# Who does free delivery when you spend ???



## Clean-my-sxi (Feb 5, 2008)

what companines do free delivery when you spend over a certain amount, 

I know glossmax and shinearama do when you spend over £5, anyone else offer that.


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## SBerlyn (Nov 9, 2008)

Polished Bliss over £100


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## KleenChris (Apr 4, 2008)

I think elite car care do free delivery over £60


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## KleenChris (Apr 4, 2008)

Carnaubawaxshop.com (Ben) over £29.50 and its free


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2009)

I wish some more would do this, it is really nice to order bits and bobs (i'm happy to spend £25 to get free postage like with shinearama) without then being lumbered with another £6-7 postage. I wouldn't spend £35+ just for the sake of free postage though.


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## Justa (Oct 23, 2008)

compared to my other hobbies (cycling) detailing shops seem to charge a lot for postage...

There are plenty of bike shops who send things out for free - Chain Reaction and Wiggle for e.g

Some of the stuff can be heavy too...


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## Roc (Jul 20, 2006)

Justa said:


> compared to my other hobbies (cycling) detailing shops seem to charge a lot for postage...
> 
> There are plenty of bike shops who send things out for free - Chain Reaction and Wiggle for e.g
> 
> Some of the stuff can be heavy too...


Those cycle shops probably have massively more turnover, and therefore a better contract rate with the parcel companies, the more you send the cheap it is. That's probably the reason.


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## bigup (Jun 4, 2009)

i4detailing do a 7.5% off voucher for DW members, postage for a £200+ order was only £5 which isnt too bad.


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Performance Motorcare do free delivery on everyting although some things are a quid or so more expensive but still not as bad as £6 p&p for 1 item. One thing I always get annoyed with is companies that calculate shipping based on order value rather then order weight. It makes no sense since you could have a very expensive item which is small and light or a very cheap item which is big and heavy. I always hate any site which asks me to sign up before giving me the shipping charges, I very often buy it somewhere else instead.


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

Justa said:


> compared to my other hobbies (cycling) detailing shops seem to charge a lot for postage...
> 
> There are plenty of bike shops who send things out for free - Chain Reaction and Wiggle for e.g
> 
> Some of the stuff can be heavy too...


Interesting this one - because a lot of stuff that i buy on the net comes with much higher P&P than detailing companies charge. I know myself and virtually all the other online stores lose huge amounts on P&P as we have to pay the bulk of it - what you're paying doesn't even get close to covering it.

Cycling products come with a huge margin (a friend used to own his own store in Southampton) so you can easily use some of this to fund the P&P. Detailing products are heavy and come with a tiny margin, so there's just no scope to reduce P&P further.

It's a tough one as people don't like paying it - but it boils down to that if stores feel pressured to lose even more money on P&P they'll eventually go out of business and you'll be paying P&P to buy products from America as they won't be available here any more.

People don't seem to mind paying £3/£4 for postage in general on the net - even when these products cost 48p to send (there's a popular jewellery site that charges £3.95 for P&P but everything comes out just under a 1st class stamp) but people seem to baulk at paying £5 for detailing products that have actually cost £12 to ship...

Time is also a factor - detailing customers seem to be eager to get their products! This dictates that a speedy (expensive) form of postage needs to be used, raising costs further. Most people expect delivery in 1/2 days; whereas i often wait about a week buying CD's from Amazon - unless i pay extra for faster P&P.

It's a tricky subject that doesn't have an easy answer - free P&P would be a gimmick as you'd have to put the prices of the products up so it's not really free. All i'd say is that i think most people on DW are very happy with the service they receive from virtually all of the traders on here, so hopefully that's worth the P&P alone 

I hope that gives an insight from a trader's point of view.

Gareth


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## Dave^ (Mar 22, 2007)

truth of the matter is, if it costs more in petrol and your own time to go collect your order, you've nothing to loose :thumb: otherwise, get of your hiney and go pick it up :car: gives you chance to put faces to names rather than just ordering stuff from a faceless website and it turning up a few days later.....


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

That's also a very good point Dave. People think buying from shops is 'free' P&P wise, but if i wanted to pop to Halford's for some polish say, i'd do around a couple of pounds in fuel on a round trip. In fact, i believe the AA figures for 'wear and tear' on my car is 38p a mile, so a 16 mile round trip would be £6.08...

