Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Age of the Big Battalions => Topic started by: sakura11 on 04 November 2017, 07:25:54 AM
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Last week made two orders from two different manufacturers
Received one within 3 working days which was from victorious miniatures
Vs tactic figures and really impressed with both product and service
Will be ordering again
Still waiting for the other order and waiting for postage to be added
They will be excellent figures and the company is A top manufacturer
My point is that in an age of competition and Amazon prime companies need to be more proactive
Reply to emails
Communicate and compete with rivals
Looking at two projects for major investment.. .at the moment Napoleonic west Indies has the nod
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I can understand your point. But, on the other hand the vast majority of figure makers in this hobby are one man companies who operate on low profit margins but with huge reserves of enthusiasm, often as a second job.
Considering their resources, I find that most of them do a fantastic job of getting orders out quickly. Sometimes their business model means they can only cast stuff on certain days, package and post orders on other certain days, and answer emails when they get a chance... I think as customers we sometimes forget to be reasonable.
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I have to agree, some wargame companies manage quickly, some manage slowly. I still expect to wait 10 working days for orders and I'm simply pleased when I get faster service.
Given the low sales volume of some wargame companies, I wonder what price increases we would see if their owners decided to pack in their 'good wage day job' to run their wargame company full time to be able to send stuff out within a 3 day turn around.
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My point is that in an age of competition and Amazon prime companies need to be more proactive
I'm not sure you draw the comparison with Amazon Prime to the average wargames company lol
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I agree with rhe sentiment about one man operation and enthusiasm being key. I just find the differences between companies of similar sizes interesting. I also feel replying to emails within 72 hours is just polite and profeprofessional. I am full of admiration for the companies that don't really make a huge profit and some companies go beyond what is expected aventine fighting 15s and gzg spring to mind. Not meaning to sound grumpy!
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I agree with rhe sentiment about one man operation and enthusiasm being key. I just find the differences between companies of similar sizes interesting. I also feel replying to emails within 72 hours is just polite and profeprofessional. I am full of admiration for the companies that don't really make a huge profit and some companies go beyond what is expected aventine fighting 15s and gzg spring to mind. Not meaning to sound grumpy!
Yep understood. I have been astounded sometimes by the speed that packets of miniatures can arrive through my letterbox. I have had stuff 36 hours after ordering it on a couple of occasions. And other companies it is always 3 weeks. The size of the company doesn't seem to have much bearing on it, and the process therefore has more than a bit of mystery to it
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I just find the differences between companies of similar sizes interesting.
Indeed, it's not usually the size of the wargame company that counts. Given that the industry is (or at least has been) hobby led, it's not surprising to find two companies of the same size with different driving forces though, as you say, the dynamic is interesting.
You might have company A, making a profit of £30,000 a year (in the UK, at least, that is usually seen as a living wage) and company A is owned and run full time by a man who is happy with that. Company B makes similar profit but the owner has another job that pays him £100,000 a year. It's not difficult to see why the owner of B wouldn't treat his company in the same way as the owner of A who absolutely relies on his venture for his income - when you take into account that B will also be paying 40% tax on any income above a total of £45,000 the £30, 000 (reduced to £18,000) might seem even less 'important'.
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I'm just waiting to win the lottery so I can start up the mother of all miniatures companies ;D
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some of us dream of making £30,000 a year from a full time wargames company.....
Mike
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I'm not sure you draw the comparison with Amazon Prime to the average wargames company lol
You can't directly. But now next day delivery is a very common thing, it raises people's expectations across the board (rightly, wrongly, doesn't matter, it happens).
I've found Front Rank absolutely impeccable in terms of service with Galloping Major not too far behind. For me these two companies set a standard that others generally fall short of either by not sending figures promptly without emailing a reason/explanation, or by charging ludicrous 'percentage-based' postal fees (I'm looking squarely at Perry here, who have lovely figures but surely must be trying to discourage direct purchase from their website). In fairness most companies are pretty reliable in terms of fulfilment but sometimes sluggish, and for the reasons outlined by others above. The most irritating thing I find is when a one man band goes on holiday and doesn't make it clear on his site that he's away and orders won't be completed for however many weeks.
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My gripe is money being taken and order confirmed immediately
Waiting for additional postage to be asked for
Despite asking for this 3 days and No Reply
If an email saying sending next week was receuved then understandable if annoying
It is the lack of any news
An eBay seller has just dispatched emailed within 2hours
Congrats to so many in the industry
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My top companies in terms of service would be:
Fighting 15s (he has some kind of wormhole he sends his figures through - less than 24 hours delivery in one instance).
