This week we thought it might be helpful to take a look at the main delivery points to note when it comes to ordering general stationary office supplies from the main online office suppliers. Why, you may ask, is knowledge about delivery services of office suppliers important?

Well in the past you may have ordered a bargain online but have lost all the profit or worse spent more on delivery charges. Or miscalculated when the delivery arrives and missed the deliveryman and your order. By being aware of the delivery times and hidden charges you can (A) determine the delivery dates and arrange for someone to be around to sign for the delivery on the day it arrives and (B) manage your orders to the point where you can organize in bulk deliveries that are free of charge,

Being aware of what to expect with calculating delivery times, extra costs etc. when it comes to delivery services with different office suppliers can be a good thing to know, so with that in mind we have looked at different websites and gathered some information important delivery notes when it comes to general stationary supplies.

Standard delivery charges – for items priced below the stated free delivery rates (75 euro or 60 in some cases (see below)), different office suppliers charge different rates: Viking direct – €5.00, Abbey Office Supplies – €8.99, File one Office Supplies – €7.50, Officespot – fixed rate of €6.50 applies. All of these charges exclude VAT.

Free Delivery services – Most office suppliers offer free delivery services if your orders cost over a certain amount which varies from supplier to supplier. For instance Viking Direct, Abbey Office Supplies, File one Office Supplies, Kellyofficesupplies  all offer free delivery for items over 75 euros while Officespot offers free delivery for items over 60 euros.

Delivery Times – Most office suppliers will deliver the items within working times between 9-5pm or in some cases before 5:30pm.

Delivery days – Delivery times vary with Vikingdirect – for the Dublin 1-24 and 6W areas items are usually delivered on the same day as ordered – for areas outside these region they promise next day delivery service, File one – state 1-2 working days with 99% delivered next day if ordered before 4pm, Abbey Office Supplies – 1-2 working days if ordered before 5pm, Kellyofficesupplies – next day delivery, Officespot.ie – dispatched within 24hours but allow for 2-3 working days, Huntoffice – 1-2 working days)

Ordering times to note – Another thing to note when it comes to ordering is the time at which you place your order. In general if one wants the item to be delivered on the following day then ordering before 4pm is a safe enough bet anything after that and the order will be sent the following day as with most posted items. These exact cutoff times vary but the following have been gleaned from the main company websites. Image Office Supplies before 4:30 pm, Hunt Office Supplies before 4:30pm, File one Office Supplies – before 4pm, Abbey Office Supplies before 5pm.

Delivery times for out of stock items – These obviously will vary as these depend on outside forces not within the suppliers control but the following companies have stated their policies. File one Office Supplies helpfully state on their website that they will email a delivery date confirmation – Abbey office supplies also have a policy of contacting customers about out of stock items and their renewed delivery dates, while Hunt Office Supplies have a 25 to 30 Working Days delivery timeline.

Remote Islands– an extra delivery charge may relate.

Other points for customer to be aware of.

There are a few things that one can do to make the delivery process simple and hassle free ,such as (A) being at the stated address at time of delivery or making sure someone is around to sign for it and (B) stating ones’ address clearly on the orderform i.e. when writing address it is important to note every exact detail including the floor in your office so the deliveryman can hand it to you personally to sign off. They two little realised actions can help the delivery to run smoothly.

This  information above only refers to general office supplies,  in later posts we hope to give more information on the conditions for delivery of larger office items such as safes, desk, filing cabinets etc .