Gareth


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## charlie53 (Apr 14, 2009)

Detailed Obsession said:


> Interesting this one - because a lot of stuff that i buy on the net comes with much higher P&P than detailing companies charge. I know myself and virtually all the other online stores lose huge amounts on P&P as we have to pay the bulk of it - what you're paying doesn't even get close to covering it.
> 
> Cycling products come with a huge margin (a friend used to own his own store in Southampton) so you can easily use some of this to fund the P&P. Detailing products are heavy and come with a tiny margin, so there's just no scope to reduce P&P further.
> 
> ...


Tbh I don't have a problem with the postage costs associated with detailing products, IMO they seem very reasonable.

Having dealt with trade suppliers myself for cycling products I know Gareth is correct. I don't know the sort of margins associated with detailing products, but cycling is usually very high.


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## Trig (Jun 9, 2008)

Detailed Obsession said:


> That's also a very good point Dave. People think buying from shops is 'free' P&P wise, but if i wanted to pop to Halford's for some polish say, i'd do around a couple of pounds in fuel on a round trip. In fact, i believe the AA figures for 'wear and tear' on my car is 38p a mile, so a 16 mile round trip would be £6.08...
> 
> Gareth


But what about when a courier comes to your door with a feather knocker and then you have to head out to the distribution centre in the middle of nowhere to collect your stuff?

Just to add, Ive no problem with paying p&p, knowing what it costs to send stuff out, paying 25% less to the seller than what the courier charges is fine by me, just dont send it by City Link.


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## Neil_M (Apr 5, 2007)

Most of the delivery charges are fine IMO, certainly the majority of the detailers on here seem to charge a fair ammount.

There are some who try to take the P though. Possibly why so many are dubious about P+P charges. Especially when some double/triple the postage cost to add in a Jiffy bag.

I remember having a discussion about delivery with Pro-Detailing about postage costs and they were very very honest. Its good to see


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## Dave^ (Mar 22, 2007)

Trig said:


> But what about when a courier comes to your door with a feather knocker and then you have to head out to the distribution centre in the middle of nowhere to collect your stuff?


common sense tells you to get it delivered to an address where someone will be present all day ie, work....

i know not every seller has the option of a different delivery address, but there are ways round it for 99% of people....

ps - 118% of statistics are made up on the spot... :lol:


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

Ultimate finish do free delivery on any spend over £30 and I found their prices no higher than any of the companys that have a delivery charge.


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## banditbarron (Sep 1, 2007)

Detailed Obsession said:


> Interesting this one - because a lot of stuff that i buy on the net comes with much higher P&P than detailing companies charge. I know myself and virtually all the other online stores lose huge amounts on P&P as we have to pay the bulk of it - what you're paying doesn't even get close to covering it.
> 
> Cycling products come with a huge margin (a friend used to own his own store in Southampton) so you can easily use some of this to fund the P&P. Detailing products are heavy and come with a tiny margin, so there's just no scope to reduce P&P further.
> 
> ...


I can very much vouch for Gaz's posting charges been reasonable.

At one point i was spending £100 here £100 there with him and he always sent the order out straight away and even though i was paying £5-6 for postage the Post Office sticker stated in excess of £20 on many occasions.

In fact Gaz i have an order almost ready to go through in the next few days :thumb:

Dave.


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Another fact to consider is when a VAT registered company is sending a small package via Royal Mail, that company has to charge VAT on that shipping cost by law. So if the post mark has X amount on it and you've been charged a bit higher, then other than the packaging charges the VAT has been charged. Courier charges will already have the VAT element included regardless.

Alex


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

Gareth is right - detailing products are heavy and generally fairly cheap so there is not enough profit in stuff like Megs to put towards postage. 
We have to send any orders over about 1.5kg by courier at a cost of £5-6, despite charging £3 or £3.95 on our sites, and that can easily be £30 worth of product, so take out the postage subsidy and you can see why none of us are loaded.
However,there are some products that have fixed prices, like Zym0l, so if you see a free P&P offer, its genuine - Vertar do it over £60 on any UK order, plus one of our OnePass Towels free at the moment, so thats a cracking offer.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

the op asked who does free delivery....not for all the excuses why you dont


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

theres also the packaging to take into account 

i dont mind paying, depending on what it is f course. i dont like to pay say £4 for 1 (small cost) item, so will wait till i need a few things.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2009)

I do take onboard fully the comments about you having to pass on the postage costs, but this is not always the case, take shinearama for example, their products are extremely well priced yet they offer free postage for £25+, therefore I wouldn't say he is passing on the postage costs as much as might be thought.

Or bilt-hamber, who charge £3~ for a single item and no more than £5.90 regardless how much you order..


