Some of you may have seen various news/announcements about price increases across the hobby recently, mainly due to the unprecedented rise we're seeing in metal prices.  Sadly we're in the same boat and our metal has gone up by almost 50% over the past 9 months.  We buy in bulk to get the best price we can, but even with our discounts it's now costing us over £1000 per month more than at the start of the year.  Obviously this is a huge hit to take each month and we're trying to find ways to mitigate it, as the current estimates are that we won't see prices come back down until 2024/2025.

After the frankly awful 18 months that we've all gone through I'm very reluctant to put our prices up across the board.  Covid has impacted all of us in various ways so the last thing we want to do right now is make folks pay more for their hobby stuff.  We were planning a minor price increase in February 2022 so we're going to get through 2021 as best we can and then hopefully next year brings some brighter times for all of us.

One area that we can't maintain pricing though is our custom orders.  With the metal so expensive now it's not as viable to have stock sitting in spares trays so we need to either temporarily stop doing custom orders, or put a small increase on the pricing of them to take into account the metal costs.  We know how many of you appreciate being able to order a few extra figures here and there so we've gone with the latter option.  The new pricing adds 5p to an individual infantry figure / 10p to an individual cavalry figure and takes them to the following:

Foot = 25p per figure.
Cavalry = 50p per figure.
Artillery = £1.40 per gun / 25p per crewmen (based on a 3 gun pack, each with 4 crewmen)
Limbers = £3.25 per limber and horse team (based on a 2 limber pack)

Other items/packs will be priced in a similar manner.

As before, we will never charge more than a regular pack would cost, so if you wanted 26 foot figures this would be the regular pack price of £6.00, rather than £6.50 (26 x 25p).  But you might as well just buy the regular 30-man pack and have a few spares!

Let me know if there's any questions on this and hopefully the metal pricing will level out soon.

Thanks for the heads up Leon and I'm sure we all feel for what you're going through. 5p per figure increase is a small price to pay for the ability to maintain custom orders, which is something that I and I'm sure many other appreciate.

Not putting your prices up when raw materials have gone up by 50% that is incredibly generous.

Custom orders are a very useful thing to have, and something I dont't think any other manufacturer does.

I must admit I am not sure why you cap it at a pack price. If I have ordered 30 individuals that will mean multiple extra spins of the mold I would expect to pay £7.50.
Otherwise you are not getting the premium price for the extra work involved.

Quote from: Orcs on 15 August 2021, 07:44:01 PM
I must admit I am not sure why you cap it at a pack price. If I have ordered 30 individuals that will mean multiple extra spins of the mold I would expect to pay £7.50.
Otherwise you are not getting the premium price for the extra work involved.

The cap would only apply if you hit the same contents as a regular pack.  So if you want 20 x NPF1 French line, that would be £5.00 (20 x 25p), but if you want 32 x NPF1 French line then it's £6.00 (£5.50 for 30 as usual, plus 2 x 25p for the extra 2 figures).  If you're looking for command, let's say NPF3 officer x 50 figures, then those would all be at the 25p per figure as we don't produce a 30-man pack of officers.

The changes seem like a good idea - we need to keep you in business!

So it will definitely cheaper to buy 1809 French Leger  in existing packs of 13+3 at £2.95 (about 22.96p per infantryman (if you exclude the three command figures)), compared to Ligne at 18.3p and voltigeurs at 18.4p.  (Luckily I just bought a load of Leger!)

Edward

Not a problem - keep making the figures!! Best wishes

When it comes down to it's a commercial operation and you can't sell at a loss

Please put in a really big increase to stop me buying vast numbers of the recently displayed goodies like AWI, LoA     
But thanks for the early warning so I can get another order in first!!

I'm not sure I understand small custom orders.  If there is a common request it suggests the pack make up is wrong.  And when I needed more artillery crew than guns, I just bought a pack anyway and will use the "spare" guns as decoration in a scenic/casualty base somehow.   Where I've had lots of "spares" they are off to ebay where they typically go for over half the original price.

Leon

Thank you for maintaining custom orders, they are still at a very reasonable rate.
As has been said we want you guys to be making a reasonable return so you can invest in new ranges. So if you need to put general prices up to cover the extra metal costs I'm sure we would all understand.

DecemDave

With all the various basing systems people use its impossible to get the pack make up right for everyone. If you need another 2-10 foot ordering 30 is a waste.

Rather pay the extra than not have the option.
Also with everything increasing in price. you should raise your prices, you are not the only company to raise their prices.
with the outlay you've just shelled out on the new premises, it makes it all more remarkable that you also did that while effectively making a loss.
regards
Sean

Quote from: sean66 on 16 August 2021, 09:20:11 AM
Also with everything increasing in price. you should raise your prices,
Sean

I agree we need you to stay in business, a bit on the price of a pack is no issue

Thanks for all of the replies, I really appreciate it.  I'm hoping that the 2024 prediction is a worst-case scenario and we start to see global tin prices come down again towards the end of the year.  If not we'll all have to head down to Cornwall with our pickaxes and get the mines up and running again!

Quote from: sean66 on 16 August 2021, 09:20:11 AM
... it makes it all more remarkable that you also did that while effectively making a loss.

Thankfully we're not quite in loss territory just yet but we've had to scale back some of the staff hours a little while things are quiet over summer.  I think at the moment we're seeing the 'imperfect' storm of lockdown easing, summer holidays and purchase saturation from 18 months stuck inside, so sales are very low even compared to pre-Covid levels. It always happens during July/August to varying degrees so things should pick up again in September.

July/August us young un's are outside frolicking in the Sunshine. or on Holiday.
where our elder Brethren (no one mention Techno) are still holed up inside trying to get warm....
regards
Sean

Techno - I alus rise to a challenge. Although I suspect Phil is outside lots dealing wit 'orses and Sheeeps to say nowt about exercising the dogies.....

The addition of 5p/10p to an individual infantry figure is not the slightest problem for me, for a number of reasons.  First is that Pendraken's figures are competitive anyway but mainly because I sometimes end up with an excess of figures that I can't use if I order only by packs.  The French light infantry pack NPF6 is a example of what I mean.  I don't want a unit of 50% command figures.  I also don't want the two poses in most cavalry packs, which don't work for me in the same unit, or at all.  Typically is NPF48, Red Lancers where one has the lance couched at the charge and the other has the lance at carry upright.  I only want one pose.  I can only use so may as the basis of conversions, as spares or for head swops, so the rest would just be thrown away if I was unable to order by individual figure sometimes, which would be a real waste, and in cost terms possibly more expensive than the surcharge on individual figures.  If it was up to me, I'd keep command packs separate and then have separate packs of marching, charging, advancing, firing or whatever.  But, it isn't so it is has to be individual figures sometimes.