Delivery Information
DELIVERY INFORMATION FOR YOUR LOVELY ORDER
Delivery prices for address in the UK - £3.40 for Tracked 48 or £4.40 for Tracked 24.
UK orders over £40.00 - FREE Tracked 48 or £1.99 for Tracked 24.
Thank you for visiting this page. Prompt dispatch and delivery is very important to me - I'm strangely obsessed with it! I hope this page explains everything you want to know.
If it doesn't then please email me via the contact page or direct at sarah@simplelifefabrics.co.uk.
Please do remember to check your spam trap for my reply, just in case I end up in there - I respond the same day to everyone who emails - if you don't get a response it's because it has not got through to you.
I'm also on Instagram, and can respond to any questions here: @sarahsimplelifeuk
Take care and have a very lovely day,
Sarah x
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Dispatch times - we aim for same day or next working day dispatch every time
I aim for same day or next working day dispatch every time you order from us. I do not make you wait. Dispatch times are very important to me and I treat your order as a priority.
It is very, very rare that I do not dispatch an order within 48 hours during the week, Monday-Friday. Occasionally, when I have a sale on, I do get slightly overwhelmed and there could be a very slight delay.
*Do bear in mind that, on rare occasions, often after bank holidays or at busy times of the year such as Black Friday or Christmas, Royal Mail do get a bit bogged down and, though parcels are always collected from me on the day I notify you, Royal Mail may not hit their Tracked 24/48 deadlines and the tracking might not update as quickly as normal.*
We dispatch the same day or next day to UK addresses using the Royal Mail business post services Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48
Royal Mail collect from me on weekdays - Monday to Friday. They collect in the mornings and so I must stop cutting fabric each day at around 8.30 am in order to complete the required paperwork (I get up very early!).
If you made an order during working hours the previous day it will go out the next day. If you made an order overnight or before 8.30 am on a weekday I will do everything I can to get it sent out to you the same day - and I usually succeed.
I do not have a Royal Mail pick-up on Saturdays (or Sundays) so if you order after 8.30 am on a Friday it will not go out until Monday.
But I do cut fabric and process orders all weekend. So if you make an order any time on Saturday or Sunday, barring all accidents, it will go out on Monday morning.
I will always let you know promptly if I anticipate a delay in dispatch longer than 48 hours.
Why do you use Royal Mail Tracked services only, and why at this price?
Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 are Royal Mail's flagship services. The are far superior to 1st and 2nd Class postage, and in the thousands of parcels I've sent out, I've only ever had one Tracked parcel go missing - this is vitally important, especially during busy periods or strike action. It's my job to get your fabric to you without unnecessary delay, and 1st Class and 2nd Class (or Standard 24/48, which is the business equivalent), are just not reliable enough for me.
With Tracked services you get updates via email in real time and the ability to change the delivery day if it's inconvenient, plus you can specify a safe place or trusted neighbour.
The price you pay for Tracked 48 and Tracked 24 at Simple Life Fabrics does not cover the full price of the postage cost. Tracked 48 currently costs me £4.70, and Tracked 24 costs £6.49. Therefore you're getting a discount on a brilliant service!
Delivery prices for address in the UK - £3.40 for Tracked 48 or £4.40 for Tracked 24. Orders over £40.00 - Free Tracked 48 or £1.99 for Tracked 24.
We deliver to the following locations by Royal Mail Tracked 24/48.
- The United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland and the Highlands & Islands)
- Channel Islands
- Isle of Man
N.B. It's worth noting that Royal Mail costs to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands & Islands, the Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man or any other island (!) are exactly the same price as to any other mainland UK destination. Royal Mail do not charge surcharges or levies to send to these lovely locations, even though some retailers in every business sector might charge you more.
Delivery to addresses outside the UK
I am so sorry but I cannot deliver to addresses in the EU or anywhere else outside the UK.
This is because if you live in the EU, you will be charged extra on top of what you pay me, and that will make buying from me very expensive, especially as the majority of my fabrics already come from countries in the EU and therefore you will be able to find them in online shops in Germany, France, The Netherlands etc.
