Why we have a minium order of £30-00+vat on the website...

[Rob D]

This comes up all the time - so if I write the reasons on here then at least it'll help folks understand the whys and wherefores...

 

It stems from this - we do free delivery on our website.

 

While we do value our customers - this is not why there is free delivery. There is free delivery because [and bear in mind this is Rule of Thumb stuff - there are always exceptions.. and bear in mind when I am a customer I fit the below criteria as well!]

 

1. Since Ebay and Amazon people hate it when they have to pay delivery on top of their order. In fact they hate it so much we have been told that 'paying £5.95+vat for delivery of a £7.70+vat rim is a rip-off mate'
2. If a customer buys a small item of small value they expect to pay very little post and packing if any...
3. If a customer buys a large order of large value they expect to pay little post and packing if any...
4. If a customer makes an order - then thinks 'oh I missed something' there is anxiety in order to place another order and make sure that x2 lots of postage are not paid. If postage is free this removes this. Free postage removes the drama of trying to sort out the nitty gritty

 

 

So that seems clear - why bother having a minimum order of £30-00?

 

1. When we had no minimum order value we were getting orders of x1 wedge, x1 bar scabbard, x1 box of files which the cost of sending was almost the cost of the item... people were making x3 orders a week. These would often go Royal mail, sometimes go missing, and they would add to our work load in terms of packing and order fulfillment. So by putting £30-00+vat a customer has to order a few things at a time which is a better way for us to work
2. Ok so why don't you add on a postage cost for smaller items so you are covered? I'm happy to pay for that... Answer - you may be happy to pay but most people really aren't and see it as you ripping them off with postage. And it raises the 'mate you could have sent this Royal Mail for £1.20 yet you charged £5.95? And you can never really get the charges right to meet different customer expectations
3. To send by courier on a tracked service we need a customer to spend £30.00+vat minimum. If we think more efficient to send Royal Mail [large envelope goes through the door] we do so but we do so at our own risk not the customers...
4. A few items are bulky but not expensive ie. 12" KH wedge, 36" Bar Scabbard - so that if these are ordered they often end up going by courier anyway and we lose money

 

Understood, understood - so can I not pop in and pick up the couple of bits I need?

 

Hmm another seemingly innocent request fraught with peril! This one is a somewhat sad reflection on how an internet business does not translate well into a bricks and mortar business...

 

1. We don't really have a shop - we have an office and a warehouse. Most days right now we are absolutely flat out as in the team may take 15 minutes off for lunch but most days more like 5-10 minutes.
2. There is nothing to look at at our place, no showroom, no products laid out, only boxes, and shelves of boxes, and staff running around with a manic glint in their eye...
3. Our place is small, crowded and hectic with couriers driving in and out all day, the odd 12 tonner trying to turn around, the odd 18 tonner that can't turn around or driving over the landlord's daffodils... a full time wood working workshop creating dust and noise. The car park is small and it's not a pleasant environment to drive into most of the time
4. Gathering an order for people takes concentration - and generally people are chatting away as you do it and mistakes are made. Then an hour later 'Hi, it took me an hour to drive down to you because I needed some chains urgently, just got back to fit them and they are too short!'
5. All our orders are processed on the website - we have no card machine. Everything is in one place which works well but it is clumsy - if people come down to order we have to input it into the website as them, then let them sit down and put all their card details in. Our office is pretty small and crammed full of stuff...
6. Myself [Rob] lives in Cornwall - and I tend to have the technical knowledge - I'm only there once a fortnight so Laurence will often be able to answer most questions but not all...
7. [This is the sad part really...] Most people who want to pop in generally do so for the experience of talking and enjoying the process of their purchase as well as sharing knowledge with like minded people. And we are not able to do this well... so that is one of the downsides of what we do or one of the things that has been lost in what we do. The best we can offer as a substitute is whatsapp - which is a pretty poor substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stubby]

3 hours ago, Rob D said:

This comes up all the time - so if I write the reasons on here then at least it'll help folks understand the whys and wherefores...

