Thanks for the update Leon. The price rises seem quite restrained considering all the issues you have had.  As one of the lost package customers I am more than happy to pay extra in postage if that helps in any way.

All the best for the future and I will be ordering again as soon as I paint my last delivery 

Gentlemen.

As my grandmother used to say "fair worms batter no parsons", and I think we can all agree that she was as natty as a fruit bat.

In her own, weird, oddly scented way she was right. I have read through Leon's honest and concerning post, and the resultant comments. It seems to me that the provision of good quality 10mm figures is shrinking, and  I have invested too much time and pennies in our favourite producer to stand idly by as it goes through a tough patch.

So I sat down.

And made a decision. I am careful with the amount I spend*. I have a nominal monthly budget, but I have decided that for the next few months I shall double my spend. I realise that in the grand scheme of things, this will make as much difference as a PaK36 against a KV1, but I will at least feel that I am taking a practical step.

In real terms, this means that my lead mountain is going to grow, which may lead have consequences later, but it will also mean that I can get through the purchasing phase quicker. If I need paint, I shall go to Pendraken first. I may just have to buy a V2 missile for the Bishops' Wars Scots, and maybe one for a WWII objective as well. I shall definitely be drinking deep of the Amazon range which is surely, certainly going to get released soon. I'm twitching to add to my Cold War Brits, and if PaulR doesn't stop blethering on about his Russo-Japanese war fleets, I shall certainly have to retaliate with some ground forces.**

Hopefully, some of the rest of you will find that extra tenner down the back of the sofa and think about spending it with Pendraken.

I'm not being noble, I'm not looking for brownie points. I'm trying to help the good people at Pendraken get through a difficult situation. I've been buying from Pendraken for 10 years now, and I've always found them to be honest, fair, friendly and genuine.*** I keep my face mask that Pendraken produced for local services during the Pandemic. That act was the act of good people.
https://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,19623.0.html

By Milady's Dimpled Golf Ball, they put up with our inanity on a daily basis and it wouldn't be a bad thing if we could demonstrate a bit of support. I know that time's are rough all over, but as my grandmother used to say "when the toenail gets tough, the toffee get doughy."

I never ate her home made confectionary.   

Thank you for getting this far.
 

*If you believe that, may I interest you in a 33% share of Runcorn Bridge? 
**Actually, I could do with some trees, but they're not on offer.   
***All except that 2017 incident with Dave in Reading. The nun was Ok, but the pony is still in therapy.

Hi Leon, glad you are optimistic you will get through all this. We are a very rich country that is very bad at distributing wealth more evenly.

Have you checked out which zone of the Teeside Freeport you are in? (it extends for 20 miles around the actual freeport, each 'zone' offers different 'benifits' (if you can call not having to consider enviromental planning a beneifit) anyway they may be something there to tap into. Rupert

Quote from: fsn on 11 August 2023, 08:30:38 PMThank you for getting this far.

And thank you for the kind words, that made me chuckle.  Please don't unnecessarily enlarge the lead mountains though, I don't want anyone stretching themselves in these difficult times.

Quote from: rupert on 12 August 2023, 05:07:09 PMHave you checked out which zone of the Teeside Freeport you are in? (it extends for 20 miles around the actual freeport, each 'zone' offers different 'benifits' (if you can call not having to consider enviromental planning a beneifit) anyway they may be something there to tap into. Rupert

I'll check with our local business team but I'm sure we're not within any of the zones.  They put out some info a while back showing which bits of Teesside are classed as within a zone and sadly we're not in any of them.  Annoyingly our old unit might have been...!

Quote from: Leon on 12 August 2023, 09:08:00 PMAnd thank you for the kind words, that made me chuckle.  Please don't unnecessarily enlarge the lead mountains though, I don't want anyone stretching themselves in these difficult times.

Every enlargement of the lead mountain is due to my own inability to paint fast enough. Besides which, my current Expected Date of Lead Mountain Exhaustion (EDLME) an hence continuance into another plane of existence is 25th April 2025. My daughter gets married in September 2025, and I want to be around for that.       

In the grand scheme of things I am proposing a small increase in my outlay. My self imposed limit is more about my painting capacity.

Also, I can now put in bigger monthly orders without feeling guilty about breaking my own self-imposed rules. 

Call it enlightened self-interest.

As hobbies go, it has to said that wargaming is relatively cheap compared to other leisure activities such as a football season ticket for example.

Most traders tend to gamers themselves and are very conscious of the effect on customers.  I've tended to look at such increases as inevitable in today's world where not only have the prices of materials increased in their right but also the increased costs of moving them about.

Given the quality of the figures and the service that comes with them, especially being able to add odd figures or substitute figures, I'm happy for Leon to go ahead with whatever he needs to do to ensure the firm's viability.

