As most of you are aware — due to a busier-than-usual end to the year, together with a machine break-down which led to delays with manufacturing, we ran out of Capsules – along with some variations of our Bottled Oils.
BOTTLED OIL
We are pleased to announce that Bottled Oil (all sizes & strengths) is now fully-restocked and available for immediate purchase. Any restrictions on quantity purchasing have also been removed.
SEEDS & POWDER
We are pleased to announce that packs of Seeds & Powder are also now fully-restocked and available for immediate purchase.
CAPSULES
We’ll spare you the boring details, but manufacturing delays continue to haunt us with our Capsule supplies. We estimate at least a few more weeks before we are fully-restocked. Again we assure you that we’re doing everything possible to hurry things along.
Meanwhile — we have again used an alternative manufacturer to produce a small batch of Capsules for us, and with that brings good news…
A small quantity of Refill Packs will be made available for purchase weekend commencing the morning of Saturday 27th January:
15,000x Super-Strength Refill Packs
4,000x Strong Refill Packs
4,000x Original Refill Packs
IMPORTANT: THESE WILL ONCE AGAIN SELL OUT VERY QUICKLY! A few weeks back when we released a short batch of capsules, they sold out within just a few hours. Although numbers are slightly higher this time, a quick sell out is expected.
Whilst we appreciate many customers will again be left disappointed – all we can do is give you the heads-up on when they will be made available.
If you’re subscribed to our email newsletter — keep your eyes peeled as on the evening of Friday 26th January, we’ll reach out and let you know what time they will be released for sale on Saturday (27th January) morning.
Being eager to avoid panic-buying, purchases of Capsule Refill Packs will again be limited to 3 packs per customer.
MORE GOOD NEWS…
BUY 2 GET 1 FREE SITE-WIDE IS BACK!
Discount code required. Limited time (offer extended until Monday). Add any 3 products to basket, cheapest free. Terms & Conditions apply.
Finally — to answer some common questions that we’ve been receiving recently…
Have you stopped selling Capsules?
No. We’re merely facing some delays with manufacturing.
I heard you are going into Administration?
Categorically untrue. Again, we’re merely facing some manufacturing delays due to a machine break-down, which was then further delayed due to having to wait for new parts to arrive by sea. If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ll likely be aware of delays at Sea.
Why don’t you use the other manufacturer to produce your large batches of Capsules?
Cost. Producing Vegan liquid Capsules is a very specialist area and very few companies can do this – least of all in the UK. The company we are using to product these short supplies are in Europe – and so the process involves additional (very costly) shipping and taxes, on top of what is already an expensive manufacturing process. Currently we are absorbing the additional costs incurred – but this is certainly not sustainable for us long-term. Being fully transparent – if we were to continue using this alternative manufacturer, we would need to increase our retail prices by 180%. We do not want to do this, and we know that this would not be well-received by our customers. This is simply a short-term solution that we are funding at great expense, to ensure our customers can still access our products.
Why are we offering BUY 2 GET 1 FREE when we have limited stock?
The numbers work better for you, and they also work better for us. We know a large majority of our regular customers take up this offer quite frequently. It also works quite well for us because we save on shipping (hence if stock and staff resources allow, we’ll always do our best to bring you this offer). Given the higher price we’ve had to pay in order to get these short batches of Capsules manufactured, buy 2 get 1 free will also help us offset some of the losses that we’ve incurred — rather than us having to increase retail prices.
What about Capsule Max Packs?
In order to make our Capsule stock go further, we’ve only produced Refill packs. Max Packs will remain out of stock for the time being.
We hate to be the bearer of bad news (but we’ve also got some good news)…
Due to a busier-than-usual second half to the year, together with a machine break-down which has led to delays with manufacturing, we’ve ran out of Capsules.
Unfortunately stock is also now running low on some variations of Bottled Oil, too.
Being eager to avoid panic-buying, we’ve been reluctant to make this public knowledge until we knew more about our expected timeline going forward.
Whilst we still do not have a confirmed Manufacture date for our Capsules (there is a backlog due to the machine break-down), we do anticipate that we will be taking delivery around late January. Not ideal, we know.
THE GOOD NEWS…
Harvest is over and we are pressing seeds like there’s no tomorrow! The first batches of Oil have already been sent off for encapsulation and we’ve now started to press the remaining seeds, ready for Oil to be Bottled and made available for sale.
BOTTLED OIL STOCK
Our next batches of Oil will be bottled early January, so a full re-stock will be with us towards the end of January.
Providing everyone only buys what they need to last until then, we should just about have enough stock remaining. Albeit some bottle sizes are likely to run out – but other bottle sizes should still be available.
BLACK SEED OIL CAPSULE STOCK
Manufacturing is expected to start in the second week of January & we anticipate taking delivery around late January.
In the meantime – we’ve managed to find another manufacturer who was willing (at great expense) to encapsulate 3 short batches for us.
We’ve taken delivery today (Weds 13th December) of the following, and are currently preparing them ready for sale:
10,000x Super-Strength Refill Packs
2,000x Strong Refill Packs
2,000x Original Refill Packs
These Refill Packs will be available to purchase sometime on Thursday 14th December – and will be sold on a first come, first served basis.
Given the quantity available isn’t anywhere near enough, they will sell out very quickly, and it’s important to note that until you complete Checkout – your purchase is not secured.
Given the short supply that we have at present, first and foremost we want to try and cater to our regular customers – so rather than publicly releasing the time of which these Capsules will be made available for purchase on Thursday – we’re only releasing the time via email. If you’re signed-up to our email newsletter, we’ll drop you an email on Weds 13th to give you the heads-up on when they will be made available for purchase – and we’ll also then email you again on Thursday 14th, as soon as the stock is made available for purchase.
NOTE: Capsule purchases are being limited to a maximum of 3x packs per customer, so that we can cater to as many customers as possible with what little stock we have. Anyone found to be abusing the system that we’ve put in place to monitor the max purchase quantity of Capsules, will have their orders cancelled & refunded without notice.
What about Capsule Max Packs? In order to make our Capsule stock go further, we’ve only produced Refill packs. Max Packs will remain out of stock for the time being and again, we anticipate these to be available around late January.
MORE GOOD NEWS…
BUY 2 GET 1 FREE SITE-WIDE IS BACK!
Limited time. Add any 3 products to basket, cheapest free. Terms & Conditions apply.
Why are we offering BUY 2 GET 1 FREE when we have limited stock? In short — the numbers work better for you, and they also work better for us. We know a large majority of our regular customers take up this offer quite frequently. It also works quite well for us because we save on shipping (hence if stock and staff resources allow, we’ll always do our best to bring you this offer). Given the higher price we’ve had to pay in order to get these short batches of Capsules manufactured, buy 2 get 1 free will also help us offset some of the losses that we’ve incurred — rather than us having to pass these additional costs onto our customers.
This holiday season we will be taking an extended break from Tues 19th Dec – Weds 3rd Jan. This means our last despatch date of 2023 will be Mon 18th Dec, and our next despatch date will be Thurs 4th Jan.
Please ensure you select a suitable shipping service during Checkout, and we strongly advise that you get your orders in early to help minimise delays. We’ve published some recommendations on last posting dates for pre-Christmas delivery, below.
WHEN WILL MY ORDER BE DESPATCHED?
In the lead-up to the holidays we will continue to despatch orders same-day, subject to our normal shipping policy.
Orders placed before 5pm on Mon 18th Dec will also be despatched same-day as normal.
Orders placed after5pm on Mon 18th Dec will be despatched upon our return on Thurs 4th Jan.
WHEN WILL MY ORDER BE DELIVERED?
As always around UK holidays (especially Christmas & New Year), delays in the delivery network are to be expected.
If you place an order from Mon 4th Dec through until Tues 16th Jan and select the ECONOMY, STANDARD TRACKED, or PRIORITY TRACKED service, you should allow a few extra days for delivery.
