Scalefour Forum

David Thorpe wrote:

Alan Turner wrote:The blue binders I refer to above are £7.50 each.

But they, of course, are not the MRJ binders which, back in 2012, worked out at rather less. No doubt prices will have gone up since then, of course.

DT

yes different colour and no writing but actually they are the same size being American 280mm x 215mm.

regards

Alan

Alastairr wrote:. The whole order became larger than I originally thought it would be - bear in mind I don't even need any binders myself! I had hoped the Society might be able to help but it's not looking likely at the moment.

Now Christmas is out of the way I can look to finalise the order again with the supplier. Unless anyone wants to volunteer to take this on?

Thanks,

Alastair

I have spoken to our cousins at the Scale7Group. They are prepared to make their stores facilities available for this. This will enable purchase by PayPal and Credit/Debit card.

If that is of interest please let me know.

regards

Alan Turner

OK it seems that the offer of the Scale7Group to take over the ordering, distribution and payment for these Binders has generated no interest.

I will pass this on to the Group.

regards

Alan

My interest is in buying a few, if and when someone organises it as seemed to have been on offer. If the S7 group gets involved, presumably some of them may also like binders, that's fine by me. And if it gets Alastair out of a job that has grown way beyond what he expected, so much the better.
All I need is confirmation that it is a goer, a price, and where to send the money.
Regards

Ill take a few

Alan Turner wrote:
I have spoken to our cousins at the Scale7Group. They are prepared to make their stores facilities available for this. This will enable purchase by PayPal and Credit/Debit card.

If that is of interest please let me know.

regards

Alan Turner

Alan,

Does this offer mean that the Scale7Group might hold stock of the binders and it would therefore be possible to buy one or two at a time via Paypal/card as and when required or funds permit.

If this was the case I would certainly use such a facility, even if the individual binder cost were more expensive.

Regards

Tim

Back in November, Paul (Flymo) said that the issue of binders was being actively discussed by the S4Soc committee with a view to possibly stocking them in stores. Did anything ever come of that? It seems to me that about 200 binders are now wanted and that, with respect, people are rather taking Alastair for granted in that he is going to have to do all the work in sending them out when he doesn't even want any himself - I suspect that he never thought demand would be anything as high as it is. I did wonder therefore if the S4 Stores might not buy 250 (they're cheaper at that point) and could satisfy the existing orders at a price that would give the S4Soc finances a slight boost, with 50 or so left over to satisfy future orders - I bet they'd fly off the stand at Scalefour North. I hope I'm not treading on Alastair's toes in suggesting this as he's obviously been doing the work so far, or Jeremy's for that matter as he might not welcome having to pack up all the orders!

DT

and that, with respect, people are rather taking Alastair for granted in that he is going to have to do all the work in sending them out when he doesn't even want any himself

That's a bit unfair David,
Firstly we were responding to an enquiry from Rod followed by an offer from Alastair, who at that stage said he would want some himself.
Secondly as the numbers involved have become clear we have suggersted two alternatives to limiting the workload on Alastair,
one to ask the binder supplier to do all the shipping,
second to allocate the entire task to the S7 group.
From my viewpoint there is no hurry, the magazines are not going anywhere.
Regards

grovenor-2685 wrote:

and that, with respect, people are rather taking Alastair for granted in that he is going to have to do all the work in sending them out when he doesn't even want any himself

That's a bit unfair David,
Firstly we were responding to an enquiry from Rod followed by an offer from Alastair, who at that stage said he would want some himself.
Secondly as the numbers involved have become clear we have suggersted two alternatives to limiting the workload on Alastair,
one to ask the binder supplier to do all the shipping,
second to allocate the entire task to the S7 group.
From my viewpoint there is no hurry, the magazines are not going anywhere.
Regards

Just to let you all know the Committee is discussing this as an Agenda item in tomorrow's meeting...

Cheers
Paul Willis
Deputy Chairman

Flymo748 wrote:

grovenor-2685 wrote:

and that, with respect, people are rather taking Alastair for granted in that he is going to have to do all the work in sending them out when he doesn't even want any himself

That's a bit unfair David,
Firstly we were responding to an enquiry from Rod followed by an offer from Alastair, who at that stage said he would want some himself.
Secondly as the numbers involved have become clear we have suggersted two alternatives to limiting the workload on Alastair,
one to ask the binder supplier to do all the shipping,
second to allocate the entire task to the S7 group.
From my viewpoint there is no hurry, the magazines are not going anywhere.
Regards

Just to let you all know the Committee is discussing this as an Agenda item in tomorrow's meeting...

