PlaymoFriends
General => News => Topic started by: playmofire on March 15, 2010, 18:00:48
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New postage rates, quite a bit more than before, were introduced by Playmobil UK DS graded according to the cost of the order. Even an order over £50 cost £7.50 in postage. These, however, have now been reduced so that internet or telephone orders under £50 are £5 postage and packing and orders over £50 are free. Presumably, these also apply to ordering DS parts.
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They sound good, although I can't really remember what they were :-[
last time my web order came to around £45 with postage costing £6 if it were under £50, so I chose the new bus shelter which was £6, so I got free postage :P
Does that mean I will now only save £1 ???
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They sound good, although I can't really remember what they were :-[
last time my web order came to around £45 with postage costing £6 if it were under £50, so I chose the new bus shelter which was £6, so I got free postage :P
Does that mean I will now only save £1 ???
From the beginning of this year I think it was, there were tiered rates which were quite confusing. Martin Milner first spotted this, but I can't find his post now. I know I had an order between £30 and £40 and the postage was £10 and for an order £50 plus it was £7.50.
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Hi,
I noticed the same thing: I'd gotten used to the idea of orders over £50 got free shipping. I thought perhaps the change to £7.50 was due to Playmobil UK wanting to cover their costs better given the recession. But it it's back to order over £50 have free shipping, so much the better.
I've never seen the sense in raising prices when consumers' own budgets are tight -- it simply gives them (us!) a better reason NOT to spend money. But then I have no idea what condition Playmobil UK's bottom line is in. And I'm not a businessman.
Anyway, free shipping on orders £50 and over will probably get me to spend that £50. I've had my eye on those knight easter eggs for a while now...
AndrewL
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I find it annoying that Playmobil don't offer free shipping for any purchases - most internet shops and businesses do nowdays which makes them more worthwhile sometimes than buying from a shop :-\
Playmobil's online shop is mostly cheaper than the highstreet stores and then by the time postage is added for that item it hardly seems worthwhile other than if you are buying a lot :(
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Playmobil's online shop is mostly cheaper than the highstreet stores and then by the time postage is added for that item it hardly seems worthwhile other than if you are buying a lot :(
I always try to buy at the local toyshop which usually (always?) matches Playmobil's online prices. But the fun of buying online is the excitement of waiting for the postman or the Parcel Force man. (Our Parcel Force man collects model buses - his latest buy was a 1:18 London Routemaster!)
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I always try to buy at the local toyshop which usually (always?) matches Playmobil's online prices.
You are very lucky playmofire - we don't have any reasonably priced toyshops down our way only TRU and The Entertainer, the later seeming to charge extortionate prices, sometimes up to 25% more than the usual RRP which is very annoying.
Which is why I often buy any new Playmobil I want when on holiday - I found that Toymaster's prices where very good where last year I got the road maintenance Unimog 4046 for £35 (The Entertainer where charging £45 at the time) which i thought was very good. The same little shop also still had a castle 3666 and the victorian mansion 5300 for £120 each.
I was also lucky to find an original 3149 police car in an old fashioned camera shop with a toy shop attached a few months ago whilst visiting relatives. I got it for £13.99, which seems good compared with the new police car at £19.99. The shop had 2 but only realised that I should have bought the other one when we where leaving :doh:
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Wow! did they really have the 3149 in still? That must have been out of production for about 13 years as the 3904 came out in 1997.
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Wow! did they really have the 3149 in still? That must have been out of production for about 13 years as the 3904 came out in 1997.
Yes, it's the oldest set that i've been able to buy new from a shop. The box is slightly faded but still makes a great addition to my collection, and which will sadly never recieve the love and enjoyment of being played with >:D
(well I don't want to ruin it's value do I :D!)
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I find it annoying that Playmobil don't offer free shipping for any purchases - most internet shops and businesses do nowdays which makes them more worthwhile sometimes than buying from a shop :-\
Playmobil's online shop is mostly cheaper than the highstreet stores and then by the time postage is added for that item it hardly seems worthwhile other than if you are buying a lot :(
But they do offer free shipping Flatcat, that's what the thread is about. Did you not read the earlier posts ???
Orders over 50 quid are free postage in the UK.
In the USA it's $150 to get free postage, I guess because postage costs more here because it has to go further. That makes a big order cheaper here than most shops, though we have a local store here in Eugene that offers 15% discount (off prices that match Playmobil's own) with a coupon so I'll be buying the bulk of my Playmo there in future.
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But they do offer free shipping Flatcat, that's what the thread is about. Did you not read the earlier posts ???
Orders over 50 quid are free postage in the UK.
In the USA it's $150 to get free postage, I guess because postage costs more here because it has to go further. That makes a big order cheaper here than most shops, though we have a local store here in Eugene that offers 15% discount (off prices that match Playmobil's own) with a coupon so I'll be buying the bulk of my Playmo there in future.
But they are still charging £5 for orders under £50, I meant that they should offer free postage on any items no matter how much the come to.
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But they are still charging £5 for orders under £50, I meant that they should offer free postage on any items no matter how much the come to.
Very few email sellers offer completely free shipping. Amazon who I think of as the market leader give free postage only for larger orders. It encourages people to buy a bit more, and of course the postage isn't free for them no matter how much you buy.
I was annoyed when eBay decided to force sellers to offer free shipping on certain categories of auctions last year (computer games was one). I was in the processing of selling off things I couldn't bring to the USA, so I was very busy on eBay for 3-4 months. Obviously shipping still costs the seller something, so most people would have to incorporate the costs into the original auction price, thus preventing them from taking advantage of the free auction for items starting at 99p or less. It felt like a typical eBay scam, and I wrote to them about it, and got a wholly inadequate reply.