For those using the PRIORITY TRACKED service (recommended for most people), delays should be kept to a minimum, since this service is prioritised by the carrier. Priority Tracked is available for just £2.95, or it is FREE when you spend over £25.
ECONOMY & STANDARD TRACKED services are likely to experience longer delays and we do not recommend these services if you require an order urgently.
Need to Guarantee that your order is delivered on a certain day? The only way to guarantee next day delivery is to select the GUARANTEED NEXT DAY service at Checkout. This is a paid upgrade and is available Mon-Fri until 5pm – for Guaranteed Next Day delivery (Tues-Sat).
OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR PRE-CHRISTMAS DELIVERY
If you’re going to be needing any products between now & mid January, we strongly urge you to get your orders in as soon as possible during the month of December. Whilst we will continue to despatch all orders in-line with our Shipping Policy & this announcement – delays in the delivery network are inevitable, and they are also beyond our control. Please do your bit and place your orders in good time.
For most people*, so long as you order before 5pm on Monday 20th December and select the Priority shipping option (Tracked24), you should receive your order before Christmas.
But please remember — unless you upgrade to the GUARANTEED NEXT DAY service, your delivery is not guaranteed to arrive next working day, and it may be subject to delays. Please refer to our shipping policy for details on the Guaranteed Next Day service (available for UK addresses only).
*for international customers we recommend placing your order by 5pm on monday 11th december.
CHANGES TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT
If you have any queries you can still submit a support request here: Contact Us
However please note, no questions will be answered over the holiday period, and we will also have some catching up to do upon our return in January — so delays are to be expected.
We’d urge you to have a good look around our website before reaching out to us as the majority of questions that we receive are already answered. Have a question regarding an order that you’ve placed? You’ll also find some useful information in your order confirmation email (automatically sent after you place an order), and also in your order despatch email (sent after your order has been despatched).
If you cannot find the answer to your question, please submit a request and we’ll come back to you as soon as we can. We kindly ask that you refrain from sending chaser emails as this will only further delay a response.
At 17:00 on Thursday 13th April 2023 we will begin rolling out changes to our product pricing. If you’re already assuming the worst — please don’t — the changes that we’re making are mostly positive.
This announcement is here to provide full transparency over the upcoming changes, and whilst the price of some products is unfortunately on the rise, many of our prices are actually being reduced!
Based on historic data, any increases that we’re implementing will only affect a small number of customers — whereas reductions will benefit a considerably higher number of customers. Price rises in most cases are very minimal (we’re talking a penny in some instances).
Continue reading if you’d like to know more about the changes we’re making & why we’re making them, or if you’d rather just skip and view the pricing update:
Many of our long-term customers will know that the majority of our prices have been the same for several years — this is not because we’re immune to inflation, but because we value our customers. Given many of you have been on an extended journey with us, we’ve made it our number one priority to stick by you as you have done us.
We pride ourselves as being a small family-run business and our goal is and always has been to provide the very best quality Black Seed products whilst maintaining affordable prices and providing same-day despatch and FAST & FREE UK shipping.
As we’ve grown as a business we’ve developed bigger buying power which has helped us greatly bring some costs down. Rather than being greedy, we’ve passed such savings on to our customers whenever possible — either by maintaining or lowering prices year on year, by offering improved shipping services at subsidised rates (whilst still providing FREE shipping on all UK orders!), and by holding frequent promotional offers. We’d like to think this hasn’t gone unnoticed.
WHY ARE WE MAKING CHANGES NOW?
Since the start of the Pandemic our overall costs have risen greatly, and it’s become very challenging for us as a business without making some changes.
From packaging supplies through to rent & rates, utilities, product packaging, raw materials, manufacturing costs, air & sea transport, payment processing fees, the cost of shipping services… and everything else in between — there’s not a single cost that hasn’t risen for us in the last few years, and by quite a margin.
In particular during the last 6 months, there is no doubt that everyone has been affected by inflation.
Whilst we continue to do our best to keep our prices fair, equally we’re reluctant to make changes that will see the quality of our products decrease or the level of service that we offer, lower.
So yes we’ve had to increase some prices, but at the same time we’ve also lowered many of our prices. Why? Because we can.
WHAT CHANGES ARE WE MAKING?
We’ve assessed lots of data from the last few years (mostly in regards to customer buying habits), and spent several months crunching & getting creative with the numbers in order to establish a compromise that allows us to offset some of the rising costs that we’re facing, whilst at the same time adding further value to which customers who have remained brand-loyal will benefit from.
The majority of price increases will be in relation to Multi-Buy (these prices will always be quite volatile due to the yield of each batch of oil that we produce) — with the only other real noticeable price increase being to single bottle purchases of our 100ml Original Oil. With the latter, we’ve simply had to increase the price to cover rising shipping costs.
On the subject of Shipping — we’re making some improvements there too (some of you may have noticed recently that we’ve been trialling a new FREE/Tracked UK shipping option for lower value orders). You can read more about changes to Shipping, here.
Below you will find a full transparent update of our product pricing which we believe the vast majority will be appreciative of…
APRIL 2023 CORE PRICING UPDATE
The below update will be rolled out from 17:00 on Thursday 13th April, 2023. The full roll-out may take a few hours, but all price changes should be implemented by midnight latest.
THE ABOVE PRICING APPLIES TO SINGLE PRODUCT PURCHASES ONLY. UPDATES TO MULTI-BUY ARE NOTED BELOW…
APRIL 2023 MULTI-BUY PRICING UPDATE
The below update to Multi-buy will be rolled out from 17:00 on Thursday 13th April, 2023. The full roll-out may take a few hours, but all changes should be implemented by midnight latest.
Unsure what Multi-buy is? Multi-buy is designed to provide customers with automatic discounts all year round when buying 2 or more of the same product. The more of the same product you buy, the cheaper the cost of each product becomes. You can read more about Multi-buy here: What is Multi-buy?
// STARTER PACKS
CAPSULE STARTER PACK [2+] £32.99 (NEW PRICING TIER)
BOTTLED OIL STARTER PACK [2+] £32.99 (NEW PRICING TIER)
// SEEDS & POWDER
NIGELLA SATIVA SEEDS 100G [2-9] £5.00 (PRICE DROP, WAS £5.49) [10+] £3.00 (PRICE DROP, WAS £3.49)
GROUND NIGELLA SATIVA SEEDS/POWDER 100G [2-9] £6.00 (PRICE DROP, WAS £7.49) [10+] £4.00 (PRICE DROP, WAS £4.49)
// CAPSULE REFILL PACKS
ORIGINAL BLACK SEED OIL CAPSULE REFILL PACK [2] £9.50 -> £9.99 [3-4*] £8.75 -> £8.99 [*4] OPTION REMOVED – WAS £8.50 [5-9] £8.20 -> £8.49 [10+] £7.90 -> £7.99 [24+] OPTION REMOVED – WAS £7.80
STRONG BLACK SEED OIL CAPSULE REFILL PACK [2] £11.99 (PRICE UNCHANGED) [3-4*] £10.99 (PRICE DROP, WAS £11.49) [*4] OPTION REMOVED – WAS £10.49 [5-9] £10.40 -> £10.49 [10+] £9.60 -> £9.99 [24+] OPTION REMOVED – WAS £9.20
If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s been that we need to be able to adapt quickly to situations beyond our control — because problems can arise at any given moment, and sometimes without notice.
A QUICK RE-CAP
In mid-January 2023 we introduced an updated Shipping Policy. In this revised policy we made changes to the shipping options that we offer, along with some changes to the terms & conditions.
This update was introduced following Royal Mail Strikes (our main shipping partner) held towards the back-end of 2022 — and in light of further Strikes potentially being on the horizon.