Front Rank - excellent service and super clean castings.
Calpe - only placed the one order but he sent the figures before I'd paid for them which was pretty incredible to me, and he was so helpful asking my ignorant questions about Prussian Landwher. And the figures were lovely when they arrived.
I agree about Perry and the flat rate postage - but they are also pretty sniffy when you suggest their metal casting quality could do with improvement, they simply don't see what the problem is.
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To the US nothing bets Irregular Miniatures.
One week, some times less, for delivery.
Have purchased from them for over 20 years and
only had one mix up with an order.
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I'm OK with waiting for stuff. Let's be fair: in 80% of times once the stuff arrives it will be tossed on the lead pile anyway :D I'm just more comfortable with small companies who do minis rather than knowing that what I spend will be pumped in some sort of sci-fi fantasy game with tournament ambitions and a GW marketing model. ;)
Yeah, next day delivery is a slightly delusional thing and people feeling all too entitled to insane internet retail giant (who don't produce even) ways of dealing are rather welcome to try to deliver that kind of stuff on the producer's end of the stick.
Seriously - I like Front Rank figures. They're cool, they're pretty, Front Rank are a great source of figures. So I wouldn't care if I'd have to wait two months for an order. I prefer ordering from people rather than faceless entities exploiting (as we all know and as everybody knows) people. My point is: Small businesses selling minis are cool. Amazon isn't. Cool things should NOT aim to be like uncool things, no matter how skewed the views of some people are due to exploitative, damaging systems.
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Well, try to make a order today and after a month and a half the order doesnt appear.
Yup, that happens with some of the "big companies".
While others that make a effort with two jobs send stuff within a day or two.
I dont think its a comparative matter.
I´ve experienced both situations on the same company so its a matter of comunication with the customers.
A email stating that the casting is delayed wont hurt no one and it shows a good service.
I respect all, or i try too but having two jobs isnt a excuse to a delayed service or a crap one.
When we go to business we have to respect those who spend money on our stuff so we better send it fast.
After all when we go shopping we expect to be well attended.
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My top companies in terms of service would be:
Fighting 15s (he has some kind of wormhole he sends his figures through - less than 24 hours delivery in one instance).
Front Rank - excellent service and super clean castings.
Calpe - only placed the one order but he sent the figures before I'd paid for them which was pretty incredible to me, and he was so helpful asking my ignorant questions about Prussian Landwher. And the figures were lovely when they arrived.
I agree about Perry and the flat rate postage - but they are also pretty sniffy when you suggest their metal casting quality could do with improvement, they simply don't see what the problem is.
Agree on Fighting 15s, Calpe and Front Rank. Service is top notch. Front Rank has the best castings in the market, bar none.
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So, the little manufacturer struggling to make a product stumbles on this thread and realizes that despite his (or her) best efforts, their response time isn't good enough and packs it all in. And then you go to order their product you've coveted for so long and...sorry, over the horizon forever. Then who is to blame? I say give them all a break, big or small (with a momentary caveat), because they serve our needs. And having commissioned and had molded and cast up my first figures (which may come to general market), I can assure those who haven't done it that their is considerable financial risk in producing anything for this hobby. If my little venture never turns a profit, I'm okay with that but this is a vanity product, something I wanted that was very unlikely to be made otherwise. If the experiment moves forward, my first goal is to allow any return to finance more items on my personal wish list. That it might be able turn some profit is a bonus. But that is not a 'real' business model. (Though I will write up a proper business plan if I do go forward.)
Now, for that caveat: I have zero patience for the company that markets half-baked rules where you need six, ten, a dozen, two dozen supplements and you really should use their chosen range of figures, too. I am okay with their sales tanking. One set of complete and well-tested rules that will work with whatever brand (or brands) of figures the gamer wants is how it should be. Sorry, but that's how I feel. (A deceased friend had 23 unique sets of rules for one popular system - plus 3 duplicates. That surpasses the absurd, at retail that would have been over $1,000 US dollars. Just for rules!)
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I'd like to put in a word for a chap in The Netherlands called Wienand Drenth. He has written a series of three books entitled "The First Colonial Soldiers" about the British garrisons across the world between 1650 and 1714, in conjunction with a former British soldier and author named Jonathon Riley. He replies to emails no later than the following day, usually the same day, and not only did the book I ordered from him arrive within 7 days, which is very good for a one-man band, but I find that I am entitled to a discount when I buy the other two.