 

It stems from this - we do free delivery on our website.

 

While we do value our customers - this is not why there is free delivery. There is free delivery because [and bear in mind this is Rule of Thumb stuff - there are always exceptions.. and bear in mind when I am a customer I fit the below criteria as well!]

 

1. Since Ebay and Amazon people hate it when they have to pay delivery on top of their order. In fact they hate it so much we have been told that 'paying £5.95+vat for delivery of a £7.70+vat rim is a rip-off mate'
2. If a customer buys a small item of small value they expect to pay very little post and packing if any...
3. If a customer buys a large order of large value they expect to pay little post and packing if any...
4. If a customer makes an order - then thinks 'oh I missed something' there is anxiety in order to place another order and make sure that x2 lots of postage are not paid. If postage is free this removes this. Free postage removes the drama of trying to sort out the nitty gritty

 

 

So that seems clear - why bother having a minimum order of £30-00?

 

1. When we had no minimum order value we were getting orders of x1 wedge, x1 bar scabbard, x1 box of files which the cost of sending was almost the cost of the item... people were making x3 orders a week. These would often go Royal mail, sometimes go missing, and they would add to our work load in terms of packing and order fulfillment. So by putting £30-00+vat a customer has to order a few things at a time which is a better way for us to work
2. Ok so why don't you add on a postage cost for smaller items so you are covered? I'm happy to pay for that... Answer - you may be happy to pay but most people really aren't and see it as you ripping them off with postage. And it raises the 'mate you could have sent this Royal Mail for £1.20 yet you charged £5.95? And you can never really get the charges right to meet different customer expectations
3. To send by courier on a tracked service we need a customer to spend £30.00+vat minimum. If we think more efficient to send Royal Mail [large envelope goes through the door] we do so but we do so at our own risk not the customers...
4. A few items are bulky but not expensive ie. 12" KH wedge, 36" Bar Scabbard - so that if these are ordered they often end up going by courier anyway and we lose money

 

Understood, understood - so can I not pop in and pick up the couple of bits I need?

 

Hmm another seemingly innocent request fraught with peril! This one is a somewhat sad reflection on how an internet business does not translate well into a bricks and mortar business...

 

1. We don't really have a shop - we have an office and a warehouse. Most days right now we are absolutely flat out as in the team may take 15 minutes off for lunch but most days more like 5-10 minutes.
2. There is nothing to look at at our place, no showroom, no products laid out, only boxes, and shelves of boxes, and staff running around with a manic glint in their eye...
3. Our place is small, crowded and hectic with couriers driving in and out all day, the odd 12 tonner trying to turn around, the odd 18 tonner that can't turn around or driving over the landlord's daffodils... a full time wood working workshop creating dust and noise. The car park is small and it's not a pleasant environment to drive into most of the time
4. Gathering an order for people takes concentration - and generally people are chatting away as you do it and mistakes are made. Then an hour later 'Hi, it took me an hour to drive down to you because I needed some chains urgently, just got back to fit them and they are too short!'
5. All our orders are processed on the website - we have no card machine. Everything is in one place which works well but it is clumsy - if people come down to order we have to input it into the website as them, then let them sit down and put all their card details in. Our office is pretty small and crammed full of stuff...
6. Myself [Rob] lives in Cornwall - and I tend to have the technical knowledge - I'm only there once a fortnight so Laurence will often be able to answer most questions but not all...
7. [This is the sad part really...] Most people who want to pop in generally do so for the experience of talking and enjoying the process of their purchase as well as sharing knowledge with like minded people. And we are not able to do this well... so that is one of the downsides of what we do or one of the things that has been lost in what we do. The best we can offer as a substitute is whatsapp - which is a pretty poor substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Understood Rob .

[AJStrees]

4 hours ago, Rob D said:

This comes up all the time - so if I write the reasons on here then at least it'll help folks understand the whys and wherefores...

 

It stems from this - we do free delivery on our website.

