SmartMax store opens

[Beelzebrush]

Well, it seems to cost the same to send the same two figures to Australia and the USA so they\'ve obviously settled on a flat-rate to the rest of the world outside of France. Methinks they\'ll do pretty well out of the cost when they send a package within EU.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Hmmm, I wonder if they\'ll offer reduced or waived postage for parcels over a certain value. It\'d be quite easy to rack up, say, a €100 order, methinks! Rackham did (does?) the same, and with some planning I took full advantage of it.

 

[james sequeira]

I really dig these new minis, but the price is already insane with exchange rates, and on top of that the P&P. If they had someone in the UK as a retailer it would be good, but ive read that they want to keep it at their end : /

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by james sequeira
but ive read that they want to keep it at their end : /

link?

it would be insane to do that imo. they would end up going the same way as illyad

 

[Avicenna]

Although Ilyad had UK distributers...

 

[War Griffon]

Several French and Spanish companies have put me off buying from them because of Postage costs. It is annoying that to send a parcel/package from the UK isn\'t that much but to receive one from them is twice as much as it would cost to receive like package/parcel from else where in the world :flame:
Cocequently if I want Resina Planet figures then I would get them from the CMON Shop as it works out cheaper and there are other companies that do French and Spanish companies companies figures for cheaper than their postage even with a mark up.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by War Griffon
Several French and Spanish companies have put me off buying from them because of Postage costs. It is annoying that to send a parcel/package from the UK isn\'t that much but to receive one from them is twice as much as it would cost to receive like package/parcel from else where in the world :flame:
Cocequently if I want Resina Planet figures then I would get them from the CMON Shop as it works out cheaper and there are other companies that do French and Spanish companies companies figures for cheaper than their postage even with a mark up.

It is annoying to have to stump up €16 to ship to the country next door! I find it interesting that it\'s a flat rate for all countries other than France. Maybe they\'re hoping that what they gain on the local sales will offset any loss on the long-distance ones. Or maybe they just picked a number at random!

 

[War Griffon]

Maybe so but why can\'t they charge actual
After all they will have an idea of wieght and costs from the Post Office or whatever they call them in different countries.
When Resina planet came on the market I wanted 4 figures but they wanted to charge me double the cost of the figures for postage so I told them no thanks.

They are not the only ones I have refused to buy from direct either.

 

[green stuff]

In case anybody is interested in the details, here are the french postal service\'s prices for 2009 (in french) :

http://www.laposte.fr/IMG/pdf/affiche_colis_ok.pdf?espace=particulier

If you look at the \"Colissimo International\" part (orange center zone), you\'ll see that european countries are considered A Zone countries (15€90 for 1kg, ...) and the USA and Canada are considered C Zone (22€10 for 1kg, ...).

This is for parcels and has tracking and insurance services.

Usually the postal clercs only accept to send it with this service. I can\'t find details on the economic way for A Zone, but for C Zone it\'s 16€90 for 1kg.

 

[Ritual]

Yeah, that\'s what I was aiming at earlier. Thanks Cédric! SmartMax probably don\'t want to send their products in envelopes, due to the risk of damage. So, the only alternative is the 15.90 euro shipping. Too bad people will accuse Smart Max of trying to inflate the profit through shipping, when it\'s the French postal service that will get the profit.

I\'ve seen other French miniature companies being called crooks for this very same reason.

 

[Beelzebrush]

Thanks GS...

The main problem for us in the UK is the exchange rate really the Pound is extremely weak at the moment. They\'d still be reasonably expensive but if you add another 50% they become really pricey... For instance the figures at 22.50 euros are about £21.00 - £22.00 each - this time last year they\'d have cost about £15.00. The same goes for the postage. The figure with the mechanical arms (which I absolutely have to have!) costs about £36.00 atm last year it would have cost about £25.00....

I really, really like these but am struggling to justify the cost to myself... times are tough... there\'s a recession on etc lol. I blame the fecking bent bankers!!! :evil:

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by green stuff
In case anybody is interested in the details, here are the french postal service\'s prices for 2009 (in french) :

http://www.laposte.fr/IMG/pdf/affiche_colis_ok.pdf?espace=particulier

If you look at the \"Colissimo International\" part (orange center zone), you\'ll see that european countries are considered A Zone countries (15€90 for 1kg, ...) and the USA and Canada are considered C Zone (22€10 for 1kg, ...).

This is for parcels and has tracking and insurance services.