It's also an excellent tome, which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone looking at British forces in the late 17th/early 18th Century.
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So, the little manufacturer struggling to make a product stumbles on this thread and realizes that despite his (or her) best efforts, their response time isn't good enough and packs it all in. And then you go to order their product you've coveted for so long and...sorry, over the horizon forever. Then who is to blame? I say give them all a break, big or small (with a momentary caveat), because they serve our needs. And having commissioned and had molded and cast up my first figures (which may come to general market), I can assure those who haven't done it that their is considerable financial risk in producing anything for this hobby. If my little venture never turns a profit, I'm okay with that but this is a vanity product, something I wanted that was very unlikely to be made otherwise. If the experiment moves forward, my first goal is to allow any return to finance more items on my personal wish list. That it might be able turn some profit is a bonus. But that is not a 'real' business model. (Though I will write up a proper business plan if I do go forward.)
Now, for that caveat: I have zero patience for the company that markets half-baked rules where you need six, ten, a dozen, two dozen supplements and you really should use their chosen range of figures, too. I am okay with their sales tanking. One set of complete and well-tested rules that will work with whatever brand (or brands) of figures the gamer wants is how it should be. Sorry, but that's how I feel. (A deceased friend had 23 unique sets of rules for one popular system - plus 3 duplicates. That surpasses the absurd, at retail that would have been over $1,000 US dollars. Just for rules!)
Good for you - it is refreshing to find someone willing to put their money where their mouth is these days! Am I the only one who is fed up with Kickstarters for every little range of figures produced?
What is it you have had made? My personal choice for a vanity project would be Leval's Division in 15/18mm - AB doesnt really cover it (although there are work-arounds within his ranges for everything but the Dutch) and the only other maker I can think of is Fantassin / Warmodelling / Capitan or whatever they are called this week - and I won't buy them anymore because every other figure in the range looks to be a duff sculpt or duff casting (with rock hard metal that defies clean up). Let's face I'm a lead snob and proud of it.
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Agreeing with some who have already posted, my two favourites are Calpe and Front Rank. I live on the west coast of Canada, put in a largish order to FR, eight weeks later no figures. I contacted them and they replaced all the figures free. Of course three weeks later the second shipment arrived, the next day the original order arrived. I offered to send the second order back they said no just keep them. I took the second order to our group and sold them for full price and sent the money to FR. Seemed the right thing to do.
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Agreeing with some who have already posted, my two favourites are Calpe and Front Rank. I live on the west coast of Canada, put in a largish order to FR, eight weeks later no figures. I contacted them and they replaced all the figures free. Of course three weeks later the second shipment arrived, the next day the original order arrived. I offered to send the second order back they said no just keep them. I took the second order to our group and sold them for full price and sent the money to FR. Seemed the right thing to do.
Well done, sir!
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I've been pretty pleased with service from everyone I order from. Some are more communicative than others. But the difference in response/delivery time seems far more gated on the post than on the companies filling the orders. I've had orders from the Perrys (who generally get the order posted in a couple of days) turn up in a week, and others in a month. That difference is entirely a function of the post. That's to the US from the UK.
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Well, try to make a order today and after a month and a half the order doesnt appear.
Yup, that happens with some of the "big companies".
While others that make a effort with two jobs send stuff within a day or two.
I agree with this Rui. I'm afraid most of the time it's not about size - it's about caring enough to provide the sort of quick turnaround service we'd all like in an ideal world.
- I order something from Arcane Scenery and Models (a one man band - well one man and woman). It always arrives the next day, without fail. It's beyond me how they do it, but they clearly make it a point of principle to get the order out of the door as fast as humanly possible. Speed of customer service is clearly their absolute priority.
- I order something from Warlord Games... Last time it took six weeks to arrive. That, to be fair, was blamed on 'system problems'. But even without system problems, I don't think I've ever received an order from Warlord in less than 3 weeks. That's a big company with almost 100 staff and no shortage of resources. So either they're really disorganised, or they don't care about getting customer orders out as a number 1 priority. Or both.
Some people care about it and think it's important. Others don't. And as some customers don't seem to care either, perhaps they're right not to worry about it. But personally, I greatly appreciate it when an order arrives quickly. I appreciate getting my hands on my goodies fast. And I REALLY appreciate that someone has taken the time and trouble to provide a great service.
As ever, you pays your money etc...