2022 Memorial Bullion Sovereign

[ChardsCoinandBullionDealer]

@Fenlander1
  As you mentioned, the issue of postage costs is a hot topic and has been the subject of discussion within our team. 

At Chards, we believe in offering our customers the best possible service while providing competitive pricing. Offering "free delivery" on all of our products may seem appealing, but it often works out to be more expensive in the long run. By charging a visible delivery fee at checkout, we are able to offer more competitive pricing on our products. 

Additionally, as one of the few brick-and-mortar bullion dealers in the UK, we value the opportunity for our customers to visit us in person. Increasing our prices to accommodate free delivery could potentially alienate our local customers. 

We understand that everyone has different preferences and we want to ensure that we are offering the best possible service to all of our customers. We conducted a poll in 2021 to gather feedback on the issue of delivery fees. 
 
  
 
While the results were informative, we believe it is important to gather a wider range of opinions on this matter. As such, we have decided to run a new poll to further understand the preferences of our customers. 
bit.ly/visiblefeesorfreedelivery
 

Best regards,
The Chards Team 

[Darr3nG]

5 minutes ago, ChardsCoinandBullionDealer said:

we have decided to run a new poll

Why not offer both?

Similar to how the compare tool runs on this forum, the user can choose to add/remove shipping costs, as required.

[stefffana]

18 minutes ago, ChardsCoinandBullionDealer said:

@Fenlander1
  As you mentioned, the issue of postage costs is a hot topic and has been the subject of discussion within our team. 

At Chards, we believe in offering our customers the best possible service while providing competitive pricing. Offering "free delivery" on all of our products may seem appealing, but it often works out to be more expensive in the long run. By charging a visible delivery fee at checkout, we are able to offer more competitive pricing on our products. 

Additionally, as one of the few brick-and-mortar bullion dealers in the UK, we value the opportunity for our customers to visit us in person. Increasing our prices to accommodate free delivery could potentially alienate our local customers. 

We understand that everyone has different preferences and we want to ensure that we are offering the best possible service to all of our customers. We conducted a poll in 2021 to gather feedback on the issue of delivery fees. 
 
  
 
While the results were informative, we believe it is important to gather a wider range of opinions on this matter. As such, we have decided to run a new poll to further understand the preferences of our customers. 
bit.ly/visiblefeesorfreedelivery
 

Best regards,
The Chards Team 

I have done already my vote. Three times, because I could do it from the same tablet.

I can bet @HerefordBullyun will vote 500 times for free delivery. Because he can do this.😊

[Fenlander1]

I think you may be missing the point somewhat it is not the word free that is the issue.

If you stated a price that was the delivered to door price it would be faster and easier for your customers to quickly cross check against other dealers and if your prices were consistently a cpl of quid cheaper overall then the sale would be yours in most cases condition dependent.

Stop thinking about the word free we all know what it means in reality think of it more as:-

Delivered To Door.

And maybe not use terms like suckers in a public forum that is solely used by your potential customers.

[ozzie456]

I'm relatively new here, I have to say that I've found the discussion free postage quite interesting. It looks like this is a long-running thing with some back-story that I'm not aware of, so I hope I don't regret wading into this!

I agree with a couple of recent comments - I really don't mind if postage is included or not, as long as it is made clear from the outset. It really is no effort at all to me to buy from whichever company is cheaper overall, regardless of whether I have to manually add a few quid of postage or not when doing the comparison. And that applies whether I'm buying cheap pet food or expensive coins.

What does wind me up is when a company makes no mention of postage costs whatsoever, and then quietly adds an extra fiver on at the last stage of the checkout with no warning beforehand. But I don't see that any of the companies being discussed here do that.

[ozzie456]

And if I can try to bring the thread back on-topic, what I would really like is the ability to buy the double memorial sovereign from somewhere other than Royal Mint, postage included or not 🙂

[Dankanugget]

Just ordered some new memorial sovr from pixley. Good price £392

[Solachesis]

1 minute ago, Dankanugget said:

Just ordered some new memorial sovr from pixley. Good price £392

Aw man I didn't even think to check there.

1 is currently £394.20, free delivery, about £8 cheaper than the one I got from (C) 😂 

[SilverDrum]

11 minutes ago, Solachesis said:

Aw man I didn't even think to check there.

1 is currently £394.20, free delivery, about £8 cheaper than the one I got from (C) 😂 

 

Imagine spending just short of £20k and getting charged £19 postage!! 

