v22TTC Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 OK, I support my LGS to the end, and love them dearly... but.... There are some things they can't order (Wyrd for example, due to the minimum numbers requirements) and whenever I need something really quickly, it generally takes them a month or more to get it. So with the likes of Iron Painter in mind:- 1 Can anybody recommend a reliable mail order minis company, preferably UK/EU based to save on delivery cost/time? And that has a good selection of fairly esoteric stuff? Arcane would be ideal if it actually sent me some minis (reason I still have no Wyrd minis and couldn't enter my planned piece in the FF competition) or replied to my queries.... [Closes eyes, counts to ten and swallows ball of fury....] 2 Failing that, as seems likely, could somebody tell me what the threshold is that if you're under it you don't have to pay Customs VAT and therefore the monstrous `handling charge' [closes eyes again...] for stuff sent from outside the EU and from a business, rather than private individual? So, say I ordered some Wyrd minis from this site, what would be the maximum value of the order that would allow it to be delivered to my door, rather than me having to wait an extra week, take time off work, go and pick it up and pay £13.50 (plus duty) for the privelege? So I'll know to place two or three orders, paying postage for each, rather than one big order. Will be really, really grateful to any of the experienced folks in the UK who can answer these two questions - cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 I'd be curious what your LGS says they can't order due to minimum requirements as we've got an 'extremely' low minimum, particularly if you are a retailer - its rare for any of our retailers to even order that little to be honest. Artemis Black carries our full line and is right there in the UK and I'm sure will supply you if you would rather get local. He's got a good reputation and has our full line at the moment. As for shipping direct from here to the UK, we have a low shipping rate $5.25 overseas, flat rate, and as far as I've heard, its pretty rare for anyone to get hit with much in the way of customs. Why .. well just couldn't say really, but there are plenty of folks here on the site that have ordered from over that away so I'm sure if any of them have been hit for large bits of customs they can holler out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted March 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Cheers for the response - remember me two months ago chatting about this and me saying I'd ordered some?... Grrr.... Anyway, who can fathom the mystical and esoteric ways of the LGS ordering system but it seems like he can only order from his distributor and it's them who have the minimum requirement, not yourself. TTG as far as I can figure out. Literally the guy said that if I wanted some Wyrd stuff, the only way would be for him to pick some up at GenCon and me buy them when he gets back... seemed funny (but nice) at the time but the way my mail order luck's going, it'll probably end up being that.... Just checked Artemis again and he does have the full line at the moment so might pounce in a minute - literally checked the other day and he didn't have a lot of what I wanted. Would still like to know about the Customs threshold though, because there's quite a bit of stuff I'm after that can only be got from the States and Canada. It's not the duty that's the killer, it's that if you even have to pay a single penny in duty then your parcel is delayed and there is a flat fee of £13.50 that you have to give to Parcel Force as a handling charge... doubt I could ever do that again without going mental [and avoids the obvious pun!:tongue2:]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonherald Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Never had a cusoms hit yet.. only time I got one was from battlewagon bits .... I think the UK postal system the sham that i is has different rules in different places.. I know my pal Colin about 20 miles from me get's hit with a customs bill every time he orders something...I order from everywhere and never have any problems....***stubs toe as kicks himself for tempting fate**** worth checking with the local Post Handling service as I believe it is now a regional thing regarding the tarriffs they apply.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveB Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 Customs limit in the UK is £18 (roughly $36). Beyond that and you stand the chance of getting hit by customs including the dreaded 'handling charge' of £13.50 (and vat and duty and whatever else they decide to make up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauth81 Posted March 18, 2008 Report Share Posted March 18, 2008 the (often used) resolution to the customs charge thingy is to have it declared as a gift just under the threshold. But there should be no invoice in the package in case its gets inspected nvertheless AND it is risky, because it's only insured to that amoount (if insured at all). Some international sellers do that, some don't. I guess you just have to ask. A good (german) shop with most of Wyrd stuff (and others) is "Battlefield Berlin". just google it, don't have the adress