Usually the postal clercs only accept to send it with this service. I can\'t find details on the economic way for A Zone, but for C Zone it\'s 16€90 for 1kg.

So would that be a flat rate for parcels of *up to* 1kg then? If so, it\'s odd that there isn\'t a sliding scale for weights below that. After all, for our current example, I doubt even ordering their entire range would total 1kg collectively (well it might, but only just I\'d think!). Which is a trifle galling because if you only ordered a couple of figures, you\'d be paying for a lot of postage you weren\'t using.

 

[Ritual]

Weight categories for parcels are usually a lot wider than for letters. I think it would be pretty much the same here in Sweden. Possibly we have up to 500 grams and then 500-1000 grams, but I\'m not sure.

 

[War Griffon]

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
So would that be a flat rate for parcels of *up to* 1kg then? If so, it\'s odd that there isn\'t a sliding scale for weights below that. After all, for our current example, I doubt even ordering their entire range would total 1kg collectively (well it might, but only just I\'d think!). Which is a trifle galling because if you only ordered a couple of figures, you\'d be paying for a lot of postage you weren\'t using.

My point thank you 4 30mm figures do not come anywhere near 1Kg so why do we have to pay the same amount for postage as the figures cost???

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by War Griffon

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
So would that be a flat rate for parcels of *up to* 1kg then? If so, it\'s odd that there isn\'t a sliding scale for weights below that. After all, for our current example, I doubt even ordering their entire range would total 1kg collectively (well it might, but only just I\'d think!). Which is a trifle galling because if you only ordered a couple of figures, you\'d be paying for a lot of postage you weren\'t using.

My point thank you 4 30mm figures do not come anywhere near 1Kg so why do we have to pay the same amount for postage as the figures cost???

Because that\'s what the French postal service charges, apparently, and if so, there\'s not much SmartMax can do about it.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Ritual
Because that\'s what the French postal service charges, apparently, and if so, there\'s not much SmartMax can do about it.

It\'s been that way for a few years .
I bought some figures direct from Rackham and had to pay exactly the same amount in postage as the figures (2).
Put me off buying direct from them again.

If the postage was cheaper within France it may pay some enterprising individual to act as a \'middle-person\' for the UK \"drooling masses\" and get paid for them then bring them to UK Gamesday, making a slight profit for themselves.
Hint>Cedric<Hint.

Originally posted by slah

I was discussing this miniature with a colleague at lunch time and we both noticed that the un-hatted (?) head bears a strong likeness to the late George C Scott.
Now another reason to be glad I bought it.

 

[green stuff]

@Mike : as much as I\'d like to help you out, I won\'t be able to go to GD UK this year. I\'d suggest that you ask Chris to get in contact with Vladd, or if he isn\'t planning on going, Julien might be another solution.

 

[Beelzebrush]

Actually... feck it! These are the best minis I\'ve seen for a long time... I\'m definitely buying when they have the figures I\'m after.

The French postal prices are stiill ridiculous though - which is, of course, not the fault of smart max. The Pound is weak - which of course is not the fault of smart max! So bollocks to it... these will be mine!!!!


** this post is fuelled by Waggledance - a honey rich beer weighing in at about 5%... quite nice really!

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by Ritual

Originally posted by War Griffon

Originally posted by Amazon warrior
So would that be a flat rate for parcels of *up to* 1kg then? If so, it\'s odd that there isn\'t a sliding scale for weights below that. After all, for our current example, I doubt even ordering their entire range would total 1kg collectively (well it might, but only just I\'d think!). Which is a trifle galling because if you only ordered a couple of figures, you\'d be paying for a lot of postage you weren\'t using.

My point thank you You\'re welcome! 4 30mm figures do not come anywhere near 1Kg so why do we have to pay the same amount for postage as the figures cost???

Because that\'s what the French postal service charges, apparently, and if so, there\'s not much SmartMax can do about it.

Yeah, I\'m not trying to blame SmartMaxfor it per se, more the vagaries of the French postal service. Especially when I compare it to my recent posting experience in the UK, where I posted a parcel than just squeaked in at under 2kg and paid a tenner for the privilege of sending it to myself in Germany. So that\'s twice as much actual weight sent for 5 quid less and it\'s based on a sliding scale - if it had weighed 1kg, I\'d probably have only paid about half what I did. And people wonder why we\'re making a fuss?

 

[falela]

Hell yeah!! :drool::drool::drool: