Postal Rates & Methods of Despatch

UK Orders

These are usually despatched within 24 hours of order being processed (card being debited or cheque clearing) subject to stock availability as shown on each individual product.

Standard Methods

• Orders weighing under 2Kg.  Normally despatched by Royal Mail Tracked 48 (aims to deliver within two to three working days).
  
  

• £4 per order if the total order value before postage is under £250 at time of despatch.
• FREE if the total order value is over £250 at time of despatch (note orders over £250 are usually despatched by Courier (we use either APC or DPD Local). 
  To get free delivery, you must mark the option for Courier delivery (we use either APC or DPD Local) and NOT the Royal Mail option. This option is provided for customers who prefer not to have courier delivery, but we have to charge this at £14.99.
  
  
• Orders weighing over 2Kg.  Normally despatched by our couriers DPD Local or APC.
  
  
• £4 per order if the total order value before postage is under £250 at time of despatch.
• FREE if the total order value is over £250 at time of despatch.
  To get free delivery, you must mark the option for Courier delivery (we use either APC or DPD Local) and NOT the Royal Mail option. This option is provided for customers who prefer not to have courier delivery, but we have to charge this at £14.99.

The £250 post free offer to UK addresses is applicable to the value of the order at the time of despatch.  So, for example, if you place an order for 10 x new wagons at £25 each, all of which arrive at different times over several months, the value at time of despatch would be below £250 so each despatch would attract the current postage rate.

Priority Delivery - consignments collected by couriers Monday - Friday.

Use when delivery on a particular day is essential or the order is very urgent. Not available to whole of UK but we can advise at the time of your order.  Must be booked before 14:30 each day.  Normally despatched by our couriers DPD Local.

 

• £8.99 per order if the total order value before postage is under £250 at time of despatch.

• FREE if the total order value is over £250 at time of despatch.

Please remember that next working day does NOT include Saturday. If the item you are ordering is shown as out of stock we cannot delivery it next day!

You can arrange for Saturday or Sunday deliveries direct with  DPD Local or APC.  The options for this are automatically sent to you along with the expected hour window for delivery.  You must supply either your email address or mobile phone number to receive this tracking information.

Overseas Orders - Including European Union

These are usually despatched within 24 hours of order being processed (card being debited or cheque clearing) subject to stock availability as shown on each individual product.  We use Royal Mail for smaller parcels.   Larger, heavy orders are sent by Courier and we often split these to save on your postal costs.  We will always work to find the cheapest rate that we can access.

Orders are usually delivered about a week after despatch but can take longer. 

Overseas Customers including European Union countries can deduct 1/6th VAT (Value Added Tax) from the total price of the goods (excluding printed material which are exempt from VAT e.g. books or catalogues). 

All customers living outside of the UK are not subject to UK VAT however customers are responsible for paying their own government levies on receipt of goods locally.  EU customers please note any item ordered will be shipped "Delivery Duties Unpaid (DDU)".  This means that shipment cannot be completed until the customer pays the import VAT, any customs duties, and any administration fee first. 

If you have already logged-in the prices shown will be with VAT deducted.  Sometimes the VAT deduction may not be shown until you reach the checkout stage of your order.

International postage rates have increased dramatically in recent years - there is a minimum postage charge of £12 on all international orders.

• Republic of Ireland - £12 flat rate

• Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg - £15 flat rate

• Denmark, France, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden - £19 flat rate 

• Rest of the World charged at cost plus a small allowance for packaging. 

Generally the cost of international postage is slightly greater than the VAT deduction. Please remember that books and catalogues are expensive to post as they are heavy and there is no VAT to deduct on them.  Skaledale / Scenecraft Resin buildings are also very heavy, as is ballast. If your order contains large quantities of any of these products the VAT will probably not cover the postage. Flexible track also adds to the cost due to the length and is frequently too expensive to send overseas. Items packed in large boxes are also likely to have a greater volumetric weight than the physical weight, all of which impacts on the cost of the postage.

Our website will offer a postage charge. If there is no flat rate you will be given a choice of 1Kg or 2Kg. You can select either as we will then calculate the final cost once the order is packed, weighed and measured. We have to do this as the method of calculating the exact cost is very complicated and depends on a combination of weight and size, with the rules varying for different countries. There is no simple formula for this! If the final cost is more than the amount you have selected we will contact you first to seek agreement for the extra charges. We always compare prices between our Royal Mail rates and couriers that we can access and we re-iterate that we do not make any profit on overseas postal charges. All international orders include tracking as standard.

 As a rough guide a single OO Gauge locomotive to the rest of the world would cost £15.00. 

Collections Policy

We encourage customers to reserve items prior to visiting our stores to avoid disappointment, especially if stock availability is limited.

Unpaid reservations will be reserved for a maximum of 28 days, we do not have a maximum collection period for paid for collection items. Full details of our Collection Policy can be read here.