The Strikes made us realise that we needed to provide customers with more realistic timeframes, guidance, and expectations for the shipping services of which we offer. After all, we’re not hand-delivering orders and therefore if something does go wrong on the carriers side, there’s not a great deal we can do about it other than wait it out until sufficient time has passed.
Whilst we’ve always done our best to be transparent over shipping, events towards the back-end of 2022 seen some customers left in limbo for longer than we deemed to be acceptable. As most of those affected (thankfully) understood – delays in the delivery network are beyond our control and particularly during the Strikes, we too were left helpless in the situation. All we could do was wait until the carrier cleared the backlogs.
Unfortunately not everyone was quite so understanding to the situation of Strikes, and yet being in such a helpless position this left us looking incompetent in some eyes. That didn’t sit well with us. We work extremely hard to get orders out on time every time, and via the fastest shipping services that we’re able to offer.
FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS
Upon reflection we’ve come to the realisation that no matter how hard we work to get orders out on time, and no matter the free (and low-cost) shipping options that we provide, we’re still at risk of disappointing some customers.
Therefore moving forward we’ve came to realise that we should instead be under-promising and over delivering when it comes to despatch & shipping. For this reason we have further updated & simplified the titles and descriptions of the shipping services that we offer.
The services themselves have not changed – we’ve merely updated the titles and descriptions to help clarify the timeframes on offer by those services. Eg. Tracked24 is a ‘next working day’ service, but this only comes with a next working day delivery aim. During busy periods such as public holidays it may well take a few days longer. Whilst Tracked24 provides a very high success rate of next working day delivery (since it is prioritised by the carrier), it does not guarantee next day delivery. Only the Guaranteed Next Day service offers any form of guaranteed delivery timeframe — which is a paid upgrade.
As some of you may have noticed over the last few months, we’ve also been experimenting with a new FREE Tracked UK shipping option (Royal Mail Tracked48) for lower value orders (over £15 but below £25). Whilst this has clearly been a success (we completely understand that online shoppers prefer to receive a Tracking number), our costings just do not allow us to continue with the £15 threshold that we’ve been experimenting with. Therefore, we will be changing this threshold to £16 with immediate effect — but the good news is that this new/free tracked option for lower value orders is here to stay.
And don’t worry, we’re not taking away the FREE Tracked24 option for orders over £25.
In addition, we recently managed to secure better shipping rates for our overseas customers — something that we’ve been working for several years to achieve. We’re sure these new rates will make many of our International customers happy, and it will also allow us to further expand our reach. Some of these new lower prices have been active for a couple of months now, and we’ve already noticed a huge increase in the number of overseas orders — so it’s clear that this has been well-received.
As well as changes to our service offerings, our further-revised shipping policy introduces a clause allowing us to ship via different carriers should we feel the need to — eg. in the event of service disruption or closures we have the option to ship orders via a different carrier, if we believe it will minimise delays.
To clarify — any shipping service changes that we’ve introduced are improvements. Our same-day despatch policy remains in place. We’ve not made any price increases to any of the shipping services that we offer.
We’ve merely simplified the labelling of services offered, and added more clarity/ been more reserved over the descriptions of those services.
As a brief overview…
REVISED UK SHIPPING OPTIONS
All UK orders still ship FREE of charge.
We have introduced a FREE Tracked upgrade for orders over £16 (otherwise, a £1.50 upgrade).
Orders over £25 still qualify for FREE Tracked Next Working Day delivery (otherwise, a £2.95 upgrade).
The Guaranteed Saturday service (formerly £9.95) has been removed.
Guaranteed Next Day is now available Mon-Fri, for Guaranteed Delivery Tues-Sat (£7.95 upgrade).
RENAMING OF UK SHIPPING OPTIONS
We have renamed our UK shipping options to be more reflective of the services on offer. Eg. Shipping options have now been renamed to: ECONOMY, STANDARD TRACKED, PRIORITY TRACKED, GUARANTEED NEXT DAY.
We’ve also updated the description for each of those shipping services, of which you will find a shortened description of each service displayed during Checkout (full details still available on our Shipping page)
REVISED INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING OPTIONS
All International destinations that we ship to now have access to flat rate shipping for parcels which weigh under 2kg.
Parcels up to 500g – now just £7.99.
Parcels up to 2kg – now just £11.99.
Parcels over 2kg also have new improved rates. These will vary based on destination & total weight. A full rate card is available on our shipping page, but as a guide — 5kg starts from just £18.99 & 10kg starts from £34.99.
SEE OUR NEW SHIPPING POLICY IN FULL
To view our new Shipping Policy in full, click here. For reference, you can still view our old (and now expired) Shipping policy here, for a limited time.
Since our main shipping partner does not operate over the Easter Holidays, we too will be closed on Friday 7th & Monday 10th April. Therefore, no orders will be despatched on those days.
CHANGES TO THE DESPATCH OF ORDERS There will be no same-day despatch on Fri 7th and Mon 10th April:
Orders placed before 5pm on Thurs 6th April will be despatched same-day as normal.
Orders placed after 5PM on Thurs 6th April will be despatched on the next working day (Tues 11th April).
DELIVERY TIMES: As always around public UK holidays, delays in the delivery network are likely to occur. We ask that you allow a few extra days for delivery if you place an order around the Public Holidays and opt for ECONOMY, STANDARD TRACKED or PRIORITY TRACKED.
For those using the PRIORITY TRACKED service, delays should be kept to a minimum since this service is prioritised by the carrier. This service is available for just £2.95, or it is FREE when you spend over £25.
Please note that there is only one way to Guarantee that delivery delays are avoided, and that is by upgrading to the Guaranteed Next Day service (paid upgrade) during checkout. No other service offers a Guaranteed delivery date. Due to the holidays this option will only remain active until 5pm on Wednesday 5th April (for guaranteed delivery on Thursday 6th). This service will then be made available again from 00:01 on Tuesday 11th April.
For our full shipping policy please see here:Shipping Policy
CHANGES TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT If you have any queries you can still submit a support request here: Contact Us However please note, replies may take a few days longer upon our return from the holidays as we will have some catching up to do. We kindly ask that you refrain from sending chaser emails as this will only further delay a response.
IT’S NOT ALL BAD NEWS: BUY 2 GET 1 FREE SITE-WIDE Buy any 3 products, get the cheapest 1 FREE* will remain live until 5pm on Tuesday 11th April.
With our upcoming price changes this also gives our regular customers a chance to stock up not only using our most sought-after discount code, but also before the new product prices come into effect.
Our Black Seed Oil & Black Seed Oil Capsules are available in three different strengths. UK Shipping is FREE on all orders and we have a Same-day Despatch policy.
Royal Mail have now fully-resumed their International Tracked shipping service.
All International orders continue to be despatched as normal.
Parcels shipped via Royal Mail International may face slight delays in the shipping network and they may also offer fewer tracking updates than normal whilst the carrier recovers from the recent Cyber Attack, but other than that it’s business as usual.
Update, 28th January 2023 @ 12:16
All International orders continue to be despatched as normal, however parcels that weigh under 2kg are likely to face delays in the delivery network since these are shipped via the Royal Mail International Tracked service.
HOW DO I KNOW IF MY ORDER WEIGHS UNDER 2KG? If your shipping charge is less than £12.00 – your order weighs less than 2kg.
WHY ARE THERE DELAYS WITH THIS SERVICE? Although their International services have now resumed, they are currently working around the clock to clear any backlogs in their network that were caused by a recent Cyber Attack on their export systems. Due to this, delays are very likely to occur until those backlogs are cleared.
HOW LONG ARE THE DELAYS? Unfortunately we have not been provided with any timescales of how long these delays are likely to last — but we will keep this page updated with any news that may come to light. Additionally you can check the Royal Mail website for updates.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING ADVICE If you are prepared to wait a little longer than the usual 2-10 business days for your order to arrive – go ahead and order.