Happily I was able to put the correct postage on most of my auctions anyway by putting items into a different category, but it spoilt my enjoyment of the eBay process and now I don't use them if I have other possible options.
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Very few email sellers offer completely free shipping. Amazon who I think of as the market leader give free postage only for larger orders. It encourages people to buy a bit more, and of course the postage isn't free for them no matter how much you buy.
I was referring to the main Playmobil webshop, and besides we have always got free postage on things we buy from Amazon in the UK.
I am aswell very annoyed about ebay's postage policies as I am selling a certain item at the moment which must go by RM special delivery, which will cost me £7.99, but ebay say postage in the category can only be maximum £4, so I have to lose out if I want my item to arrive safely and on time >:D
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I was referring to the main Playmobil webshop, and besides we have always got free postage on things we buy from Amazon in the UK.
I am aswell very annoyed about ebay's postage policies as I am selling a certain item at the moment which must go by RM special delivery, which will cost me £7.99, but ebay say postage in the category can only be maximum £4, so I have to lose out if I want my item to arrive safely and on time >:D
I'm also referrring to the main Playmobil webshop, so we're on the same page here.
Amazon UK did not always offer free delivery, there used to be a minimum purchase amount of 15 GBP before it kicked in as an option. They dropped that to 5 GBP, and now appear to have now removed the minimum altogether, which is very nice to know.
eBay's restrictions on postage are ridiculous, and purely put there so they can skim more profit out of auctions, no matter what pathetic excuses they give.
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eBay's restrictions on postage are ridiculous, and purely put there so they can skim more profit out of auctions, no matter what pathetic excuses they give.
However it does work out well when you are buying ;)
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Referring to Gordon's original post, I am afraid to say that these postage rates definately do not apply to DS parts orders.
I recently ordered some spares to complete sets and the order came to around £21 which included postage costs of £8.50! 8} I wouldn't have minded but the parts were all tiny and light so could fit in a tiny box. So it seems to me that they can maybe reduce the website order postage costs because they are offsetting them with very high rates for DS spare parts orders....just my luck :clover:
Claire :wave:
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I recently ordered some spares to complete sets and the order came to around £21 which included postage costs of £8.50! 8} I wouldn't have minded but the parts were all tiny and light so could fit in a tiny box. So it seems to me that they can maybe reduce the website order postage costs because they are offsetting them with very high rates for DS spare parts orders....just my luck :clover:
Claire :wave:
I haven't ordered any parts from DS for a little while, but £8.50 really takes the biscuit! :omg:
Last time I ordered a few small parts to complete my 3880 fire engine, and I think they charged around £3.50 postage which I thought was quite a lot :-\
I often put off buying parts on ebay, but when you compare the postage costs :hmm:
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Referring to Gordon's original post, I am afraid to say that these postage rates definately do not apply to DS parts orders.
I recently ordered some spares to complete sets and the order came to around £21 which included postage costs of £8.50! 8} I wouldn't have minded but the parts were all tiny and light so could fit in a tiny box. So it seems to me that they can maybe reduce the website order postage costs because they are offsetting them with very high rates for DS spare parts orders....just my luck :clover:
Claire :wave:
When did you order, Claire? The new rates of £5 up to £49 and free for £50 plus only came in the day I started this topic. Looking in the DS catalogue which came with my 2010 Playmobil catalogue, the delivery charges from 1st January were as follows (these are for internet sales and DS orders):
up to £10 - £5.50
£10.01 to £30 - £8.50
£30.01 to £50 - £10
£50.01 plus - £7.50
Replacement part orders under £3 - £1.95.
These have now been replacd by the new rates as shown on the Playmobil website as below:
Our new UK Shipping Costs are as follows:
Order Value £ 0.00 - £ 50.00 = £5.50
Order Value £ 50.01+ = free of charge
In the email newsletter I got it says that these apply to internet and Direct Order (telephone) sales and the wording is the same on the home page of the UK website. However, if you click through on the website to the delivery, shipping and handling page, it just refers to new UK shipping costs with no reference to the internet.
I'm assuming that "internet" includes sending in a spreadsheet for DS parts, but I'm going to email and check this.
And flatcat, all the parst come in from Germany for each order, so there is that cost to Playmobil.
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Hi Gordon,
I reckon I placed the order before you started the topic but my parcel only arrived a couple of days ago so it can't have been that much before. Like you though, I send the order in via e-mail and then pay by phone.
I suspect that the reduced postage costs only apply to items from the regular assortment and from the DS catalogue though and not spare parts orders as these come direct from Germany...I am going to be putting in another spares order today though so I will let you know how much I am charged for postage then.
Claire :wave:
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Hi Claire,
I emailed UK DS as follows:
Can you confirm whether or not the new shipping charges apply to a DS parts order sent in by email, please?
and this is the reply I got:
Yes, it does apply to parts orders. Parts orders below £3.00 p+p £1.95, Orders
below £50.00 p+p £5.00, orders above £50.00 free of charge.
I always send in my order as a spreadsheet sorted into part number order and with a brief description of each part. I can email you a copy of the master if you want.
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And flatcat, all the parst come in from Germany for each order, so there is that cost to Playmobil.
Hadn't thought of that :-[
Thanks for the confirmed P+P costs btw, I never really knew exactly how much it was when ordering :)9
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sure enough, my latest order totalled £31ish and included just £5 postage so that's better :)
Gordon, a copy of your master spreadsheet would be appreciated as it sounds like a simpler way to order spares...you are very kind :)9
Claire :wave:
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sure enough, my latest order totalled £31ish and included just £5 postage so that's better :)
Gordon, a copy of your master spreadsheet would be appreciated as it sounds like a simpler way to order spares...you are very kind :)9
Claire :wave:
PM me your email address Claire and I'll get it off to you today.