Thommy H:
As snowblizz has explained already, the splitting of basic price and VAT is due to changed EU tax regulations. Basically for the webstore to work internationally, they have to do it like this. You’re not paying any more than before, it’s just that we don’t normally see prices presented like this in the UK. If you look at the base price too, you’ll see they’re all weird numbers - that’s because the VAT would have been included before to make it a round figure, but now they have to subtract that amount.
Honestly, this thread is bizarre. If you buy one figure and want it sent to you 1st class, what do you expect? The postage will double the price. It’s not like it doubles the price of all their products - just the one that happens to cost about the same as the P+P. Obviously.
Grimstonefire:
@snowblizz
If the parcel is over 20mm thick (from memory) you cannot send it for less than £3 odd in this country even, let alone abroad.
Something I’m going to bear in mind the next time I sculpt models with the intention of selling, as I’m being crippled on the thickness of the parcels selling individual models.
gIL^:
Yea Torn you get me. Im a bit surprised by the attitude of if it’s to expensive shop somewhere else. It’s not like we’re talking about noodles here these are toy solders and collectors like certain minis based on looks, if that wasnt no1 would be here.
As for the alander throwing ad hominem, I’m sure it’s unintentional but I think I’ll avoid posting threads like this I’ll post them on another forum. I’ll stick to my blog, your much to rough for me.
I may yet purchase said model as I’m a collector but it’s a tough sell.
Thommy H:
Im a bit surprised by the attitude of if it's to expensive shop somewhere else.
What do you want everyone to say? The P+P is completely reasonable, so it comes down to whether you think it's worthwhile spending that amount for one figure. For what it's worth, I'd consider £7+ for that model unreasonable too - the difference is, I appreciate where that additional cost is coming from and don't begrudge it. I just accept that it's more than I'll pay for a single model like that because of Circumstances.
Not that a few quid extra has much impact on my hobby budget anyway, to be honest. I understand that it's about the principle though.
Admiral:
“Hidden” fees are always a nuisance, yet I’ve come to expect them around every corner. Rule of thumb: Always order a bunch of products, and try to get order free of shipment if that is a viable and not ridiculously expensive option. I never buy lone minis, unless they are very large. Perhaps there is some online shop which has got part of Hasslefree’s range? Or perhaps there are other miniatures which you might want from the Hasslefree range, once you scan it closely? If not Chaos Dwarfs for your army, then what about slaves, or simply models you like to have in your collection even though they don’t fill an army function? Hasslefree has a diverse set of minis, so some more than the evil Dwarf might appeal to you.
torn:
The postage is a rip off. I sent some models to bloodbeard last year to denmark and that cost around £3.50.
torn
£3.50? How on earth did you agree to do that. Total rip-off, you should only have paid £1. Heck, move to China and there'd be no charge at all! Since the mail service only charge what you feel they should, regardless of reality, you totally ripped Bloodbeard off there. Shame on you!
snowblizz
I didnt charge him, I just sent them for free.
Just as a comparison north star military figures charge 10% for postage and the minimum is £2, So if I order £20 worth of troops, for example 16 metal crusader miniature spearmen, I will pay £22 total. Its a much better deal, and the casting is the same quality. With hasslefree your just paying for an expensive sculptor.
Dont get me wrong here though, I do pay expensive prices to get the models I want. I just know that it is not any of the extra business costs I am paying as they are all about the same value as far as production costs go,what I am paying for is sculpting and profit.
snowblizz:
@snowblizz
If the parcel is over 20mm thick (from memory) you cannot send it for less than £3 odd in this country even, let alone abroad.
Something I'm going to bear in mind the next time I sculpt models with the intention of selling, as I'm being crippled on the thickness of the parcels selling individual models.
Grimstonefire
Yeah, in principle this is the "doesn't fit the mail-slot tax". That's how the size is basically picked, anything that fits under a certain dimension basically becomes a "letter", not that they use that class anymore (around here anyway), but that's the basic premise. Very annoying for a slightly bulky but very light package. A 2.5x2.5x2.5 cm cube with say a single plastic model in it would cost the same as a something like a 10 kg package just due to the dimensions being totally wrong and the thing being bumped up to package class.
I didnt charge him, I just sent them for free.
torn
Well I was trying to show the problems of arbitrarily deciding that "X is too expensive because that's what I feel like".
Just as a comparison north star military figures charge 10% for postage and the minimum is £2, So if I order £20 worth of troops, for example 16 metal crusader miniature spearmen, I will pay £22 total. Its a much better deal, and the casting is the same quality. With hasslefree your just paying for an expensive sculptor.
torn
Funnily enough the %-postage is something I absolutely loathe. I like my postage in clearly defined rates. I think e.g. Forge World would run % and I absolutely refuse to pay those rates because they punish high value purchases harder for no reason what so ever.
After a certain size, which hits pretty quickly due to the measurement restrictions it makes no difference if you buy £50 or £500 worth of stuff, except that the latter is 10 times more expensive in shipping.
Of course since postal charges are usually categorical one will always hit the breaking points where they will seem excessive.
Dont get me wrong here though, I do pay expensive prices to get the models I want. I just know that it is not any of the extra business costs I am paying as they are all about the same value as far as production costs go,what I am paying for is sculpting and profit.
torn
You can rationalise it however you want, makes no difference to me. You either feel a model is worth the cost of buying and getting it to you or you don't buy it. The price you pay is whatever the business thinks it needs to charge (or think they can get away with if we talk about GW...:P), whether that means covering feeding a miniature poodle imported penguin liver or not.
This reminds me of a similar thread on a messageboard for a comic where someone basically wrote "I know the author can't control postal rates, but what is he/she going to do to ensure I can order the book with lower rates?". I mean whuh? I think the answer is found there in the question itself. Talk about expecting reality to bend to your own needs.
Doombeard:
I’ve wanted to buy several of those mini’s before, and I’ve always ended up filling up my shopping basket and then looking at the total and cancelling the order at the last minute. They are a small company and I get their prices have to be a bit high, but I would’ve bought a lot of stuff off them if they were a bit lower, instead I’ve never bought anything. One day I will finally get around to it, but only as a special birthday treat or something, so I feel your pain GiL!
Thommy H:
Hasslefree’s prices are not even close to the top end, for the record.
Doombeard:
Yeah I don’t know what it is, just something has stopped me clicking buy every time. Maybe I just don’t like them enough for the price.
Bitterman:
Hasslefree's prices are not even close to the top end, for the record.
Thommy H
Yeah, I'm somewhat mystified by this whole thread.
A single HF character model in metal is about the same as one out of a set of ten near-identical plastic GW R&F models in plastic. Let's not even get started on GW character figures, which can easily be five times the price - or anything from FW for that matter. They're cheaper than PP, cheaper than AoW, more expensive (but better) than Mantic... yeah, if you order
just one figure, then postage is a lot as a %, but that's the same everywhere, including eBay, Amazon, everywhere.
HF sculpt some of the very best figures on the market IMO. They're not the cheapest, it's true; but they're a long, long way from the most expensive. Complaining about their prices is crazy.
Doombeard:
Ahh man all this talking about them is making me want to go buy 10 or 20 of those little blunderbuss guys. I wish they did a few more so it wasn’t just the one pose!