular, heroics and Ros and Skytrex at pocket money level, with Postal Orders (remember them) and was getting spanked on postal charges, relative to the small orders that fall out of pocket money purchases (and postal order commission and the cost of  the stamp!), so it has always been a factor in low cost purchasing. (remember self stamp addressed envelopes to get a company catalogue?  :-)  ).

[fsn]

All I can say is that Leon and company have only been super fair to me, so I am happy to pay what they need to stay in business.

Careful ...

... all of my orders would be small since I am really a 15 MM gamer.

15mm is dead. It just doesn't know it yet.

[paulr]

Many (many!) moons ago, as a teenager, I was buying from Irregular, heroics and Ros and Skytrex at pocket money level, with Postal Orders (remember them) and was getting spanked on postal charges, relative to the small orders that fall out of pocket money purchases (and postal order commission and the cost of  the stamp!), so it has always been a factor in low cost purchasing. (remember self stamp addressed envelopes to get a company catalogue?  :-)  ).

Yes, I do remember postal orders
And the cost of postage to the UK

I am very grateful to one of my Aunts who kindly allowed me to have my early orders sent to her in the UK and the even more kindly forwarded them to the Antipodes
This allowed me to avoid both the 50%+ International postage charges of those times and the attention of the local Customs officials when my 'gift' arrived

[Sunray]

Increasingly, in the tough retail sector, it is becoming more important to target your spend on those places that are important to you and that you want to ensure a future trading relationship with. This is true of everything , whether it be a fave coffee shop, camera shop, local corner store, high street book shop or a figure supplier. This was virtually my sole driving force for buying / supporting BKCIV (which hopefully will arrive today :-), I have had my shipping notice).

Irregular, like most of our industry are good hard working people and like most in the industry are not driving around in the latest swankiest cars or hoarding their money in off-shore accounts. It is a tough tough climate for them and I am confident that for the most part, we are getting a good deal from traders in general and the wargaming world would be a poorer place without them ..... especially in our smaller scales, which is a much more fragile sector of the market than 28's.

Many (many!) moons ago, as a teenager, I was buying from Irregular, heroics and Ros and Skytrex at pocket money level, with Postal Orders (remember them) and was getting spanked on postal charges, relative to the small orders that fall out of pocket money purchases (and postal order commission and the cost of  the stamp!), so it has always been a factor in low cost purchasing. (remember self stamp addressed envelopes to get a company catalogue?  :-)  ).

Well said Norm.  Ian Kay is one of the originals - a one man band who must deserve a place in the history of war game figure manufacture with the diversity of ranges from 2mm to 75mm  !  Yes, there is variable quality control -  but if you are not happy - Ian  will ALWAYS  refund . 

In most of my armies there is at least one key piece of kit or figures that.....only IM supplies.

[Orcs]

Increasingly, in the tough retail sector, it is becoming more important to target your spend on those places that are important to you and that you want to ensure a future trading relationship with. .........

I totally agree with you Norm.  I am not knocking Irregular, they have given me good value and excellent service for many years. The cost will not put me off, as its easy to get to the £20 mark anyway.  I just thought the way they had put it made it an interesting marketing strategy

[Orcs]

All I can say is that Leon and company have only been super fair to me, so I am happy to pay what they need to stay in business.
Terry

I agree Terry.  When I have put in a non standard order ,  I just pay what Leon tells me , although I sometimes wonder if he has diddled himself.

[Orcs]

Well said Norm.  Ian Kay is one of the originals - a one man band who must deserve a place in the history of war game figure manufacture with the diversity of ranges from 2mm to 75mm  !  Yes, there is variable quality control -  but if you are not happy - Ian  will ALWAYS  refund . 

In most of my armies there is at least one key piece of kit or figures that.....only IM supplies.

Yes while a few  of the figures I have bought over the years have had a bit more flash than some manufacturers, I have only had to ask for a replacement on two occasions, both times he was happy to oblige and I collected them at the next show we were both at. 

[Leman]

Nobby's needle has got stuck on his irrational fear of 15mm again. Someone give him a nudge. Just to annoy:

[IrregularMiniatures]

The guys at Pendraken have very kindly allowed us to (attempt to) clear up how our postage works so I thought I'd come on and have a go/spoil the fun.

In the past our postage was worked out as: UK +10% with a minimum of £2, Europe +20% with a minimum of £4, Rest of World +30% with a minimum of £5.
However, as a result of adding a shopping cart function to the website through PayPal buttons we can no longer use this method, as there is no % based postage option, nor is it possible to have different minimum postage amounts to different regions.

As a result we had to add the 10% UK Postage onto the price of the figures (no clever marketing scheme involved sadly). If anyone can think of a better, less confusing, way to word the note please let us know.

Eventually it is our aim to rebuild the site from scratch using a proper shopping cart platform but at the moment the thought of starting this monumental task (we have over 11,000 different figures!) makes me feel physically ill.

As people have mentioned already if there is ever an issue with any figure you receive from us or a missing piece (we are still human after all. For now...) let us know and we will be more than happy to send on what you need.

Hope I have managed to clear things up a bit,

Lawrence

[Orcs]

Hi Lawrence,

Welcome to the Forum,  thanks for clearing that up, I was very intrigued.   I hope the addition of the shopping cart significantly increases your sales, as you are one of "Old Stalwarts" that I have used for more years than I care to remember.

I think the first show I saw you at was when you ventured down to Southend on Sea.

[paulr]

Welcome to the forum Lawrence

Thanks for clearing that up

[Sunray]

Hi Lawrence,

Welcome to the Forum,  thanks for clearing that up, I was very intrigued.   I hope the addition of the shopping cart significantly increases your sales, as you are one of "Old Stalwarts" that I have used for more years than I care to remember.

+ 1 to that !  

And thanks to Leon for allowing "another old firm" to post.  Most "irregular" in the modern business world.  But then wargameing is more of a fraternity than a business.  

Best wishes

James