Cheers
Paul Willis
Deputy Chairman

A joint venture of sorts with S7 ? ... if they can provide storage.

Please could you let me know the outcome of that discussion Paul. We can make a call on what to do following that.

I'm conscious that I have offered to help people and haven't delivered this as yet. As intimated, the scale of this was larger than I originally anticipated - Modern Book Binders do standard payment terms so the problem isn't one of finances, more of my free time and logistics.

MBB will not post to individual's. I requested that and got a firm no.

I'm also in the midst of finishing (or helping the boss as much as I can ) the organisation for my own wedding in a few months so plenty on the plate at the moment. Oh, and some modelling at some point...although you would be amazed at the skill-set overlap with making your own wedding invitations.

Anyway, here is the updated total list:

Alan Turner 10
Andrew Ullyott 6
David Bigcheeseplant 10
Essdee 5
Ian White 26
John Donnelly 26
Jol Wilkinson 8
Keith 5
MikeH 5
NF Newling 26
Paul Townsend 26
Paulhb 23
Red Dragon 10
Rod Cameron 10
Steve Carter 30
Trevor Grout 5

Grand Total = 231

I'd have to order 250 at least to maintain some balance I think.

Thanks,

Alastair

If I remember correctly from my own experience of doing these, ordering 250 will work out at little if any more expensive than ordering 231.

DT

Alastair,

Thanks for the update -and please increase my order from 5 to 10, many thanks.

Cheers,

Steve

Please put me down for 10 binders too.

And thanks for organising this

Flymo748 wrote:Just to let you all know the Committee is discussing this as an Agenda item in tomorrow's meeting

And was a decision reached?

DT

David Thorpe wrote:

Flymo748 wrote:Just to let you all know the Committee is discussing this as an Agenda item in tomorrow's meeting

And was a decision reached?

DT

Hi David,

A decision was reached. We discussed the matter at quite some length. Ultimately the decision was taken Scalefour Stores would *NOT* stock the MRJ binders as a product line.

There were two reasons for this:

- firstly, the volume which it would require to stock them on an ongoing basis. Storing boxes of binders is not something Jeremy has the space for, as they are a different proposition to axleboxes or track gauges in size.

- secondly, the Committee felt the postage charge for sending out binders on an ad hoc basis would be a deterrent to sales. The cost for sending out a single binder would be in the region of £4. Multiple binders would be proportionately more - as discussed below. They are not a convenient size and shape to fit within Royal Mail's postage bands.

I'll have a conversation with Alastair about how to take forward this bulk purchase for which he has been collecting orders. As a recap from those who may not have participated last time looking back through the thread, the key elements seemed to be:

- £4.62 per binder
- £7.37 per order for postage
- money paid up front, which took 3-4 days to come in
- delivery after 4-5 weeks of placing the order.

Cheers
Paul Willis
Deputy Chairman

Thanks Paul. I think it's a perfectly understandable decision by the committee.

DT

Morning All.

Final call for numbers before the order is confirmed with the supplier. If you would like to amend the quantity you have requested this is the time to do it.

Alan Turner 10
Andrew Ullyott 6
David Bigcheeseplant 10
Essdee 10
Ian White 26
John Donnelly 26
Jol Wilkinson 8
Keith 5
MikeH 5
Morgan Gilbert 30
NF Newling 26
Paul Townsend 26
Paulhb 23
Red Dragon 10
Rod Cameron 10
Steve Carter 30
Trevor Grout 5
Wizard of the Moor 10

Final costings yet to be determined - I can't determine the binder cost or the postage until I hear from MBB and determine the best means of postage.

Thanks,

Alastair

Hi Alistair,

Can I up my request to 26.

Many thanks for doing this for everyone. From my point of view very much appreciated.

Kind regards

Paul Bannerman

Just a thought - could we use area groups to pool postage and act as distribution centres? I note, for example, that the BS4 area group members are providing a significant chunk of the order.

Thanks Alastair, I'll stick with my original 5.
Regards

Thanks Alastair.
Your efforts are much appreciated.
I'll stick with 6.
Andrew

Alastair,

Can I increase my quantity from 10 up to 14 pieces please.

SteveT (Red Dragon)

Many thanks Alastair,

I will stick at 10 binders, thanks.

Steve

I would like to up my order from 26 to 30 please.
Thanks Alastair.
Ian