If you need an order more urgently — we can ship your order via another carrier (UPS, DHL, FEXEX and DPD provided shipping services to most locations). Please reach out to us with a note of the products & quantities required, as well as your full shipping address and we will provide a quote.
Additionally, we are currently in the process of adding these additional shipping options to our website, so that you select your preferred carrier during Checkout. We hope to have these new options added by early next week.
Thanks for your continued patience and understanding.
Update, 26th January 2023 @ 17:41
As a brief recap of our earlier announcement, and in a fresh and finally positive update — Royal Mail (our chosen Shipping Partner for International parcels weighing under 2kg) have been undergoing a Cyber Attack on their parcel Export systems.
This meant that parcels could not be exported from Royal Mail’s International logistics centre here in the UK, since they were unable to electronically transfer Customs data to the receiving country.
Although this Cyber Attack has since been well-documented in many mainstream media outlets, and additionally in daily updates released by Royal Mail — we were not advised of any such issue until January 18th.
WHICH ORDERS ARE AFFECTED? All parcels weighing under 2kg, with shipping addresses outside of the United Kingdom.
IN MORE POSITIVE NEWS… Royal Mail have today resumed the export of shipments to all International destinations.
Although the ‘International Tracked’ service has not yet been reinstated — the ‘Tracked & Signed’ service has. This is effectively the same service that we normally use, but it also requires a signature at the time of delivery. To help avoid adding any further delays to orders, we have therefore upgraded all International shipments to the ‘Tracked & Signed’ service.
Orders placed between 11th-17th January: these orders were already in the shipping network awaiting Export from Royal Mail’s International logistics hub. For technical reasons, these parcels have been re-admitted under a new tracking number. Your tracking details (if not already issued) will be sent via email once the first tracking scan occurs — we expect this to be within 24hrs of this update being published.
Orders placed between 18th-26th January: these orders have been despatched today, 26th January. Tracking details will be emailed to you once the first tracking scan has occurred — we expect this to be within 24hrs of this update being published.
Kindly note: Although Royal Mail have now resumed exports, processing of parcels is still likely to take longer than usual whilst they work around the clock to overcome backlogs. Additionally, they have advised that limited tracking information may be available until your shipment reaches its destination country — so do not be alarmed if you see fewer tracking updates than usual. We continue to ask for your patience.
OUR SINCEREST OF APOLOGIES… This is certainly not the usual level of service that we set out to provide to our customers.Whilst shipping delays can occur at any point and we do not take responsibility for any such issues that may arise… On this occasion we have decided to reach out (via email) to those that have been severely impacted by these delays, offering a partial refund as a gesture of goodwill. This applies to all International customers whose order was placed between 11th-25th January, and not despatched within 1 business day.
QUESTION: CAN I STILL CANCEL MY ORDER? Unfortunately orders can no longer be cancelled. All orders have now been despatched/ are in the shipping network, and we have no way of recalling them.
QUESTION: HOW MUCH LONGER WILL I NEED TO WAIT? This will vary based on destination, and also depending how quickly Royal Mail work through their backlog of International parcels. The only thing we can say for sure is that the carrier is working around the clock to ensure services return to normal as quickly as possible.
QUESTION: HAS MY DATA BEEN LEAKED? The Cyber Attack on Royal Mail’s systems is not believed to have resulted in a data leak. In any case, even if it did later come to light that there was a data leak – please rest assured knowing that no customer payment details are ever passed on to our carriers.
Original announcement, 18th January 2023 @ 13:28
IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING THE ROYAL MAIL INTERNATIONAL TRACKED SERVICE (Applies to all parcels being shipped outside of the United Kingdom and weighing under 2kg)
As you may have seen in the major media outlets recently, our International delivery partner (Royal Mail) are currently facing an ongoing Cyber Incident. Unfortunately this means that International Orders shipped via Royal Mail are subject to delays.
The Carrier has yet to announce the date of which they expect normal services to resume — but they are working around the clock to rectify and have now started to roll out exports again to some destinations.
Already placed an order? Orders placed between 11th-17th January are currently in the delivery network awaiting processing by the carrier. Unfortunately there’s not a great deal we can do except ask you to remain patient, since your parcel is already in the network.
Orders placed from 18th January onwards cannot be despatched until the carrier begins accepting International parcels again. Unfortunately we do not yet know when this will be. If you cannot wait, please reach out to us & we can either cancel & refund your order, or we can look at alternative (paid) shipping options for you.
We apologise for any inconvenience that this incident may cause. If you have any concerns please feel free to contact us. You can also view updates on the Royal Mail website, here.
Normal same-day despatch resumed as of yesterday (Tues 3rd Jan), following the New Year holidays.
As always in early January there may be a slight delay with some delivery services due to carriers having backlogs to clear from over the holiday period. Therefore if not upgrading to Guaranteed Next Day, please allow a few extra days for your order to arrive. The Guaranteed Next Day and Tracked24 services continue to be treated as a priority by our carrier.
Customer support – following our festive & new year closureswe have now started working through any customer support requests submitted over the Festive & New Year period. This may take us a while to catch up on. We aim to respond to any support requests within 2-5 business days from our return on Tuesday 3rd January. We will be working through requests in the order of which they were received, so please do not re-submit a support request as this will further delay a response.
ALREADY PLACED AN ORDER?
Any orders placed after the 5pm cut-off on Weds 28th December were despatched yesterday, upon our return. For reference you can read our original announcement, below. Additionally you can find info & answers to some of the most common questions in your order confirmation email (sent to you when you placed your order and also in your despatch confirmation email).
Update as of 13:20 on Monday 2nd January 2023:
Although today is a Public UK holiday, our despatch team are already hard at work packing orders. Our next despatch date following the Festive & New Year holidays is Tuesday 3rd January. Same-day despatch Mon-Fri will resume from this date.
If you placed an order after the 5pm cut-off on Weds 28th December, your order has already been picked & packed, and will be leaving us tomorrow (Tues 3rd Jan) via whichever shipping service you selected during Checkout. Confirmation of despatch/ parcel tracking info will be emailed to you anytime up until 9pm on the day of despatch.
Royal Mail Strikes have (thankfully!) now come to an end, however some deliveries may still face delays of 1-3 working days throughout early January. This is normal at the start of the year due to carriers having backlogs to clear from the holidays. Guaranteed Next Day & Tracked24 parcels will continue to be prioritised by the carrier.
As our continued commitment to helping out where possible, any changes or upgrades that we previously made to shipping services & pricing (see below) will remain in place until January 13th.
We do however still advise that you continue to select a shipping service that fits your requirements, and also ask that you allow sufficient time for your order to arrive. Need an order urgently? The Guaranteed Next Day service is the onlyservice which guarantees next working day delivery (from despatch).
Customer support – following our festive & new year closures, together with the large volume of orders that we have to work through upon our return (which will be prioritised) – we currently aim to respond to any customer support requests within 2-5 business days of our return on Tuesday 3rd January. We will be working through requests in the order of which they were received, so please do not re-submit a support request as this will further delay a response.
Other questions? You will likely find the answer below, in our original announcement.
ALREADY PLACED AN ORDER?
You can read our original update in full, below. Additionally you can find info & answers to some of the most common questions in your order confirmation email (sent to you when you placed your order).
ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Published 13:24 on December 2nd, 2022:
AN IMPORTANT UPDATE
Heading into the busiest online shopping period of the year we wish to remain transparent over despatch, delivery times, closures, and any upcoming & known delays.
This year Royal Mail strikes continue into this already busy period – meaning disruption is unavoidable in the lead up to, during, and following the Festive & New Year holidays.
