OK, we've been thinking, which can be dangerous, but not this time.
We're spending more and more time making plugs, which is still fab and lovely and all that, but it's now come to the point where we can't fit it all in with our other commitments. Something needs to give.
And my work contract ends at the end of March. So there was a bit of a choice to face here -- sign on and probably stack shelves as Tesco to keep it all ticking along on a hobby basis, or become a full-time business. We've decided to risk going for the business, and we will be starting our trading proper on 2 April 2012.
What does this mean for you? Let's do this horrible stuff first. There would be ~£1.50 price rise -- to put it into perspective, what you'll be paying for a pair of plugs will be around the material costs and a cup of coffee (nice coffee).
Postage will either go up or down, depending where you are, to a £2.95 flat rate. UK orders over £20 will be free, and International orders over £25 will be sent by Priority (selected countries only).
This does go against our original project model, which was to provide the world with plugs at cost price. We found it a relaxing hobby, helpful for destressing from our stressful jobs. However, we have far less people participating in this project than we used to and circumstances have forced our hand a bit.
There's good stuff, well, we're making a bigger and better shop that will have more products, wishlists, reward points, Google Checkout, automatic currency conversions and (at some point) the much-requested gift vouchers. We'll also be able to keep more sizes and materials in stock, which will hopefully reduce turnaround time for custom orders. Not only that, but we'll be able to stock lovely plugs by other manufacturers.
It's pretty cool that we've come to this point, as Team Impaler projects normally last about six months before they're given up on -- Project Lovely Plugly has been ticking along for nearly a year now, we've really developed our products and learnt an awful lot about all sorts of things. Including yacht making, which I'm sure will come in handy one day.
tl:dr We're ready to come out of our public beta now, prices will go up, please still love us :)
Love from,
Lovely Plugly