Edited February 3, 2023 by SilverDrum

[Cornishfarmer]

Funny how people will argue over £2 or £3 on a coin that cost £400.    I’d buy from chards every time if this is the case.    Why? 1 Lawrence is on this forum and gives us insight in to his coin knowledge chat comes for free, 2, chards are also here answering questions. 3, the proofs of purchased from chards have always been delivered in perfect condition, 4, alway kept up to date on Pre orders when they are expecting to deliver, 5, if I was in Blackpool I’m sure they would welcome me into the shop and show coins I was looking for. 6, the price difference would be half a pint or a bag of chips.       Answer is would you get/do you get this service from any other dealer in the country???

[AaaGee]

49 minutes ago, ozzie456 said:

And if I can try to bring the thread back on-topic, what I would really like is the ability to buy the double memorial sovereign from somewhere other than Royal Mint, postage included or not 🙂

Mmmmmm, double sovereign 😍

[westminstrel]

27 minutes ago, Cornishfarmer said:

Funny how people will argue over £2 or £3 on a coin that cost £400.    I’d buy from chards every time if this is the case.    Why? 1 Lawrence is on this forum and gives us insight in to his coin knowledge chat comes for free, 2, chards are also here answering questions. 3, the proofs of purchased from chards have always been delivered in perfect condition, 4, alway kept up to date on Pre orders when they are expecting to deliver, 5, if I was in Blackpool I’m sure they would welcome me into the shop and show coins I was looking for. 6, the price difference would be half a pint or a bag of chips.       Answer is would you get/do you get this service from any other dealer in the country???

That’s a great point. Indeed in general I’m not averse to paying a bit more for a product overall in order to support businesses that I like because of their customer service, personalised past experiences, or having a rapport with their owners and staff.

As the saying goes, relationships work both ways.

[RDHC]

1 hour ago, Cornishfarmer said:

Funny how people will argue over £2 or £3 on a coin that cost £400.    I’d buy from chards every time if this is the case.    Why? 1 Lawrence is on this forum and gives us insight in to his coin knowledge chat comes for free, 2, chards are also here answering questions. 3, the proofs of purchased from chards have always been delivered in perfect condition, 4, alway kept up to date on Pre orders when they are expecting to deliver, 5, if I was in Blackpool I’m sure they would welcome me into the shop and show coins I was looking for. 6, the price difference would be half a pint or a bag of chips.       Answer is would you get/do you get this service from any other dealer in the country???

Spot on (no pun intended).

[LawrenceChard]

5 hours ago, Fenlander1 said:

@LawrenceChard

I have been reading your comments regarding charging your customers for postage on the items.

And if you would allow me the time to retort you may be able to clear a few things up for me that I am struggling to grasp in your statements.

Why does offering good customer service mean treating customers like "punters"

 

I understand there are costs involved in posting an item but what I don't understand is why you feel it is the customers responsibility to pay for this.

It is your responsibility to ensure it arrives at a location safely and in a timely manner and fully insured to cover yourself not the customer.

When you purchase coins from the mint at greatly discounted prices I would have thought you could at least use some of that discount to give a good customer service.

17 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

Now, if we could offer "free" postage for everybody, we could be the UK's biggest courier instantly. Sadly, we would only last about a week before we went out of business

If you have to charge postage and packing to stop your business from collapsing you have serious issues. 

The only reason I can see for adding postage onto your advertised prices it to make it appear on your website that you are cheaper than other outlets.

Unfortunately by charging your customers for something that should be your responsibility it is you that are treating customers as "suckers" and we do vote with our feet.

You work your prices out, add in the postage, but then tell everyone it is "free postage". The suckers love it!

It is not reassuring to know you think of potential customers in this manner.

I would rather be a" Sucker" or a "punter" who is valued and receives great service.

I can't help but feel by not moving with the current trends in retail your opinion may lead to your demise faster than offering a

Delivered to door service.

I am sure you understand this is only my opinion but I am the customer or possibly "sucker" after all.

You have quoted me out of context, and / or misunderstood my points.

You have also conflated at least 3 different concepts by selectively quoting from different posts, each of which made different points, even though they were related.

It would have been helpful and clearer if you had inserted a link to each of the posts you were referring to, then readers could easily refer to the actual quotes in their original context.

I will attempt to answer your questions and attempt to clear up any misunderstanding:

1)

"Why does offering good customer service mean treating customers like "punters""

I did not say that "offering good customer service mean treating customers like "punters"".

In this post:

I was pointing out that if we were to emulate many of our competitors, and offer allegedly "free" postage, we would be treating them as "punters". This is a term I disilke intensely, because it has negative, pejorative connotations. I never apply it to our customers.

By prominently promoting "free" postage, I consider that these competitors are treating their potential customers are peddling misinformation and propaganda, effectively treating their target audience as punters.

"...and WHY would you need to charge £20 extra per coin to cover postage costs?