 

While we do value our customers - this is not why there is free delivery. There is free delivery because [and bear in mind this is Rule of Thumb stuff - there are always exceptions.. and bear in mind when I am a customer I fit the below criteria as well!]

 

1. Since Ebay and Amazon people hate it when they have to pay delivery on top of their order. In fact they hate it so much we have been told that 'paying £5.95+vat for delivery of a £7.70+vat rim is a rip-off mate'
2. If a customer buys a small item of small value they expect to pay very little post and packing if any...
3. If a customer buys a large order of large value they expect to pay little post and packing if any...
4. If a customer makes an order - then thinks 'oh I missed something' there is anxiety in order to place another order and make sure that x2 lots of postage are not paid. If postage is free this removes this. Free postage removes the drama of trying to sort out the nitty gritty

 

 

So that seems clear - why bother having a minimum order of £30-00?

 

1. When we had no minimum order value we were getting orders of x1 wedge, x1 bar scabbard, x1 box of files which the cost of sending was almost the cost of the item... people were making x3 orders a week. These would often go Royal mail, sometimes go missing, and they would add to our work load in terms of packing and order fulfillment. So by putting £30-00+vat a customer has to order a few things at a time which is a better way for us to work
2. Ok so why don't you add on a postage cost for smaller items so you are covered? I'm happy to pay for that... Answer - you may be happy to pay but most people really aren't and see it as you ripping them off with postage. And it raises the 'mate you could have sent this Royal Mail for £1.20 yet you charged £5.95? And you can never really get the charges right to meet different customer expectations
3. To send by courier on a tracked service we need a customer to spend £30.00+vat minimum. If we think more efficient to send Royal Mail [large envelope goes through the door] we do so but we do so at our own risk not the customers...
4. A few items are bulky but not expensive ie. 12" KH wedge, 36" Bar Scabbard - so that if these are ordered they often end up going by courier anyway and we lose money

 

Understood, understood - so can I not pop in and pick up the couple of bits I need?

 

Hmm another seemingly innocent request fraught with peril! This one is a somewhat sad reflection on how an internet business does not translate well into a bricks and mortar business...

 

1. We don't really have a shop - we have an office and a warehouse. Most days right now we are absolutely flat out as in the team may take 15 minutes off for lunch but most days more like 5-10 minutes.
2. There is nothing to look at at our place, no showroom, no products laid out, only boxes, and shelves of boxes, and staff running around with a manic glint in their eye...
3. Our place is small, crowded and hectic with couriers driving in and out all day, the odd 12 tonner trying to turn around, the odd 18 tonner that can't turn around or driving over the landlord's daffodils... a full time wood working workshop creating dust and noise. The car park is small and it's not a pleasant environment to drive into most of the time
4. Gathering an order for people takes concentration - and generally people are chatting away as you do it and mistakes are made. Then an hour later 'Hi, it took me an hour to drive down to you because I needed some chains urgently, just got back to fit them and they are too short!'
5. All our orders are processed on the website - we have no card machine. Everything is in one place which works well but it is clumsy - if people come down to order we have to input it into the website as them, then let them sit down and put all their card details in. Our office is pretty small and crammed full of stuff...
6. Myself [Rob] lives in Cornwall - and I tend to have the technical knowledge - I'm only there once a fortnight so Laurence will often be able to answer most questions but not all...
7. [This is the sad part really...] Most people who want to pop in generally do so for the experience of talking and enjoying the process of their purchase as well as sharing knowledge with like minded people. And we are not able to do this well... so that is one of the downsides of what we do or one of the things that has been lost in what we do. The best we can offer as a substitute is whatsapp - which is a pretty poor substitute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Rob. Makes sense.

[John Shutler]

@Rob D I think il just keep popping in 😉

[trigger_andy]

Never questioned it Rob.

[Rob D]

Note - arbtalk is handy to post stuff like this so I can copy and paste it later! I think it helps to understand the thinking behind the way things are the way they are..

[Rob D]

1 hour ago, John Shutler said:

@Rob D I think il just keep popping in 😉

Haha! well you are more used to withstanding my moodiness than most 😅