Nobody likes delays. This includes us. We work tirelessly to get orders out on a same-day basis, allowing customers to receive their goods as quickly as possible. We remain committed to same-day despatch where possible, but whilst we continue to do everything in our power to help minimise disruption, delays to some services are unavoidable between now & the New Year.
We continue to to despatch all orders inline with our shipping policy/ this update.
The vast majority of Tracked24 parcels are still arriving within 1-2 working days. Tracked24 and Guaranteed Next Day are being prioritised by the carrier. Tracked48 however is not, and will therefore remain subject to longer delays. Please select your shipping method wisely.
BRIEF OVERVIEW
Any delays in the delivery network are beyond our control – please be sure to select a suitable shipping service.
Our despatch dates over the Festive holidays will be limited to: Mon 19th, Tues 20th, Weds 21st, and Weds 28th Dec. Normal service will then resume upon our return from the New Year holidays on: Tues 3rd Jan.
We aim to respond to customer enquiries within 2-5 working days, however customer support will not be unavailable over the holidays.
We’re temporarily upgrading FREE Standard UK shipping to Tracked48 (from 1st Class).
We’ve lowered the cost of Tracked24 (next working day delivery aim) to £2.50.
Tracked24 is FREE when you spend over £25.
We’ve lowered the cost of Guaranteed Next Day to just £6.95.
Guaranteed Saturday Delivery is now part of Guaranteed Next Day, available at the new lower price.
International Shipping: Big News! We’ve just rolled out new pricing (Eg. up to 500g @ £7.99, up to 2KG @ £11.99).
For other shipping, despatch or delivery questions – you’ll find the answer below or in our Shipping Policy.
The following information overrides our standard despatch & shipping policies.
OUR HOLIDAY CLOSURES / ROYAL MAIL STRIKE DATES
Although orders can still be placed online 365 days a year – no parcels will be collected, sorted, or delivered on days of Royal Mail Strike action – meaning we cannot offer same-day despatch on those days.
Additionally, we will be closed over the Festive & New Year holidays to allow our staff a well-deserved break.
Our same-day despatch policy (order by 5PM Mon-Fri) remains in place, with the exception to the following dates:
FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER* – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
THURSDAY 15TH DECEMBER – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
THURSDAY 22ND DECEMBER – CLOSED / FESTIVE HOLIDAY
FRIDAY 23RD DECEMBER – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
SATURDAY 24TH DECEMBER* – ROYAL MAIL STRIKE
MONDAY 26TH DECEMBER – CLOSED / FESTIVE HOLIDAY
TUESDAY 27TH DECEMBER – CLOSED / FESTIVE HOLIDAY
THURSDAY 29TH DECEMBER – CLOSED / NEW YEAR HOLIDAY
FRIDAY 30TH DECEMBER – CLOSED / NEW YEAR HOLIDAY
MONDAY 2ND JANUARY – CLOSED / NEW YEAR HOLIDAY
Orders due for despatch on any of the above dates (or over a weekend) will be despatched on our next working day**. Order despatch confirmation will be emailed to you anytime up until 9PM on the day of despatch.
We continue to monitor the situation closely. The above dates will be amended should anything change. Alternatively you can find the most up to date information regarding Royal Mail Strikes on their website.
*Sunday 11th December and Saturday 24th December will not directly affect despatch, however these Strike dates are still likely to cause delays with mail-sorting/delivery of any orders despatched in the days leading up to/following those dates. **Working days are classed as Monday-Friday, but exclude closure dates, public holidays or any strike dates stated above.
STRIKE IMPACT ON DELIVERY TIMES
Delivery times will be affected. If you select our FREE Standard Shipping (1st Class) or the Tracked48 shipping service – you should expect longer delays than usual.
Royal Mailwill be prioritising parcels sent via Guaranteed Next Working Day & Tracked24 – we strongly advise making use of these services throughout December and into early January, dependant on how urgent your order is.
Our responsibility is to despatch orders when we say we will and via the shipping method that you choose – but it remains your responsibility to select a suitable shipping service during Checkout.
Please do not contact us claiming that we promised or guaranteed delivery by a specific date if you have not paid for the GUARANTEED NEXT WORKING DAY service. This applies all year round. We remain transparent over despatch & shipping at all times. Your order will only be shipped via the service that you select during Checkout.
Until 10 working days have passed (from despatch), parcels which have not been shipped on a Guaranteed Next Day service will only be deemed delayed.
WHAT WE ARE DOING TO HELP…
UK orders under £25 were previously shipped via Royal Mail 1st Class. Due to severe delays we have withdrawn this service as of Tues 29th November. Instead…
UK ORDERS UNDER £25 are being given a FREE* upgrade to Royal Mail Tracked48. This service offers a 2 working day delivery aim. Delays are still very likely, but this service will at least allow you to monitor your parcels progress through the delivery network.
OPTIONAL UPGRADE FOR UK ORDERS UNDER £25: Royal Mail Tracked24 (Next Working Day delivery aim) is now available for just £2.50* (reduced from £2.95).
UK ORDERS OVER £25 continue to qualify for FREE Royal Mail Tracked24 (Next Working Day delivery aim). This does not guarantee next working day delivery, but the service is being prioritised by Royal Mail & therefore any delays should be minimal.
NEXT WORKING DAY GUARANTEED: If you require delivery by a specific date, you must pay for this upgrade. The cost has been reduced to just £6.95 (from £7.95). This service is available Mon-Fri** up until 5PM, for delivery Tuesday-Saturday**. This service guarantees delivery on the next working day from despatch** making it the perfect choice for urgent orders. In the very unlikely event delivery is not attempted when it should be, contact us to request a shipping refund.
SATURDAY GUARANTEED: Previously this service was £9.95, but as of 13th December it has now been replaced by ‘NEXT WORKING DAY GUARANTEED’ (above). Same guarantee, new lower price.
International Shipments: Orders under 2KG are shipped via Royal Mail, so please allow for a 1-2 day delay on or around any announced Strike or closure days.
Tracked24 and Tracked48 are fully-tracked services which not only allow you to monitor your parcels progress through the delivery network, but also allow you to re-arrange delivery to a different day if you are not going to be home and do not wish for your parcel to be left in a safe place. You can also redirect your parcel to a local Post Office if you prefer to collect at your convenience.
* Free upgraded shipping/lower prices are temporary but will remain in place until 13th Jan, 2023 **Despatch will only occur on working days (excludes closures & public holidays). Further exceptions to this service may also be applied by the carrier on or around Strike days whereby the Guarantee may be withdrawn – for the most up to date advice on this service please see here.
RECOMMENDED LAST POSTING DATES FOR PRE-CHRISTMAS DELIVERY
Royal Mail have announced their recommended last posting dates for Pre-Christmas delivery:
Please be sure to order before 5pm for same-day despatch on the above dates.
Note this is Royal Mail guidance, not ours. We would urge you to order as far in advance as possible at this time of the year, and if you absolutely require delivery by a specific date – you must upgrade to the Guaranteed Next Working day service.
Based on the above we would advise that: – It is possible that orders placed after 5pm on Fri 16th Dec may not arrive until the New Year, if you select Tracked48 shipping. – It is possible that orders placed after 5pm on Mon 19th Dec may not arrive until the New Year, if you select Tracked24 shipping. – It is possible that orders placed after 5pm on Weds 21st Dec may not arrive until 27th-28th Dec, if you select Guaranteed Next Day shipping.
This information was last updated Friday 16th December. Please check the Royal Mail website for the latest advice on Last Posting Dates & Service Updates.
NEW IMPROVED INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING RATES
International customers – for the last 2 years we’ve fought hard to secure improved pricing for you.
We’re happy to announce that shipping prices for parcels weighing up to 2KG will now cost you 30%-70% less than they did previously!
