Online ordering problems

[Stiffy]

I wonder if anyone elase has experienced the same problems?

I usually work out how many new or re-waxed frames I am going to need each winter but this last winter has been so busy with work it has not been possible.
Anyway, I set about making them up last weekend and found that I am about 50 short of what's needed.
I went online to order and checked all the usual retailers for a best price. Having found a price for DN2, as I have some spacers I then went about ordering........what a flipping faff!!

There was about £10-£20 difference in price once shipping was taken into account so started on the cheapest first.

First obstacle. Please register, went through the registration process which then failed to load at the end and kept asking me to correct something I had done. Tried several times to sort out and in the end gave up.

I then went to the next cheapest and got as far as the Papal site only for it to stall. Checked and changed my password in case this was causing an issue only for it to fail again! Gave up

I then went to the next site were I have regular orders from only to be met with an increase of £15 for VAT and additional postage! Gave up

I was at this time getting pretty peeeed off and went on Fleabay to check some other stuff. I then had a look at bee hive frames on there......£30 cheaper with postage for DN4 so ordered them....Result happy chappy!


This was fine but surely the retailers can sort their websites out to enable us to get the equipment we need as I do prefer to buy a lot of stuff from genuine shops??
S

 

[Obee1]

I had a similar problem. Miscalculated how much foundation I needed. Online some of the big retailers say there is a shortage so I decided to drive to my nearest beek shop. In monmouth. 45 min drive. Planned for Monday. Then daughter is ill off school so had to take her with me. Got foundation drove home. But 10 miles from home the drive shaft snapped on the car. 2 hr wait for AA to recover me daughter and car back to cardiff: next time I will plan ahead and buy supplies before I run out - from the shop 2 miles away that is only open for 3 hrs on a Saturday.

 

[Stiffy]

Well that puts my problems into perspective! Hope your daughter and car recover soon
S

 

[einsteinagogo]

I wonder if anyone elase has experienced the same problems?

I usually work out how many new or re-waxed frames I am going to need each winter but this last winter has been so busy with work it has not been possible.
Anyway, I set about making them up last weekend and found that I am about 50 short of what's needed.
I went online to order and checked all the usual retailers for a best price. Having found a price for DN2, as I have some spacers I then went about ordering........what a flipping faff!!

There was about £10-£20 difference in price once shipping was taken into account so started on the cheapest first.

First obstacle. Please register, went through the registration process which then failed to load at the end and kept asking me to correct something I had done. Tried several times to sort out and in the end gave up.

I then went to the next cheapest and got as far as the Papal site only for it to stall. Checked and changed my password in case this was causing an issue only for it to fail again! Gave up

I then went to the next site were I have regular orders from only to be met with an increase of £15 for VAT and additional postage! Gave up

I was at this time getting pretty peeeed off and went on Fleabay to check some other stuff. I then had a look at bee hive frames on there......£30 cheaper with postage for DN4 so ordered them....Result happy chappy!


This was fine but surely the retailers can sort their websites out to enable us to get the equipment we need as I do prefer to buy a lot of stuff from genuine shops??
S

Hence why more and more, are moving to using the One Stop Shop of eBay/Paypal.

and not all the hassle of maintaining a website, and you get more footfall on ebay than your own website.

Why so many have a dual presence on both!

 

[Gilberdyke John]

I mentioned elsewhere the phenomenal price our BKA in conjunction with others in the area have sourced sugar. We also enjoy extremely advantageous pricing for bulk purchasing of foundation in winter. It's worth buying plenty in during the off season and saves the problems of ordering on or off line
Just another advantage of being in an association.

 

[Roola]

I mentioned elsewhere the phenomenal price our BKA in conjunction with others in the area have sourced sugar. We also enjoy extremely advantageous pricing for bulk purchasing of foundation in winter. It's worth buying plenty in during the off season and saves the problems of ordering on or off line
Just another advantage of being in an association.

What kind of prices are we talking on the foundation and where from? Don't think our assoc do that, only a bulk buy on jars although i'm pushing them to join another assoc in ordering invert this year as in bulk it was super cheap for 15kg drums.

 

[Dishmop]

I needed some frames last year but because of the small quantity required and the postage it was cheaper to get some off ebay.......

 

[madasafish]

Maisies offer 25% off foundation on orders over £200. I bought for myself Association and another and saved loadsofmoney..at Beetradex.

Worth doing

 

[Gilberdyke John]

What kind of prices are we talking on the foundation and where from? Don't think our assoc do that, only a bulk buy on jars although i'm pushing them to join another assoc in ordering invert this year as in bulk it was super cheap for 15kg drums.

From the November 2014 BABKA order form - pack quantities of 10 -
Wired premier foundation
BS shallow £4.25
BS deep £6.75
14 x 12 £11.50

I believe the orders from each bka are grouped together by yorkshire bka which creates a very large order base to negotiate discounts.

Our secretary buys 1lb jars with lids in bulk and sells on at cost to members for £19.00 per 72 (half gross)

Hope this helps.

 

[Thymallus]

I mentioned elsewhere the phenomenal price our BKA in conjunction with others in the area have sourced sugar. We also enjoy extremely advantageous pricing for bulk purchasing of foundation in winter. It's worth buying plenty in during the off season and saves the problems of ordering on or off line
Just another advantage of being in an association.

It's a great idea, but works best for the guy buying in the stuff. If you have to collect stuff from someone and factor in the fuel costs it isn't always such a good deal.
Our local association has it's own shop. Cheaper than Thrones as they bulk buy. Problem is their "shop" (portacabin) is a 76 mile round trip from me, it's small and cramped and can take a long time to find everything you need and they don't always have everything in stock.
I much prefer to order online. Someone else does the packaging and searching and if I end up paying around £7 or £8 in couriers fees, it's far less than the cost of my diesel for going there. It might cost me a few quid more online, but I don't have to spend over 2 hours of my time travelling there and back to save what usually amounts to about a few quid.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

It's a great idea, but works best for the guy buying in the stuff. If you have to collect stuff from someone and factor in the fuel costs it isn't always such a good deal.
Our local association has it's own shop. Cheaper than Thrones as they bulk buy. Problem is their "shop" (portacabin) is a 76 mile round trip from me, it's small and cramped and can take a long time to find everything you need and they don't always have everything in stock.
I much prefer to order online. Someone else does the packaging and searching and if I end up paying around £7 or £8 in couriers fees, it's far less than the cost of my diesel for going there. It might cost me a few quid more online, but I don't have to spend over 2 hours of my time travelling there and back to save what usually amounts to about a few quid.

We collect/deliver in conjunction with association meetings. If you don't get to them it's probably better for you to carry on.

 

[Thymallus]

That makes more sense.