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Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Mon 04 Dec, 2017 10:30 am
by Jamesnkr
This will not apply to you if you are the only business at your address, and you may well have found this out already, but:

Lion have changed their delivery system in the three months since I last ordered from them. They no longer include a person's name on the address label. So if you want an individual's name on the label then you need to include it in the 'Company Name' line on the address form. If you don't do this, and your post goes through a central post room, then it won't reach you...

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Mon 04 Dec, 2017 10:43 am
by kartoffelngeist
Even worse...they no longer include a lion bar in the delivery!

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Mon 04 Dec, 2017 11:24 am
by Jamesnkr
You might not get the Lion bar if you do receive the order at all... I think though they are including them for December deliveries, sadly mine was timed to arrive last Thursday.

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Mon 04 Dec, 2017 6:17 pm
by Not your average framer
Lion's minimum order value is now £50. This is not their minimum carriage paid order value, it is their minimum order value, period.

I've got to admit to being a bit surprised about this. I like doing business with Lion and their I like their D-rings in particular, but having to make up a £50 order when I need mostly sundries is going to be a problem.

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Wed 06 Dec, 2017 2:56 pm
by nickhood
What do others think of the £50 min charge from Lion

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Wed 06 Dec, 2017 3:03 pm
by kartoffelngeist
I'd be quite happy if we ever ordered less than £50 worth from them at a time.

If you're paying the delivery, I think I minimum order is a bit cheeky.

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Wed 06 Dec, 2017 9:13 pm
by Not your average framer
To expect a trade supplier not to have some kind of minimum order value these days is probably not a recipe for some suppliers to remain a viable business. Every order that a company processes will entail paying the wages for staff and also the cost of creating an invoice. Having worked for a number of different businesses over the years, I have also seen this issue from the suppliers side as well.

Minimum order values are not anything new and they were a normal thing when I started work back in the sixties.

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 1:06 am
by prospero
When I first started dealing with wholesalers the expectation was that you would order at least £100 worth.
No splitting packs of moulding and definitely no single sheets of mountboard. Packs of 10 or 12.
All this ordering bits'n'bobs is a relatively recent thing. :P

£50 minimum order is not unreasonable. I order odds and sods from Lion and it doesn't take long to total up to £50.
4 rolls of P-90 and a pack of D-rings. :lol:

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 9:18 am
by Steve N
prospero wrote
"When I first started dealing with wholesalers the expectation was that you would order at least £100 worth.
No splitting packs of moulding and definitely no single sheets of mountboard. Packs of 10 or 12.
All this ordering bits'n'bobs is a relatively recent thing. :P"

Ah the good old days, these young-uns don't know how pampered they are now :giggle: :giggle:

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 11:36 am
by prospero
:lol: :clap:

There was a time when some companies would not supply you at all if they had another account within a certain distance.

Tell that to the young folks today and they wouldn't believe you. :P :roll: :shock: :| :D

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 11:49 am
by kartoffelngeist
Not often I get to be one of the young ones, so I'm going to stick with it for a bit!

In practical terms, I get it. It must be a total PITA having to package stuff up for a few quid. Also, like I said before, I've rarely ordered under £100 at a time from Lion.

At the same time though, surely the markup on their products should cover their wages and costs of making up an invoice, regardless of how much they sell?

It just means that a framer who needs an order which is under the £50 will probably just end up getting it from amazon or somewhere similar.

I would probably do the same if I was Lion, but I'm not convinced it will help them. The excuse that it's not as bad as it used to be doesn't really cut it! :twisted:

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 12:45 pm
by Steve N
I remember a phone call I had from the local camera club, who I had done some mount cutting for a few time,

Club "can you supply 10 50x40 white mounts with no windows, we can cut them ourselves"

Me " yeah sure, £15.00 + VAT"

Club " Lion do them for £9.50"

Me " well you better get them from Lion"

Club" they have a £30.00 minimum order+ carrage"


Me"as I said £15.00+VAT!"

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 4:20 pm
by prospero
I have just unexpectedly discovered I have only one double-D-ring left. :|

So I ordered 500.

Then I thought I would get 500 single ones as they are getting a bit low. :idea:

And I could do with some no.5 supoersoftstrand..... :P

And I seem to be getting though my spring clips.... :roll:

£77. :ninja:

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 07 Dec, 2017 6:39 pm
by GeoSpectrum
My name appears on my lion deliveries label, perhaps you could ask them to include it on yours?

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Fri 08 Dec, 2017 10:57 am
by aceframer
Kicked them into touch as a supplier !! they seem to want it all their own way and us customers are an inconvenience, and when told so, they are rude to you about it !! and that was from the managing director, so took my min £50 orders elsewhere

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Fri 08 Dec, 2017 1:10 pm
by kartoffelngeist
Just got mine in today - has my name on the contact section rather than above the address.

Also has a lion bar.

#winning

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Sun 10 Dec, 2017 9:35 pm
by Not your average framer
I think that we have to see the minimum order value issue from both sides. Suppliers have to invest in stock inventory so that they can have want you and I need ready to dispatch when we want it. The level of expenditure required to maintain this is quite considerable, but recently other economic pressures have got added into the mix.

The value of the pound against other currencies is a big issue for our suppliers and impacts quite seriously upon their cash flow. Whether we like it, or not, no company has limitless cash flow resources. Life is not like that! I can remember some of the suppliers that we have lost over the years and I don't think we are better off for losing any of them.

However, reality is what it is. We may have to get used to the fact that we may need to change our thinking as times change. I only buy certain things from certain suppliers, but if I want those things, I may need to change my thinking and be prepared to pay more from some suppliers orders, because suppliers need viable order values to maintain the level of service that we are used to recieving.

I'm not going to stop buying my favorite D-rings because the minimum order value has increased more than I expected. I still want my favorite D-rings, for me part of the trouble is that I have to make up an order to that value and think ahead to order things that I was not planning on ordering to make up the order value.

The bigger companies don't sell everything, some companies sell items that others don't. Maybe if we lose some of these companies, some of the items we like buying from them will disappear at the same time. Maybe a larger minimum order value is a small price to pay for contimued access to items that we can't get elsewhere.

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Tue 12 Dec, 2017 11:00 am
by prospero
I got a Lion Bar. :clap:

I'm sooooooooooo happy. :ninja:

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Thu 14 Dec, 2017 11:38 pm
by drpeej
Not your average framer wrote:To expect a trade supplier not to have some kind of minimum order value these days is probably not a recipe for some suppliers to remain a viable business. Every order that a company processes will entail paying the wages for staff and also the cost of creating an invoice. Having worked for a number of different businesses over the years, I have also seen this issue from the suppliers side as well.

Minimum order values are not anything new and they were a normal thing when I started work back in the sixties.
I am fortunate to live close enough to Lion to collect from the trade counter. There is no minimum order on collection orders so the above is clearly not the true reason

Re: Lion deliveries - a warning

Posted: Tue 26 Dec, 2017 3:28 pm
by Justintime
I've just ordered sundries from 6 different ebay and amazon suppliers, rather than spending out on what I don't immediately need.
I'd love to buy all my sundries from 1 or 2 wholesalers, but the minimum orders don't work in this competitive market.