Petitioning Royal Mail about shipping paints!

[Leon Pendraken]

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/royal-mail-lift-the-restrictions-on-shipping-water-based-paints

What is this?
Due to recent changes in their shipping restrictions, Royal Mail will no longer ship more than 4 pots of water-based paint per package, with each pot having a maximum volume of 150ml.  Packages which breach this policy are identified by x-ray and then sent away to be destroyed.  Repeat offenders will then be prosecuted.


 

Who does this affect?
There are a lot of people in the UK sending or receiving paints, whether for hobby or professional use, and policies like this are also restricting a variety of small businesses.  Thousands of people order water-based paints every week, and we hope to gain enough support for Royal Mail to consider changing the restrictions on these items.
 

Why are these paints restricted?
We have spoken with various people about this, from Royal Mail themselves, through to the Department of Transport and the Dangerous Goods Office, and so far we have not been given a definitive reason as to why these restrictions exist.  The Royal Mail allows shipping of alcohol of up to 1 litre in volume, even in glass bottles, yet five small pots of paint, less than 100ml total, would be against the restrictions.  We are currently awaiting a reply from the Royal Mail Policy Team with more information on the restrictions, and whether a change is possible.

 
Should these paints be restricted?
We have provided Royal Mail with Material Safety Data Sheets from some of the more well-known manufacturers of paint, which show that these items are perfectly safe to ship.  We will continue to collect evidence of this type and forward it to Royal Mail.

 
What is the aim of this petition?
Our initial aim is for a change to the policy to allow a larger volume of water-based paints to be sent in one package, a change to match the 1 litre maximum on alcohol would be ideal.  Even an increase to 600ml total would be a great start.  Many small businesses in the UK are having a very hard time at the moment, and lifting these restrictions would be a welcome boost to a lot of people.

 
What can I do?
First and foremost, we need people to register their support by joining the petition on Change.org.  If you buy paints on a regular basis, please mention how many paints/occasions you are buying per year on average, as this will help us show the volumes of business RM is potentially missing out on.

If you are a manufacturer or seller of paints, please mention your company name as well.

Finally, please spread the word about this.  We need to get the message out as far and wide as possible, so that we can gain enough support to make a difference.  Please post it on any forums you frequent and any blogs you write, on your Facebook or your Twitter.  The more coverage we can get, the more chance we've got of making a change, and then we can all get back to some painting!

 
Thanks for reading, your support is really appreciated.

https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/royal-mail-lift-the-restrictions-on-shipping-water-based-paints

[DoctorPete]

So you could not order, and have shipped, a paint set with more than 4 bottles of paint?  Gads!   

[OSHIROmodels]

Put mine on as it really doesn't make sense. Airport restrictions are less harsh 

cheers

James

[maxxon]

Having actually worked in logistics, I can see some of the logic.

- paint spills are messy. If a gin bottle or similar breaks, you just dry it up.
- paint spills are a work safety issue. Even though our stuff is non-toxic, should a spill occur you must check the safety issues. With the actual package covered in spilled paint, this is all extra work to look up the papers, call the manufacturer etc.

Still, I think they failed to consider our 15ml bottles when they made up this restriction.

Btw; How does this affect the transport of such items as nail polish bottles?

[Captain Blood]

Ludicrous.
We're talking small volumes of water based paint, not gallons of oil based paints...

As it happens, I've just raised a PayPal dispute as some craft acrylics I ordered a month ago (from a supplier I've never used before) have failed to materialise.
They said they sent them.
Maybe they fell foul of this daft regulation...  

[Eric the Shed]

Have signed the petition - would urge others to do so

[Bugsda]

They've only been privatised for five minutes and already the profiteering bastards have started 

[Elk101]

Signed.

[Van-Helsing]

Signed and Shared on Facebook this morning - the thing is, THIS is going to cost them a lot of money in the long run (if they don't change it in some way) - people will still get their hobby supplies, but rather from a FLG's, or have it sent via courier (a lot of which cost the same, and sometimes less than the Royal Mail for larger/bulkier orders)

It's a sucky badly thought out policy - there "logistics" don't actually consider "our" sort of paints at all, showing that there were actually no logistics used - as they have evidently not done any research beyond the cursory level.

[Jonas]

Terrible news

I get most of my paints from the UK.

[The Mystic Spiral]

That is a beyond stupid idea. Bigger than just us war game types too. Think how massive a hobby and industry art is. All it will do is make any company that sells paint drop RM as a carrier and there are some big firms that sell paint.

I am never too sure about the effectiveness of petitions, usually a direct letter or email to the people at the top is far more effective.

http://www.ceoemail.com/s.php?id=9559

This page has the email address of the royal mail ceo Moya Green. I am sure she would be really happy to receive a stack of email from disgruntled lead adventurers.

J

[OSHIROmodels]

Got my Foundry paint order of 12 paints this morning sent by Royal Mail so I wonder if they are trying to slip in under the radar 

cheers

James

[Asienieboje]

signed...

[moonshado]

Signed, hope this works.
 The Royal Mail is going to hurt itself. If I can't order paints and have them posted to me, i'll have to go to shows to purchase paints. If I've got to go to the shows to buy paint I'll also buy everything else I can from the shows to make it cost effective and at the moment just about everything I buy- models, figures, bases, paints, glues, puttys, scenic effects etc all get ordered online and come by post.
 What annoys me is they have given no advance warning, so any small dealer, who is going to be honest, will now find their selves with far more paint in stock than they will need, and small businesses do not need the added burden of holding unsaleable stock.

[Conquistador]

Sorry but I will not sign it.    

It does seem stupid at best.     But you have to pick your fights and this one isn't mine.

1) I don't order paint through the mail.  It is still one of the few things I buy locally for hobby purposes.   

2) I am not a citizen of the UK (and think an American telling the UK royal Mail how to run it's services (no matter how badly) is not in my purview) as in the last item of the definition of purview - "an area within which someone or something has authority, influence, or knowledge"   

3) I lack sufficient knowledge of the real (much less perceived) issues of shipping paint in small retail packages to act from a position of knowledge.  I don't see this as a viable safety concern but in a world as screwed up as ours is (risk in any form is apparently unacceptable) I understand the paranoia about "risks."  I may disagree with that paranoia but I do understand that such unrealistic practices are now the "norm" in our world.   

Gracias,

Glenn