Best wishes going forwards.

Quote from: DHautpol on 14 August 2023, 12:06:47 PMAs hobbies go, it has to said that wargaming is relatively cheap compared to other leisure activities such as a football season ticket for example.

Most traders tend to gamers themselves and are very conscious of the effect on customers.  I've tended to look at such increases as inevitable in today's world where not only have the prices of materials increased in their right but also the increased costs of moving them about.

Given the quality of the figures and the service that comes with them, especially being able to add odd figures or substitute figures, I'm happy for Leon to go ahead with whatever he needs to do to ensure the firm's viability.

Best wishes going forwards.

There is no "like" credit on the forum as you have on Twitter, so I will give this post the wargamers' ultimate salute : - +1

If you don't mind me asking Leon, how's the relationship with Dark Horse in the US? I make my purchases through them, as I'm US based, but I'm happy to switch over to direct if that helps you more.

Your probably better sourcing "locally" if for no other reason that customs duties. Shipping would also be much higher from the UK to US.

Quote from: TheLimey on 15 August 2023, 02:04:08 PMIf you don't mind me asking Leon, how's the relationship with Dark Horse in the US? I make my purchases through them, as I'm US based, but I'm happy to switch over to direct if that helps you more.

Everything's great with Dark Horse, no worries there.  Steve's spent a great deal of time and money building stocks over there so I'd always push folks to him first.

Quote from: Leon on 15 August 2023, 09:00:02 PMEverything's great with Dark Horse, no worries there.  Steve's spent a great deal of time and money building stocks over there so I'd always push folks to him first.

Perfect. I've had no issues at all with him, so that's good to know.

Thanks Leon for letting us know. Being one of the customers whose package was lost, I cannot thank you enough pour sending me another one. It is absolutely correct tant Brexit and an implementation of other taxation mesure by the EU has made ordering in UK a real problem. I've been ordering minis from UK for the last 25 years and never had to pay a darn thing at the customs. As for now, a typical customs taxation would be around 10-20 euros supplement. Did it stop me ordering stuff in UK? I'm afraid, yes.
That said, I'm going to order a few packs from Pendraient right now !
Thanks for all the good job and the wonderful minis.

Thank you Leon for your openness.
If I'm correct once IOSS is on, I'll have to pay VAT but not the custom fees, so considering Italy has a strong let's say "tradition" in taxation, this will probably make it even with price rise...
Moreover from a personal point of view, I too had a roof damaged, insurance "issues" and some troubled waters in my business, so I can strongly relate. One thing I learned to cope with all the issues is to take them one at time, one step after another. I know it's grandmother wisdom but it does work.
Hold tight!

Just to keep everyone updated on a few things from this announcement:

Lost Packages
As expected, we submitted our claims to Royal Mail for around £2500 of parcels and they paid us...  drum roll... £140. 

Commercial Rates
We've had a property surveyor out and they're putting our case in to the valuation office / local council.  It's a no-win, no-fee arrangement so we'll be paying them 25% of any savings they're able to make.

New Website
The costs for paying someone to do the bulk of the work were too high so I've spent the past 6 weeks building this myself.  The new platform will have all of the same features and I'm working to make sure that it looks as similar as possible to the current one.  There will be some elements that work slightly differently but hopefully not too much.  Currently the only things that we can't transfer over will be your order history and any secondary addresses you've added to your account.  We'll be able to download and save both of those from the current site but we just can't add them to the new one easily.

 

 

 

Royal Mail is a sh*t show. They must have the worst service in the world.I suppose you have looked at other carriers?

Quote from: paulr on 19 October 2023, 02:07:27 AM 

 

 

That about sums it up!

Quote from: Enigmatic Gamer on 19 October 2023, 08:45:20 AMI suppose you have looked at other carriers?

We've looked at a few but they're all either a lot more expensive (50%+ extra in most cases) or have a worse delivery record (I'm looking at your Hermes/Evri!).  Unfortunately RM are still the most cost-effective option for the small-medium parcels. 

Quote from: Enigmatic Gamer on 19 October 2023, 08:45:20 AMRoyal Mail is a sh*t show. They must have the worst service in the world.I suppose you have looked at other carriers?

They used to be good with committed staff who were proud of the service. Not sure what happened to them

Quote from: flamingpig0 on 19 October 2023, 02:28:30 PMThey used to be good with committed staff who were proud of the service. Not sure what happened to them

I think the staff as still the same type of people (at least the ones we deal with are) but there's definitely a sense of resignation about them when you ask how things are going.  It should never have been privatised in my view, but that's a different discussion.

Yes, I don't blame the staff it's the senior managers who are responsible.