If your order weighs over 2KG, you should notice reduced rates there too, but we appreciate these are still not great. We will continue to seek improved rates from carriers, but in the meantime what we suggest is that you try placing separate orders, keeping order weights below 2KG. This may prove to be more cost-effective. For full details & terms please see here.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
When will my order be despatched? We continue to despatch orders same-day mon-fri with the exception of our festive & new year holiday closures, or on days of which Royal Mail are holding strikes. You can find a note of these dates further up this page.
What are your despatch dates over the holidays? Orders placed BEFORE 5pm on Weds 21st December will be despatched same day. Any orders placed AFTER 5pm on Weds 21st December will be despatched on the following Weds (28th December). Orders placed BEFORE 5pm on Weds 28th December will be despatched same day. Any orders placed AFTER 5pm on Weds 28th December will be despatched on the following Tues (3rd January).
Which shipping service do you recommend? For most customers, the Tracked24 shipping option will be sufficient. Although this does not guarantee next working day delivery – this service is being prioritised by the carrier and so any delays should be minimal. We subsidise the cost of this service for our customers – or alternatively it is FREE when you spend over £25.
What if I need my order urgently? The only shipping service comes with any form of guaranteed delivery timeframe if the Guaranteed Next Day shipping option. This is a paid upgrade which is only available Monday-Friday. If you require delivery on a specific day, you must pay to upgrade to this service.
Why is my order still showing as ‘Sender Despatching Item’? We assure you that your order will have been handed to Royal Mail on the day that you received your despatch confirmation email from us. We have a duty to make sure we hand over your parcel that same day, otherwise your shipping label will become invalid. Tracking will only update once Royal Mail have scanned your parcel into the receiving depot. Due to the Strikes, processing times at the receiving depot are subject to delay since it is not only delivery staff who are striking, but also mail processing & sorting staff.
Why has my Tracked48 or Tracked24 parcel not arrived yet? Tracked48 comes with a 2 working day delivery aim. Tracked24 comes with next working day delivery aim. Whilst the carrier will aim to deliver within these timeframes, these are not guaranteed timeframes. Due to the Strikes, these services are not exempt from delays. Until 10 working days have passed, Tracked48 and Tracked24 parcels will only be deemed ‘delayed’ by the carrier and due to this our hands are tied.
My Tracked parcel says it is due for delivery today but it has not arrived A delivery window may be issued by the carrier. They will do their best to deliver within that window, but around Strike days they are stretched for delivery personnel and therefore they cannot guarantee that they’ll be able to deliver all of their parcels before the end of the day. You can find more information on this on the Royal Mail website.
Why can’t you just use a different carrier? We have explored many options, but the higher costs incurred would need to be passed on to our customers. This is something that we are reluctant to do. Additionally, Royal Mail strikes have led many businesses to turn to using the services of other carriers. Due to this, on top of the already busy time of the year for delivery companies – every carrier in the UK is facing delays. Switching carrier is therefore not viable.
Why aren’t you doing more? We get it. It’s frustrating. And we assure you that it’s just as (if not more) frustrating for us. We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure all orders are despatched on time/every time, since day one of our businesses formation. Due to substantial delays to the ‘1st class’ service even before the Strikes began, we were up-sold ‘2 Working day’ and ‘next working day’ services by the carrier (in the form of Tracked48/Tracked24 – at almost twice the cost)… Only to then see in some instances, Tracked48 taking 12 working days to arrive and Tracked24 taking as long as 10 working days to arrive. The situation with Royal Mail is not only tarnishing our businesses name but it is also losing us thousands of pounds every single week. Whilst we initially committed to stick by Royal Mail workers and what they were fighting for, we cannot continue to support such actions due to the huge losses we have been facing. We really have done all that we can in such a bad situation. Ultimately the recklessness of Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union is not only causing disruption to the general public, but they are also destroying businesses. Many small businesses like ours are being hit hard by what is happening, and some of the even smaller businesses may not even survive, because of the actions being taken. We can only hope that you remain patient and continue to support small businesses like ours through what is a very challenging time – and whilst you may be frustrated by delivery delays we would kindly ask that you do not take this frustration out on our staff.
Royal Mail have announced that they will be taking further Strike action around Black Friday and through into December. No parcels will be collected, sorted, or delivered during the Strikes – which means we cannot offer a same-day despatch policy on those dates. The dates so far confirmed are:
THURSDAY 24TH NOVEMBER
FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
WEDNESDAY 30TH NOVEMBER
THURSDAY 1ST DECEMBER
FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER
WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER
Orders due for despatch on the above dates will instead be despatched on the next working day*.
Much like earlier Strike action, there are likely to be delays on the lead-up to, during and in the days following the Strikes. These delays are beyond our control.
We strongly advise ordering in advance if possible, and we also advise using Tracked24 to help minimise delays with your delivery once it has been despatched. If you require an order more urgently – the only shipping service that provides a guaranteed delivery timeframe is the Guaranteed Next Working Day service. This is a paid upgrade.
We understand that most of you will have been waiting to take advantage of our Black Friday week deals and so ordering advance may not be possible. In this case, as many of you will know – our Black Friday deals are always worth waiting for.
Strike impact on delivery times
There will be backlogs for Royal Mail to clear following the Strikes, but theywill be prioritising parcels sent via the Guaranteed Next Day & Tracked24 services. We strongly recommend using these services if you require an order urgently.
Those using the Royal Mail 1st Class option (FREE for UK orders under £25) are more likely to experience delays. Per our shipping policy, please allow up to 10 working days from despatch. If you are not prepared to wait this long you must use one of the Tracked services instead.
All UK orders under £25 which have been placed since Tuesday 29th November, have been given a FREE upgrade to Royal Mail Tracked48. Whilst this service does not guarantee delivery within 2 working days – it is a fully-tracked service allowing you to follow your parcels progress through the delivery network, and it also allows you to rearrange delivery to a different day if you are not going to be home.
Those using Royal Mail Tracked48should only see a 1-4 working day delay. This service costs just £1.50 and will at least allow you to monitor your parcels progress through the delivery network – and also see an estimated delivery date & time.
Those using Royal Mail Tracked24should only see minimal delays, since this is one of the services being prioritised by the carrier. Tracked24 costs just £2.95 (or FREE when you spend over £25). Unless there is extreme urgency required with your order, this is the service that we recommend you use.
Those paying for a Guaranteed Next Day delivery upgrade: this service is Guaranteed to be delivered on the next working day from despatch. Please note that Strike days are not considered as working days. This is the only service that offers any guarantee over a delivery date.
International shipments may experience a 1-2 delay.
Nobody likes delays. We’re online shoppers too, and so for many years we’ve worked tirelessly to ensure all orders are despatched on a ‘same-day’ basis so that our customers receive their goods as quickly as possible. This has been a core part of our business model since day one.
We can only apologise for the disruption caused by our carrier and thank you for your continued patience.
What are we doing to address this?
Easy said is ‘just use a different carrier’ – but implementing this is not quite so straight-forward. Our same-day despatch policy requires a late collection time which is difficult to obtain from other carriers, especially at such short notice.
There’s also no other carrier that offers a ‘large letter’ service, meaning our normal ‘large letter’ mail would need to be shipped as a ‘parcel’. Due to this the costs would rise considerably, and we would have to pass those increases on to our customers. This is something we’ve been trying to avoid.
Royal Mail Strikes seem likely as we head into our busiest period of the year. And with this we are keeping our options open by continuing talks with other shipping companies to try and piece together a contingency plan moving forward. Further details will be announced in due course.
*Black Seed Friday Week (25th Nov – 2nd Dec) – Same Day Despatch is likely to be affected
As always, Black Seed Friday Week is our busiest time of the year and regardless of Royal Mail Strikes causing delays with collections & deliveries, there may additionally be a 1-2 day delay with your order being despatched if you are purchasing between Fri 25th November – Fri 2nd December.
