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Postage and Shipping Update

Postage and Shipping Update

Posted by Metal Clay on 22nd Oct 2021

We have recently implemented a change in our postage costs and providers, incase you missed the newsletter here it is:


Hello!

As I’m sure you are already well aware, individuals as well as businesses across all sectors are being hit with challenges. Importing and manufacturing is not what it was a couple of years ago. We, like our suppliers and service providers, are affected daily by stock availability problems, raw material shortages, shipping delays, staff issues, increased product costs, hugely increased import costs (most of our import shipments have doubled in cost, some even tripled), material costs, and shipping costs - the list goes on and makes quite bleak reading. Sorry about that. I’m pleased to say there is some positive news in this letter.

I wanted to share some information on how we’re tackling these challenges, and how they may affect you.

Are we going to increase prices?

To be blunt, yes, over the next few months you will see some increases on individual items. But, good news, they will be kept to an absolute minimum, and will only reflect increases from suppliers or import costs.

During the last year, 90% of our suppliers have increased their prices at least once, some more than that. We have absorbed the majority of these costs.

You might be aware that at the end of 2020 we had to implement a 7% price-rise on Art Clay Silver items? The actual increase to us was between 14-16%, with the shipping to us doubled in cost.

We've held prices on a lot of our products for many, many, many, years; some have been the same since I started the business in 2004 (nearly 18 years ago)!

Did you know that today we sell 50gm of Art Clay Silver at the same price we did in 2011, 10 years ago? And I’m so relieved to say that for now it is staying that price!

We’ve kept our prices by making cost savings in other areas and working smart. Now, we need to make some changes to maintain the support and service you've come to expect from us. We hope the changes we have in mind will be bearable for business customers as well as hobbyists. We know you are seeing price increases everywhere, we’ll do all we can to not add too much stress.

GOOD NEWS - we are not implementing an ‘across-the-board’ increase on our products. GREAT NEWS - we will keep any increases as low as we possibly can, on as few items as possible.

** FABULOUS NEWS **

There are currently no plans to increase the price of Art Clay Silver!

Will we be able to supply you with the stock you need/want?

The short answer; YES, we think so! Over the last 12-18 months we have worked hard to build up our stock levels. We have plenty of stock and are confident that most of our key products will remain in stock during peak shopping season. Of course, if you know you simply must have something specific available by a specific time, call us for a chat.

Just-in-time ordering is fine when supply chains are running smoothly and there are no Brexit, Covid or shipping issues - not now. We’ve been ordering earlier and bigger (where possible) to not get caught out with major shipping delays or materials shortages.

By the way, we recommend you do the same where you can - read more at the end of the letter.

New courier, and shipping changes.

For years, we’ve given free UK mainland shipping on all orders over £35, and offered a heavily subsidised next- day courier service. We think we might’ve been the only company doing this in the jewellery making

sector. Unfortunately we can no longer maintain this approach.

Whilst free shipping will no longer be a standard option we believe our new charges are extremely competitive and well priced. You can see the new shipping costs in the box below. We’ll also be adding Fedex, giving you another option for courier services.

NEW SHIPPING CHARGES - These charges will start early October.

UK standard Non tracked delivery service From £2.95 - 2 to 4 days.

(This service can be used on most orders weighing less than 2kg)

UK Standard tracked Tracked courier delivery service From £5.95 - 1-2 days** UK Next Day tracked Tracked courier delivery service From £6.95 - 1 day**

(**To Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland, and Islands, these start from £16.00)

International orders Royal Mail or Courier From £12.95

Help us help you.

If you are planning to buy machinery (like polishing machines, kiln, Foredom or JoolTool), we encourage you to order sooner rather than later. We have good stock levels, but the supply chain for these products has been hit hard. Stock is hard to get hold of and over time we’ll likely see price increases from the suppliers.

Don’t forget, Klarna is available on our site, with it you can spread the cost of an order over three payments.

Don’t buy last minute - yes, we say this every busy season. This year it is particularly important. We have no issues in-house to handle your orders but getting your order to reach you can take longer than normal.

Royal Mail and couriers are still struggling. As the network becomes busier delays are inevitable. Our couriers are warning us that they may limit the amounts of parcels they collect from us on busy days (so we will have your parcel ready to go, but we might be forced to wait a day for a courier to collect it).

You read this far!

If you managed to read this far, thank you for taking the time. I hope the fact that we’re not planning any Art Clay Silver increases brings you some relief. I know it does to me.

I hope you have a lovely weekend, and get to do something that brings you joy. I’m going to spend some of it walking on the beach with family and dogs - that definitely puts a smile on my face.

Warm regards, and as always, happy claying, 

Petra

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