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## Dave Richardson (Feb 3, 2008)

Ben at Rubbishboys was offering free postage on sales over £30 a week or so ago

Dave


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## Justa (Oct 23, 2008)

Detailed Obsession said:


> Interesting this one - because a lot of stuff that i buy on the net comes with much higher P&P than detailing companies charge. I know myself and virtually all the other online stores lose huge amounts on P&P as we have to pay the bulk of it - what you're paying doesn't even get close to covering it.
> 
> Cycling products come with a huge margin (a friend used to own his own store in Southampton) so you can easily use some of this to fund the P&P. Detailing products are heavy and come with a tiny margin, so there's just no scope to reduce P&P further.
> 
> ...


thats a good point - very well put

the mark up on cycling stuff is massive...


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## Star2 (Aug 20, 2008)

charlie53 said:


> I don't know the sort of margins associated with detailing products, but cycling is usually very high.


I think that it largely depends on what you are buying......Assos shorts @£125 a pair = massive mark up :thumb: (I truly cannot believe that anyone would pay that unless they make their money very easily! :lol

Back on topic, the postage seems fine from most detailing retailers. The postage costs are almost always compensated by lower prices. Postage charges are more of a psychological thing!


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

For the record, we charge £3 on an order, no matter how much you buy, and if its big and or heavy, like a machine, which will not fit into a couriers mailing bag, its a parcel at £7 cost.
Add on extras for Scottish Highlands, islands (inc. Isle of Wight, Man) and it can kill any profit on some orders.
I won't get onto the cost of Public Liability Insurance, Employers Liability and Professional Indemnity, which many of the larger traders (including us) have to cover.


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## Guest (Jun 9, 2009)

RaceGlazer said:


> For the record, we charge £3 on an order


That's very reasonable :thumb:


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## bromoco (May 15, 2009)

Spautopia do free delivery over a certain value and they do all Scholl concepts stuff.


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

Trig said:


> But what about when a courier comes to your door with a feather knocker and then you have to head out to the distribution centre in the middle of nowhere to collect your stuff?
> 
> Just to add, Ive no problem with paying p&p, knowing what it costs to send stuff out, paying 25% less to the seller than what the courier charges is fine by me, just dont send it by City Link.


This is a very fair point, although i'd add that it's a possibility, rather than a certainty. The actual shipping of the product is always the most 'nervous' part of the transaction for myself as a trader - as it's the bit that i have no control over once the parcel has gone, so i have to rely that it gets to the customer as quickly as i'd like it to...

The other thing that can help cancel out some of the P&P issue, is that the online retailers that stock some of the few things you can also get in the shops tend to do so much cheaper than the shop holds it for.

Three traders (Mark, Alex and myself) have posted on this thread, but i wouldn't say anyone is offering 'excuses' - merely replying to the thoughts of other people who posted up as the thread developed, rather than the OP. On the contrary, i think a thread like this is what makes DW such a good forum  There can't be many hobbies where people can converse so directly with the people who supply them - and not just one company - virtually all of the main detailing companies are represented on DW in some way.

It's also nice for traders to be able to give an insight into the industry which supplies all the goodies for everyone's details  Some people may be unaware of the postage issue, or simply not given it any thought before, and a thread like this may help straighten out some misgivings, or merely highlight why some traders charge what they do etc. I know a lot of internet retail makes a tidy profit on its P&P costs (eBay being a great example with some of the amounts people charge on there!), but the detailing industry is not one of them. As IanFRST pointed out, we've just been talking about postage here - no one's giving the packaging a second thought.

What i've learnt from when i started trading just how closely knit the detailing industry can be. The customers really do care for their cars - otherwise they wouldn't be on sites like this buying the products that they do. People with a decent passing interest may spend £50 in Halfords on AG every now and then, but it takes a proper enthusiast to use a site like this and purchase the more specialist products. In addition, i'd hazard a guess pretty much everyone is a real car enthusiast. The interesting point is that all the traders are too - i'm a genuine car enthusiast and i love detailing and surface prep - it's why i run Detailed Obsession - it genuinely interests me. It's not really for the money and to 'get rich quick' as like Mark mentioned, you don't see any of us rolling about in a Ferrari, it's just not that kind industry (sadly!!!!) To do this, you have to enjoy it...

I've other friends in online retail, who retail things with huge profit margins - just for the money, not because it interests them. At least when you ask a DW trader their opinion, you'll get a decent reply!

Lastly, there's a great choice, so everyone can use a trader they like/who has products they want/charges P&P they're happy with/provides a service they're happy with etc.