I did not say we would need to charge £20 extra per coin to cover postage costs. What I did say was:

"If we are going to treat customers as "punters" and tell them they are getting free postage, then we might as well go the whole hog, and charge £20 per coin extra. That way, everyone's happy."

This was referring, with a touch of intended light humour, to the fact that some of our biggest and most successful competitors loudly proclaim "FREE fully insured delivery", but

they do charge much more, and their total price is more than ours when comparing like for like with postage included, for example:

Price Comparison Against Other UK Bullion Dealers - Updated at 03-Feb-2023 08:36

Qty	Chards (Excl Delivery)	Chards (Inc Delivery)	B*	G*	A	BB	GER
1	£397.04	£403.04	£415.20	£413.10	£404.59	£407.82	£405.40
5	£396.85	£398.25	£413.20	£408.40	£399.79	£405.32	£401.70
10	£396.67	£397.47	£411.30	£407.50	£399.09	£404.82	£401.50
25	£396.48	£396.96	£409.50	£406.30	£398.59	£404.32	£399.10
50	£395.93	£396.31	£408.40	£405.00	£398.09	£403.82	£398.20
100	£394.45	£394.77	£408.40	£404.40	£396.50	£403.52	£396.60
250	£394.27	£394.64	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£403.12	£396.60
500	£394.08	£394.40	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£402.82	£396.60
1000	£393.90	£394.19	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£402.82	£396.60

You can see that "B's" (Bullion By Post) total price for a single coin (2022 Memorial Gold Bullion Sovereign) was £415.20 against £403.04 from Chards. While this is only just over £12 extra, it does not invalidate my point. Further, if you bought 2 coins, you would pay £830.40 from BbP, compared with £800.09 from Chards, a difference of more than £30. For some reason, their sister website "Gold.co.uk" charges £413.10 per coin.

Many people seem happy to buy from Bullion by Post. Whether they know they could buy better elsewhere I don't know, but perhaps they are unduly influenced by "free postage", or their claim to be "The UK's No. 1 Online Bullion Dealer*" Note the asterisk!

We do have a blog post here, explaining more of our philosophy about "free postage":

https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/free-postage/26/4947

I need to go and check some coins, and help with a few other enquiries, so I will take a break after posting this, and return to respond to your other points later, if that's OK.

😎

Edited February 3, 2023 by LawrenceChard

[AaaGee]

Ive only used  BBP so far. Never thought about paying postage multiple times in one transaction. What an idiot!

Wont be using them again.

Just wondering now if i can get the money together to get a double sovereign before they disappear.

[Petra]

I think that it is fair to say that on a wide range of gold and silver coins Chards is not always the cheapest and anytime I go online to buy anything I always check through several sellers as quite often whoever is cheapest one day, isn’t the next. However, with Chards you are getting a very good service from knowledgeable people. If you are happy with that over the odd pound now and then, well that’s great. At the end of the day all these dealers are in it to make money, just a matter of how quickly and by what methods. Once you find a good place to buy from like other things, then you tend to stick with them.

[Petra]

8 minutes ago, AaaGee said:

Ive only used  BBP so far. Never thought about paying postage multiple times in one transaction. What an idiot!

Wont be using them again.

Just wondering now if i can get the money together to get a double sovereign before they disappear.

Who’s BBP? as bullion by post is ‘free’ postage?

[Bogart]

56 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

You have quoted me out of context, and / or misunderstood my points.

You have also conflated at least 3 different concepts by selectively quoting from different posts, each of which made different points, even though they were related.

It would have been helpful and clearer if you had inserted a link to each of the posts you were referring to, then readers could easily refer to the actual quotes in their original context.

I will attempt to answer your questions and attempt to clear up any misunderstanding:

1)

"Why does offering good customer service mean treating customers like "punters""

I did not say that "offering good customer service mean treating customers like "punters"".

In this post:

I was pointing out that if we were to emulate many of our competitors, and offer allegedly "free" postage, we would be treating them as "punters". This is a term I disilke intensely, because it has negative, pejorative connotations. I never apply it to our customers.

By prominently promoting "free" postage, I consider that these competitors are treating their potential customers are peddling misinformation and propaganda, effectively treating their target audience as punters.

"...and WHY would you need to charge £20 extra per coin to cover postage costs?

I did not say we would need to charge £20 extra per coin to cover postage costs. What I did say was:

"If we are going to treat customers as "punters" and tell them they are getting free postage, then we might as well go the whole hog, and charge £20 per coin extra. That way, everyone's happy."