We will be doing all that we can to ensure orders are despatched as quickly as possible, but due to the circa 600% increase in orders during this period, some may not see the same-day despatch that you are so used to.
We’d like to think our Black Seed Friday Week deals will more than make up for any delays that you may experience.
Additionally, we will be upgrading all UK orders over £14.99 to Tracked48 (a fully-tracked service). Additionally, all UK orders under £25 are being upgraded to Tracked48 FREE of charge. Any UK orders over £25 will of course still be eligible for FREE Tracked24.
LATEST UPDATE:
AS OF 22ND OCT, ALL PRODUCTS ARE FULLY RE-STOCKED & AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DESPATCH!
ALREADY PRE-ORDERED?
Per our original terms (below), any outstanding Pre-Orders were despatched on Monday 24th October via your chosen shipping method.
Thanks for sticking with us over what’s been a challenging month.
As predicted in our earlier announcement – due to reasons beyond our control many products are now out of stock. A contingency plan is now in place and we are accepting orders on a Pre-Order Only basis until further notice.
HOW & WHEN TO ORDER
We’ve been working on three short-run productions of all products, which should see us through October…
This stock is arriving in three phases, and will be made available to purchase on Pre-Order only.
Availability & Despatch Dates, as well as a Pre-Order Discount Code can found below.
Thank you for your continued patience.
PRE-ORDER NOW
Pre-orders are being taken on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Limited stock is available, so we kindly ask that you only order what you need for the next few weeks.
DETAILS & DESPATCH DATES
PRE-ORDER PHASE 1 – FOR DESPATCH ON OR BEFORE TUES 11TH OCTOBER From 5:01pm on Friday 7th October through until 5pm on Tuesday 11th October, all products* will be made available to purchase. NOW CLOSED – ALL ORDERS FROM THIS PHASE HAVE BEEN DESPATCHED.
PRE-ORDER PHASE 2 – FOR DESPATCH ON OR BEFORE TUES 18TH OCTOBER From 5:01pm on Tuesday 11th October through until 5pm on Tuesday 18th October, all products* will again be made available to purchase. NOW CLOSED – ALL ORDERS FROM THIS PHASE HAVE BEEN DESPATCHED.
PRE-ORDER PHASE 3 – FOR DESPATCH ON OR BEFORE MON 24TH OCTOBER From 5:01pm on Tuesday 18th October through until 5pm on Monday 24th October, all products* will again be made available to purchase. NOW CLOSED – ALL ORDERS FROM THIS PHASE HAVE BEEN DESPATCHED.
*Stock is available in limited numbers. Once available stock has been allocated to customer orders, products will begin to show as ‘out of stock’ and can no longer be purchased during this Pre-order phase.
AS A THANK YOU…
We know many of you often take advantage of our Sales & Promotions, and given the current climate (and as our way of thanking you for your continued patience), we’ve activated our most sought-after offer: BUY 2 GET 1 FREE!
We only have limited quantities of stock inbound in the short-term, so if products are showing as ‘out of stock, it means that our inbound stock has already been allocated for the current Pre-Order phase. In this case you can check back later.
If stock allows, we may later release a Phase 4 – details of which will be provided on this page if it becomes a possibility.
Note: Orders placed before 5PM on Friday 7th October are exempt from Pre-Ordering and will be despatched same day.
PRE-ORDER TERMS & CONDITIONS
Pre-Orders are accepted on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and are subject to stock availability.
We may close Phase 1, Phase 2, or Phase 3 of Pre-Ordering early in the event of our available stock being allocated.
If a product is able to be added to your basket – it means it’s currently still available for Pre-order in the current Phase.
Your order will be despatched on or before the date stated. If we have some stock leftover from a previous Pre-Order Phase, thus allowing us to fulfil & despatch orders from the next Phase sooner, rest assured we will.
Due to the allocation of stock on a ‘first come, first served’ basis – once an order has been placed it cannot be cancelled. You must allow your order to be shipped and once received you may return it to us for a refund (subject to our standard Returns Policy).
Orders cannot be amended once they have been placed. Please ensure your basket contains all the products you wish to order prior to submitting payment.
All times referred to within this page are ‘UK time’.
SHIPPING & DELIVERY INFORMATION
Pre-Orders will still be despatched via your chosen delivery method, and remain subject to our Shipping Policy.
Please take in to consideration the recent & upcoming Royal Mail Strikes as these may further affect delivery times after despatch. Updates on Royal Mail Strikes can be found here and we urge you to select a suitable shipping service when placing your order.
Pre-Orders are of course exempt from our same-day despatch policy; they will only be despatched on or before the dates provided above. Any quoted delivery timeframes are from the date of despatch, not from the date of ordering.
We offer our sincere apologies for the inconvenience but as we hope you can understand, this is not something we’ve had any control over.
As soon as we became aware of the upcoming challenges, we took action to try and minimise the impact it would have on our customers by:
Issuing an advance warning (to subscribers of our email Newsletter) of the forthcoming stock shortages.
Restricting bulk purchases; thus allowing more customers access to products, for longer.
We also got straight to work by rushing-through some short-runs of all product lines.
We have been (and continue to be) pro-active by doing our absolute best in a bad situation, of which we had no control over.
We already have raw materials in our warehouse. We are now merely facing set-backs with bottling, and with the manufacturing of Capsules. This isn’t the kind of thing that can be done overnight. We’re working hard to ensure it’s business as usual by the end of October/ Early November and in the meantime we can only apologise for any inconvenience caused.
We also wish to thank you for your patience, support, and understanding whilst we get things back on track.
If you have any questions about Pre-Ordering (or anything else), please drop us an email and we will respond as soon as possible.
It’s been a very difficult time for businesses over the last couple of years, which has now been further-added to with recent (and upcoming) Strike action being taken by many of the companies of which we heavily rely upon.
The latest of which; Strike action taken by staff at Felixtowe Seaport, has caused further unforeseen delays for us. This has led to major setbacks with the packaging of our products – and even more so with our Capsule manufacturing.
Given these setbacks, it’s highly likely that you may start to notice some products becoming unavailable over the coming weeks.
Through fear of causing panic-buying we were reluctant to make an announcement like this. However our concern (based on past experiences) was that regular customers may end up being met with ‘out of stock’ notices over the coming weeks. Given so many of you rely on our products as a daily food supplement, we felt it best to inform you so that you can ensure you have enough Oil and/or Capsules to see you through the short-term.
Rest assured, these setbacks are only temporary and we are working extremely hard to minimise the disruption to our stock supply.
We’ve managed to put a contingency plan in place and have already began to action this…
We aim to have a short supply of Bottled Oil (all strengths) restocked by week ending 14th October, and a partial Capsule restock towards the back-end of October. We will have a very limited number of all product lines arriving in two phases (week commencing 10th October and week commencing 17th October). This stock will be available to purchase on pre-Order Only; details of which will be announced shortly. (update, see here).
To ensure customers still have access to products over the next few weeks, we may need to temporarily disable volume discounts (Multi-buy) on some product lines, in order to discourage bulk buying. Again, please rest assured that this is only temporary. After crunching many numbers, we feel that by taking such action this will help to spread stock availability further, meaning more customers have access to products over coming weeks.
By early to mid November late October to early November we are confident that all product lines will be fully restocked.
Apologies for any inconvenience in the meantime – and thanks for your understanding.
As you may be aware, Royal Mail staff will be taking further Strike action on Friday 30th September and Saturday 1st October.
Much like the earlier Strike action, this will undoubtedly lead to delays on the lead-up to, during and in the days following the Strikes. No parcels will be collected, sorted, nor delivered by Royal Mail on days of Strike action.
We are therefore urging all customers to order as early as possible in the week commencing Monday 26th September, so that we can get your order despatched ASAP – hopefully allowing you to avoid any unwanted delays in the delivery network.