now. I have very good experiences with them in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted March 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2008 Cheers everyone! The gift threshold is £36, by the way (private person to private person). Will check the tarriffs thing though, though the last and only time I got hit with this (the only time I ordered from abroad) the package got auto-stopped at Coventry (the value had to be written on the box for it to ship) and I live in Manchester.... Given that you seem to manage OK in getting what you want Demonherald, for competitions, would you mind telling me where you order from, by PM if you don't want it generally known?.... I don't mind waiting for stuff generally but I want at least half a fighting chance against the deadline for IP5.... Off to check out Battlefield Berlin now cheers - think somebody mentioned them on the Anima forum too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemis Black Posted April 3, 2008 Report Share Posted April 3, 2008 We do take requests for new lines btw. The more people request a line the quicker it moves up the list to being stocked so don't be shy about e-mailing me and politely complaining that I don't stock X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted April 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Oh, there'll be no shyness [rubs hands with minis hoarding glee]. But how come you don't stock GW minis?: And Nathan, just FYI, I think the distributor I mentioned is in fact SMG. EDIT: And I finally got loads of Wyrd minis (from someone not a million miles away - top service and speed!) and they're ace!!! Really hope the first IPV theme lends itself to a Wyrd mini! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Caroland Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Never contacted me so I'm not sure how they can say our minimums or whatever are not to their liking. It's possible they picked it up through the grapevine. Still, I don't pressure retailers or distributors, they come, or they don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemis Black Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Oh, there'll be no shyness [rubs hands with minis hoarding glee]. But how come you don't stock GW minis?: 3 reasons. 1. I used to be a rogue trader store and GW are a pain to deal with. 2. You can get GW online anywhere, I'd rather concentrate on things less easy to find. 3. Now I've got so many non GW lines in I don't have space to stock GW properly even if I wanted to and I would never prioritise them above our existing lines. We do however sell second hand GW stuff at the store for the local kids and gaming groups. After Salute I'll probably be putting up an 'Artemis Black Market' page for such things - basically anythign we buy in will get given x weeks at the store and if no locals are interested I'll add it to the site. And glad you got your stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orkydave Posted April 6, 2008 Report Share Posted April 6, 2008 Yaaay! Good old Coventry postal service, even managing to screw thing up for residents in Manchester now! In respects to Wyrd and UK posting, I have had nothing but positive experiences ordering directly from the Wyrd store (despite living in Coventry, with our nimble fingered postmen...) All my items ordered have been with me within a week, even the free random scmuck prizes from competitions and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v22TTC Posted April 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Artemis: Yeah, I was being funny (some might say) - I've read your site.... It's very respect worthy trying to stock lines that you can't easily get other places - there's about a million lines I'd love you to get in but I'm trying to think of ones that might actually make you some money too, rather than just so I can conveniently buy a few Andrea miniatures or whatever.... Not wanting to abuse Nathan's hospitality or anything, but I'd expect Anima stuff to do well (especially when FFG finally gets its English translations sorted)... though I'll get mine from my thrice beloved LGS.... Nathan: Just out of interest(?), I've seen a couple of people now on the Anima forum use Wyrd minis as proxies in Anima Tactics - Misaki seems to be a good choice... I always think it's cool seeing things like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artemis Black Posted April 8, 2008 Report Share Posted April 8, 2008 Artemis: Yeah, I was being funny (some might say) - I've read your site.... I'd forgotten that was even there It's very respect worthy trying to stock lines that you can't easily get other places - there's about a million lines I'd love you to get in but I'm trying to think of ones that might actually make you some money too, rather than just so I can conveniently buy a few Andrea miniatures or whatever.... Not wanting to abuse Nathan's hospitality or anything, but I'd expect Anima stuff to do well (especially when FFG finally gets its English translations sorted)... though I'll get mine from my thrice beloved LGS.... Anima Tactics is on the list. We have at least 3 new lines coming in for Salute though so will be after the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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