This was referring, with a touch of intended light humour, to the fact that some of our biggest and most successful competitors loudly proclaim "FREE fully insured delivery", but

they do charge much more, and their total price is more than ours when comparing like for like with postage included, for example:

Price Comparison Against Other UK Bullion Dealers - Updated at 03-Feb-2023 08:36

Qty	Chards (Excl Delivery)	Chards (Inc Delivery)	B*	G*	A	BB	GER
1	£397.04	£403.04	£415.20	£413.10	£404.59	£407.82	£405.40
5	£396.85	£398.25	£413.20	£408.40	£399.79	£405.32	£401.70
10	£396.67	£397.47	£411.30	£407.50	£399.09	£404.82	£401.50
25	£396.48	£396.96	£409.50	£406.30	£398.59	£404.32	£399.10
50	£395.93	£396.31	£408.40	£405.00	£398.09	£403.82	£398.20
100	£394.45	£394.77	£408.40	£404.40	£396.50	£403.52	£396.60
250	£394.27	£394.64	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£403.12	£396.60
500	£394.08	£394.40	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£402.82	£396.60
1000	£393.90	£394.19	£408.40	£404.40	£396.40	£402.82	£396.60

You can see that "B's" (Bullion By Post) total price for a single coin (2022 Memorial Gold Bullion Sovereign) was £415.20 against £403.04 from Chards. While this is only just over £12 extra, it does not invalidate my point. Further, if you bought 2 coins, you would pay £830.40 from BbP, compared with £800.09 from Chards, a difference of more than £30. For some reason, their sister website "Gold.co.uk" charges £413.10 per coin.

Many people seem happy to buy from Bullion by Post. Whether they know they could buy better elsewhere I don't know, but perhaps they are unduly influenced by "free postage", or their claim to be "The UK's No. 1 Online Bullion Dealer*" Note the asterisk!

We do have a blog post here, explaining more of our philosophy about "free postage":

https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/free-postage/26/4947

I need to go and check some coins, and help with a few other enquiries, so I will take a break after posting this, and return to respond to your other points later, if that's OK.

😎

My look at the price of a monster boxes of memorial sovereigns

£194,896.43

plus £155.60 postage I would definitely want a reduction in the postage cost🙄

 

[James32]

8 minutes ago, Petra said:

Who’s BBP? as bullion by post is ‘free’ postage?

Bullionbypost.co.uk, which you obviously know. 

Say you buy a 1/4oz coin at £435 ( with free post, which isn't really free  😆 ) so for argument sake, your really paying £7 postage and coin is £428?! That's OK surely 👌 

Now buy 10 from them...you have just paid £70 postage. This is where the all inclusive price is a scam, in bulk purchases. 

In fairness to @LawrenceChard this is where chards.co.uk come into their own. 

Now we just need Lawrence to come up with a little TSF side hustle and everyone wins. Give us the price breaks on larger purchases, but for smaller quantities. Yes a few extra parcels to get out, but we are worth it 😆 

[Fenlander1]

Thank you @James32for bringing us back on topic. 

 

[Petra]

32 minutes ago, James32 said:

Bullionbypost.co.uk, which you obviously know. 

Say you buy a 1/4oz coin at £435 ( with free post, which isn't really free  😆 ) so for argument sake, your really paying £7 postage and coin is £428?! That's OK surely 👌 

Now buy 10 from them...you have just paid £70 postage. This is where the all inclusive price is a scam, in bulk purchases. 

In fairness to @LawrenceChard this is where chards.co.uk come into their own. 

Now we just need Lawrence to come up with a little TSF side hustle and everyone wins. Give us the price breaks on larger purchases, but for smaller quantities. Yes a few extra parcels to get out, but we are worth it 😆 

I can obviously understand this, however, I am someone who can only buy the odd single gold coin at a time so the multiple bit doesn’t concern me. So what I do when buying is just trawl through and compare prices and buy accordingly. If able to buy quantities, then I may drive over to Blackpool for the personal service and maybe a cup of tea (which actually would be free either!) 🧐🤔

[Goldfever20]

On 02/02/2023 at 07:52, GoldDiggerDave said:

I'm just waiting to pul the trigger on some of these now...... @Goldfever20 when do you think the best time will be?

@GoldDiggerDave pull the trigger mate.

[MonkeysUncle]

4 hours ago, AaaGee said:

Mmmmmm, double sovereign 😍

You're not meant to eat it!

If you must, let the gravy soak in first and make it a bit mushy. Easier on the digestion system that way.

[paulmerton]

There's a more appropriate thread to discuss the free postage issue if we can leave this one for the 2022 memorial sovereigns 👼

 

[LawrenceChard]

5 hours ago, SilverDrum said:

 

Imagine spending just short of £20k and getting charged £19 postage!! 

We often spend over £1 million, and happily pay shipping!

😎