Gareth


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## Sharpy (Mar 25, 2007)

a prefect example i found today which irritated me was i was wanting some generic 250ml bottles a pack of 3 was £4.95, now these would be a small parcel costing a few quid to post, I know this as ive posted heavier things than 3 small bottles before and the postage came up at £5.49 I mean come on thats just bloody rediculous best part of £10.50 for 3 little plastic bottles!!!

For £7 i could get them sent via parcels to go with a 20kg limit lol.....


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## bigup (Jun 4, 2009)

back on topic

OP, try and see if the store you want to buy from has a group buy offer on DW, Group buys normally include postage so you will get the group buy item cheaper and the rest of the stuff you want with no extra postage costs.

ive just bought some buckets from chemical guys on a group buy, price was inclusive of postage and i wanted to buy some more kit so they added it to the order with no extra postage 

you can save by shopping around, ive done it for the last 5 days before ordering my stuff, working out who sells what the cheapest etc etc, bit of a pain but it does save some ££


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## Roc (Jul 20, 2006)

RaceGlazer said:


> However,there are some products that have fixed prices, like Zym0l


Is price fixing not illegal in this country?


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Since a few traders are here and we are discussing p&p could you all consider making you p&p charges transparent?. What I mean by that is myself and I know others get really annoyed when we have to search for shipping charges or worse create an account before finding out, that really grinds my gears.


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## Roc (Jul 20, 2006)

gt5500 said:


> Since a few traders are here and we are discussing p&p could you all consider making you p&p charges transparent?. What I mean by that is myself and I know others get really annoyed when we have to search for shipping charges or worse create an account before finding out, that really grinds my gears.


That's an issue with the store software normally, you'd need to raise an order for it to know the weight, and for it to know where you are for shipping to be calculated.


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## Detailed Obsession (Mar 2, 2006)

^^^ that's true, but i have my shipping prices shown under the 'shipping' link on the store for everyone to see - and to be honest i thought most of the other traders did as well?

Gareth


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

Roc said:


> That's an issue with the store software normally, you'd need to raise an order for it to know the weight, and for it to know where you are for shipping to be calculated.


Yes I have heard this before but its really not hard for stores to publish the shipping charges on the store homepage. If your shipping is based on weight then provide the wieghts in the description of items.


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## Roc (Jul 20, 2006)

gt5500 said:


> Yes I have heard this before but its really not hard for stores to publish the shipping charges on the store homepage. If your shipping is based on weight then provide the wieghts in the description of items.


I have over 40 charging bands in my store, with further changes depending on zone and country, the list would be massive and impracticle. A lot of stores would be the same I'd have thought, especially when they offer multiple types of shipping or ship worldwide.


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

gt5500 said:


> Since a few traders are here and we are discussing p&p could you all consider making you p&p charges transparent?. What I mean by that is myself and I know others get really annoyed when we have to search for shipping charges or worse create an account before finding out, that really grinds my gears.


Our shipping prices are shown in your cart, regardless of creating an account, just add your items and view the cart, nice and simple! :thumb:

And to answer the original post, yes we offer free shipping on UK Mainland orders over £60 and always have done. 

Alex


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## gt5500 (Aug 6, 2008)

EliteCarCare said:


> Our shipping prices are shown in your cart, regardless of creating an account, just add your items and view the cart, nice and simple! :thumb:
> 
> And to answer the original post, yes we offer free shipping on UK Mainland orders over £60 and always have done.
> 
> Alex


That is exactly how they should all be, then before I spend time creating an account I can decide if the price is right or not.


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## jamrowls (Aug 30, 2008)

EliteCarCare said:


> And to answer the original post, yes we offer free shipping on UK Mainland orders over £60 and always have done.


And thats why I always try to buy from you, and always bump it too £60. 
I would rather spend twice as much and get free shipping, so its win-win.


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## Lowiepete (Mar 29, 2009)

Hello Folks,

Looks like I was beaten to it. I was going to raise a similar question. As a
newbie here, I've been tempted to buy various things and from one supplier,
the actual postage charged was less than that of the stamp. That worries me,
because with that clear attitude of not overcharging, they are risking their
business for the future, as appears to be clear from info gained in this thread.

However, what I've also found is that some "sole suppliers" of certain products
do overcharge. e.g. £5.95 for a package with a £2.60 actual cost shown.
I suppose that in the end it balances out, though I do make a mental note of 
whom to aim for, or to avoid, when it comes to future purchases.

Regards,
Steve


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