Royal Mail have assured its Business Customers that their priority in the lead up to, during, and following the Strikes will be to deliver as many Guaranteed Next Day and Tracked24 parcels as possible.We already subsidise the cost of Tracked24 for our customers (£2.95) so we’d recommend that you use it if you do not wish to wait. And don’t forget, Tracked24 is FREE when you spend over £25.
Changes to our same-day despatch policy during these Royal Mail strikes:
Monday 26th, Tues 27th, Wednesday 28th, and Thursday 29th September – no change – business as usual for us. Order by 5PM for same-day despatch.
FRIDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER – NO DESPATCH DUE TO ROYAL MAIL STRIKES
Monday 3rd October onwards – no change – business as usual for us. Order by 5PM for same-day despatch.
Some important things to note:
Orders can still be placed online, however due to the Royal Mail strikes we have made the decision to close on Friday 30th September.
Orders placed AFTER 5PM on Thursday 29th September will be despatched on Monday 3rd October.
Shipping advice:
If opting for our FREE Standard Shipping option (Royal Mail First Class), please expect longer-than-usual delays. This service can occasionally take up to 10 working days and is not to be relied upon for a timely delivery. We urge you to select a different service if you are not prepared to wait.
Whilst difficult to predict, if you place an order on Monday 26th or Tues 27th September and select the Tracked24 shipping option – your order should arrive next working day/ before the Strikes begin.
If ordering on Wednesday 28th September and selecting the Tracked24 option, we’d like to think that 99% of parcels will be delivered on Thursday 29th September, but of course this cannot be guaranteed.
If you place an order on Thursday 29th September and select the Tracked24 option, your order will likely take a few working days extra to arrive. If selecting the ‘Guaranteed Next Day Delivery’ service at Checkout, your order will not be despatched until Monday 3rd October, which means delivery will be on Tuesday 4th October.
Please note that on Friday 30th September, there will be no ‘Guaranteed Saturday Delivery’ service available at Checkout.
Obviously we have zero control over the Strikes taking place, and we can only apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would also like to assure you that we have already began looking at ways to overcome such issues in the future.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the Royal Family, and indeed the whole of the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and beyond, as we mourn the loss of our longest-serving monarch.
Following the announcement that Monday 19th September will be marked as a Bank Holiday for our Queen’s state funeral, as a show of respect and admiration, we too will be in recognition of this.
This is a historic moment with the entire nation coming together to remember and celebrate the incredible achievements and life-long service of HM Queen Elizabeth II – and we wish for our staff to have the opportunity to remember and commemorate her reign in their own way.
Order & Shipping Information
Orders can still be placed online during Monday’s closure. Orders placed BEFORE 5PM on Friday 16th September will be despatched same-day. Orders placed AFTER 5PM on Friday 16th September, up until 5PM on Tuesday, will be despatched Tuesday 20th September.
Please note that as always around Bank Holidays, delays in the delivery network are to be expected in the days following. Even more-so given the recent (and upcoming) Royal Mail Strikes. We’d therefore advise you to select a suitable delivery service at Checkout, and to order in advance if possible.
For further guidance on our available Shipping options please see our full shipping policy here.
Delays are to be expected on the lead-up to, during and in the days following the Strikes.
Please also note that Monday 29th August is a Public Holiday.
We are therefore urging all customers to order as early as possible in the week commencing 22nd August and week commencing 5th September, so that we can get your order despatched ASAP and hopefully avoid unwanted delays in the delivery network.
No parcels will be collected, sorted, nor delivered on days of Strike action by Royal Mail staff, and of course this is also the case during a UK Bank Holiday – meaning there will be no parcel collections on any of those days.
For added clarity:
Monday 22nd, Tues 23rd, Wednesday 24th, and Thursday 25th – business as usual for us. Order by 5PM for same-day despatch.
FRIDAY 26TH AUGUST – NO DESPATCH DUE TO ROYAL MAIL STRIKES
MONDAY 29TH AUGUST – NO DESPATCH DUE TO UK PUBLIC HOLIDAY
Orders placed AFTER 5PM on Thursday 25th August, and up until 5PM on Tuesday 30th August, will be despatched on Tuesday 30th August.
WEDNESDAY 31ST AUGUST – NO DESPATCH DUE TO ROYAL MAIL STRIKES
Orders placed AFTER 5PM on Tuesday 30th August, and up until 5PM on Thursday 1st September will be despatched on Thursday 1st September.
Thursday 1st September, Friday 2nd, Monday 5th, Tuesday 6th, and Wednesday 7th September – business as usual for us. Order by 5PM for same-day despatch.
THURSDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER – NO DESPATCH DUE TO ROYAL MAIL STRIKES
FRIDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER – NO DESPATCH DUE TO ROYAL MAIL STRIKES
Orders placed AFTER 5PM on Wednesday 7th September, and up until 5PM on Monday 12th September will be despatched on Monday 12th September.
Tuesday 13th September onwards – Business as usual for us. Normal same-day despatch terms apply.
Whilst difficult to predict, if you place an order on Monday 22nd, Tuesday 23rd August, and select the Tracked24 shipping option – your order should arrive before the Strikes begin. If ordering on Wednesday 24th August and selecting the Tracked24 option, we’d like to think that 99% of parcels will be delivered on Thursday 25th August, but of course this cannot be guaranteed.
If you place an order on Saturday 3rd, Sunday 4th, Monday 5th, or Tuesday 6th September and select the Tracked24 shipping option – although not guaranteed – your order should arrive before the second lot of Strikes begin.
Don’t forget, if you require an order urgently, you can also select the Guaranteed Next Day option during checkout. However please note ‘Guarantees’ are not valid on weekends (unless Guaranteed Saturday Delivery is selected), and nor are Guarantees valid on public holidays or on days of Strike action.
Royal Mail have assured its Business Customers that their priority in the lead up to, during, and following the Strikes will be to deliver as many Guaranteed Next Day and Tracked24 parcels as possible. These services are being prioritised.
We already subsidise the cost of Tracked24 for our customers (£2.95) so we’d recommend that you use it if you do not wish to wait. And don’t forget, Tracked24 is FREE when you spend over £25.
Obviously we have zero control over the Strikes taking place, and we can only apologise for any inconvenience caused. We would also like to assure you that we have already began looking at ways to overcome such issues in the future.
Thank you for your understanding.
SHOP THE FULL RANGE NOW
Our Black Seed Oil & Black Seed Oil Capsules are available in three different strengths. UK Shipping is FREE on all orders and we have a Same-day Despatch policy.
As of 22nd June 2022 we’ve once again been forced to stop shipping to The Republic of Ireland.
This is due to several parcels being returned by Irish Customs with no explanation as to why. We are shipping all over the world 365 days a year and do not have such issues with customs in any country other than ROI.
Customs declarations are always sent full and correct and we have a set default template for declarations, but for some unknown reason Customs in the ROI seem to intermittently deny parcels through, and provide no reason as to why.
With the great expense incurred when refunding orders & shipping when this happens we’ve unfortunately had to halt shipping to The Republic of Ireland (again), with immediate effect.
If you’ve placed an order recently and have received a notification from Irish Customs advising that there is insufficient paperwork and therefore your parcel is being returned to sender – please drop us an email via our Contact Page along with your order number and we will arrange a full refund including shipping costs.
We’re bitterly disappointed to have to halt shipping to our much-loved customers in the ROI however we hope you can appreciate that this decision has not been taken lightly.
We will continue to monitor the situation and again take this up directly with Irish Customs. If & when we receive an update we will update this page.
In the meantime please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.
Super Strength Black Seed Oil - 250ml Bottle
Super Strength Black Seed Oil - 100ml Bottle
Super Strength Black Seed Oil Capsules (Vegan) - Refill Pack
Strong Black Seed Oil Capsules (Vegan) - Max Pack