The extra charges would be your local country VAT rate, for example in Spain that is 21% on top of what you pay me, plus a fee, plus any other duties.
For all other countries, I am so small that I am not equipped to do the paperwork required or take the risk of your fabric going missing in transit.
I can however help you try to locate the same, or similar fabrics, from shops in the UK that do send abroad or in shops in the EU. Email me and I will try to help!
FURTHER NOTE ON DELIVERY CHARGES AND TRACKED SERVICES
Due to very sharp price rises in raw materials such as cotton all of my suppliers have now put their prices up multiple times - some by as much as 100% per metre - double gauze, for example, went up 80% over the course of 2022. This is partly due to the Pandemic which has increased the cost of raw materials globally. The price of cotton, for example, rose a whopping 72% in 2021, and though this fell back slightly in 2022, most wholesalers have not reduced their prices. At this point, I don't expect to see any radical price drops in 2023 or 2024 - though wholesale prices could stabilise.
In addition, the GBP/EURO exchange rate is no longer as favourable as it once was; shipping costs and tariffs for me to import from the EU and particularly Royal Mail costs have also risen sharply - Royal Mail levy a fuel surcharge in addition to the actual base cost of delivery and as you can imagine this surcharge has gone up a lot.
The Royal Mail strikes have also shown me just how important full tracking of parcels really is - and in future I don't ever want to dispatch a parcel that both you and I can't completely track all the way to your door. If we have no tracking I can't respond properly if Royal Mail backlogs start building up. I have no evidence to show to the Business team.
For more information see my blog post on fabric price rises here.
Freight forwarding to the EU and rest of the world - buying from us when you live outside the UK
As I'm not sending to your country, I can send to a UK freight forwarder who then ships direct all over the world. The best of these companies are experts in global shipping and deal with the customs issues on your behalf - and mine too! They provide you with a UK address for me to send the parcel to, and then they arrange the exporting and delivery to you. You'll need to find one and create an account with them first - I can't do this for you. The best place to start is by searching 'UK parcel forwarding service' on Google. But remember to check any reviews and do your research before using any company to send your parcel from the UK.
Delivery times
While we dispatch promptly and want you to receive your order within a very maximum of 5 working days of us sending it to you, we cannot guarantee that this will happen under every circumstance.
For example, we cannot control, or take any responsibility for, Royal Mail, their occasionally broken computer systems, strikes, backlogs at Mail Centres, any other courier issues or the weather. I will always do absolutely everything I can to find solutions but as the 2022 Royal Mail strikes have shown me, sometimes I am utterly powerless.
Please be aware that we are not liable for items that go missing in the post and we do keep proof of postage, proof of delivery and other metrics for all deliveries. If you have concerns about your parcel please contact us - I want to help!
As a small business, it’s inevitable that occasionally we will take a break. When we are on a break, we will ensure that we make this clear on the website so that you know before you place an order that it may not be delivered within the maximum of 5 working days.
Packaging materials we use
The plastic bags we use to send out orders are 100% recyclable either via curbside collection or by taking to recycling points. Where possible I use premium heavy-duty bags; the grey ones I'm currently using are manufactured in the UK and comprise 30-85% recycled plastic. All the other colours are also manufactured in the UK by the same supplier and are 30-35% recycled plastic.
The note cards and all other stationery including the packaging tape I use is made in the UK or EU from 100% recycled paper from post-consumer waste. I would absolutely LOVE to use paper packaging but sadly it's just not economically viable - paper bags are unbelievably expensive compared with plastic and it's just not a cost I can hope to carry. Plus, there is increasing debate as to whether it's better to use recycled plastic in small quantities, if disposed of correctly, or paper/cardboard, which comes with issues such as deforestation and the use of chemical laminates.
All the beautiful rubber stamps I use for my cards and envelopes come from The English Stamp Company and I thoroughly recommend them! The gorgeous eco-packing tape is by Susie at Inkkin and can be found on Etsy - fantastic stuff!