Shipping limits on Acrylic Paints - Your hobby need you

[Mike 13,742]

You may have heard on the forums that Royal Mail has taken the unreasonable and ill-conceived decision to refuse to carry acrylic paints in packages over 4 bottles, and are now actively destroying parcels that they believe may contain this hideously dangerous contraband (that was sarcasm BTW). It's affecting retailers because they are having to cover the cost of these defaced parcels, it's affecting consumers because they're getting their parcels delayed or disappearing in transit, or having to pay higher courier charges that make buying paints online a hassle that is often not worth the effort if all you want is a few tins/bottles to top up your supplies. Repeat "offenders" will be prosecuted, would you believe?

Royal Mail excel at stupid ideas, but this is one of their most annoying of late. Acrylic paint is non-toxic and non-flammable, and yet you ARE allowed to send a pressurised can of hairspray, a bottle of propane (I know this one from personal experience), or a bottle of whisky. What can we do? Not a lot on our own, as like most large companies, the consumer's lone voice is largely ignored. Some bright spark by the name of Leon Pengilley has come up with the idea of a petition to lodge with Royal Mail, and they're looking for support from modellers to add some weight of numbers.

We're modellers (allegedly), so lets all join up and make our feelings known. If you want to be able to order paint with impunity from your favourite internet model shop whenever you want, without being stung for inflated courier charges, sign your name on the petition, which you can reach from the banner below. Don't leave it to everyone else... Take the time, make your feelings known!!

[AnonymousDYB 2,939]

Signed

[Dads203 5,632]

Signed

[Mike 13,742]

Me too now - would you believe I forgot after posting the article?!

Good to see some names I know at the top of the list

[Pin 2,904]

Thanks for sharing this - signed

[Doug Rogers 747]

Yup done. It was OK to send us three bottles of domestic oil enhancer which is flammable and toxic to the environment etc a few weeks ago.

Crazy!

[DannyB 636]

Signed

[AngloSaxon 57]

Duly signed

Mike D.

[macgregor 256]

Things are getting dafter by the day

signed.

Mac

[John Laidlaw 1,107]

Signed

[Tim T 282]

Signed.

[HammerUK9 144]

Signed.

Tim

[Antony Robertson 51]

Signed

Antony

[Nigel Heath 13,955]

I will sign in a minute but what is a "bottle of popane", sounds like fun, where can I get some?

[NorwegianWood 186]

Signed

[Mike 13,742]

I will sign in a minute but what is a "bottle of popane", sounds like fun, where can I get some?

It's a bottle of Propane with no R

[georgeusa 3,210]

I signed with the following comment:

I, like many other foreign customers, purchase goods from English modeling supply companies. A small part of my purchases include acrylic paint products. If I am forced to purchase the paint products from another source due to prohibitive and punative postal regulations and rates, then I will probably end up doing my entire purchases with the different source in another country. What these regulations will do is create a ripple effect where sales of the products that the paints are used on will decrease as these will be bought from the same source that can provide the paints.

Just a bit of something to think about unless Britain has a superb trade surplus and doesn't care about foreign purchases anymore helping spur their economy.

[Mike 13,742]

Trade surplus George? What's that?

[kev67 1,564]

Done, only 12 posts needed

[jaguarfan 16]

signed too.

cheers Bob

[Andy Mac 88]

Signed

[Paul J 7,450]

I too have signed !!!!!

Apparently at time of my signing only 6 more required!!

[Hardtarget 1,073]

Done although i dont use acrylics

[Paul J 7,450]

A thought has occured(steady now Paul..) This would probably affect the likes of Airfix and Revell who include those tiny little pots of paints in their gifte set kits!! Now that would be a 'dirty' thing to do by RM ripping open a parcel and damging the kit packakging to get at the 'contraband'!!!

[Mike 13,742]

It's now 998 to the next milestone - It was running at about 1,419 (ish) when I first saw it, so they've added around a hundred signatures this morning already. Let's not get complacent though - ask your friends, family and strangers in the street to join in, even if they're not modellers. It's important both to us and our suppliers, so the more signatures we get, the more they'll have to take us seriously