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Shawplan......still trading?


modelman14
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In today's 24/7 culture I think Shawplan operate old school, which I'm very happy to accept. I've always received my goods in a reasonable time by posting my order, or waiting to buy in bulk from an exhibition. I've got a shopping list for Warley.

Once you accept that this is Brian's chosen way of trading, and considering he's a one man band, the quality of the products are always worth the minor inconvenience of purchasing by methods which were once the norm in the 80s and 90s.

Get out to see a local show, Shawplan have always been there at the major ones, and it's always worth a chat with Brian as well.

Neil

 

Taking my shopping list too Neil....dont need any warship plates though....

 

Phil

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Prior to the Wakefield Scale Four Show earlier in the year I emailed Brian regarding picking up 3 sets of N Gauge Class 37/4 nameplates from the show. Within minutes I received a reply and he stated the nameplates would be ready.

 

Two days later I picked up the nameplates from Brian. Really great bloke and great service as well as product.

 

Hang in there you won't be disappointed.

 

Regards,

 

Mark

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However a company is ran,there will always be customers but eventually they will need to adapt to the ever growing online environment or face extinction as the generations change.

Agreed: this is very much the case for established high street names, let alone sole traders!

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And I am in Australia, so I can’t send him a cheque, even if I had one

 

I have ordered plates from narrow planet and they seem to be able to make them in any size. They are great.

 

It's interesting to hear peoples comments about Shawplan and Brian, He's great and when you meet him at shows he couldn't be more helpful. I can understand him not answering the phone all the time, but to ignore emails too I think is wrong. He must lose so much business from not being contactable and its a real shame. Its been touched on already but I agree that his best bet for him would be to let a more established online shop sell his nameplates for a small commission and deal with all the orders and postage. I bet he would be surprised by how many extra orders it generated. If I'm trying to order plates I always look at places I can order online first, usually fox because I don't have time to chase a shop for items. And as its 2018 and the majority of business have stopped taking them, I dont have a cheque book, so posting off a cheque and waiting for goods isn't an option for me.

 

Richard

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Perhaps he has as much work, or more, than he can reasonably cope with and thus doesn’t need any more. I have known of several small/virtually one man businesses in the same situation. That answering a continuous stream of enquiries of one kind or another stops them actually being able to produce their products.

 

I appreciate it’s hard for others to understand the situation that can arise. I used to build locos to commission for a couple of decades and worked solely by word of mouth. When new customers ‘found’ me a common comment was I should advertise. I then had to explain that I already had as much work - more really - as I could deal with, (the waiting time once reached several years).

 

I do know that one much regretted ever having a contactable phone number, this was in the 80/90’s pre online era, getting calls at all hours of the day, and night, 2/3am was not uncommon, ‘ just wondering about my order’ ....... It’s one thing when it’s retailing others products, quite another when you actually produce the goods yourself.

 

Izzy

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Unfortunately I am one of the unlucky few that wanted some plates off Shawplan

 

I have sent 3 emails and phoned numerous times at various times of the week, all no replies. I checked the website and it does ask you to make contact if using paypal (my preferred method) or it paying by cheque contact Brian to check stock availability.

 

I can understand if Brian doesn't want to have his day eaten up by chatting on the phone, remove the number off the website, and only use e,mail responses. If he doesn't want to spend the day answering email enquires, surely make the order facility online. so all he has to do is pack and post.

 

I have also dealt with Precision, Railtec and Narrow Planet both also I believe are one man operations and I cannot praise them highly enough, Service that actually beats me finishing the models!!

 

Brian may well be old school, however I have now gone elsewhere, sadly now prefer not to use Shawplan, If Brian has enough custom fine but with what I have read and through my own experience and others will take my money. I hope he doesn't suffer because of it .

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Unfortunately I am one of the unlucky few that wanted some plates off Shawplan

 

I have sent 3 emails and phoned numerous times at various times of the week, all no replies. I checked the website and it does ask you to make contact if using paypal (my preferred method) or it paying by cheque contact Brian to check stock availability.

 

I can understand if Brian doesn't want to have his day eaten up by chatting on the phone, remove the number off the website, and only use e,mail responses. If he doesn't want to spend the day answering email enquires, surely make the order facility online. so all he has to do is pack and post.

 

I have also dealt with Precision, Railtec and Narrow Planet both also I believe are one man operations and I cannot praise them highly enough, Service that actually beats me finishing the models!!

 

Brian may well be old school, however I have now gone elsewhere, sadly now prefer not to use Shawplan, If Brian has enough custom fine but with what I have read and through my own experience and others will take my money. I hope he doesn't suffer because of it .

Same situation I found myself in.

If Narrow planet plates are as good as I'm expecting,then they will now have any future orders.

I do like Shawplan plates and it's a shame it's came to this,but what else do you do?

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I have no idea of Brian's situation and so I won't speak on his behalf, but all I can offer is an insight of what it's like to establish, run and grow a similarly extremely niche business in the hope it may help shed some light on what some people are experiencing with Shawplan. It's good to see that there are some posts detailing positive experiences.

 

Doing this isn't easy. Far from it. There are multiple moving parts that go on behind the scenes on a daily basis, and unless we've ever been in that exact boat ourselves then there's no reason why we would know what that looks like. I'm sure many of us in Brian's position pour every ounce of ourselves into what we do. The painstaking research, design, endless testing, manufacturing, replenishing of stock, preparing all the orders, the daily queueing at the post office counter to send them all out, the 24/7/365 barrage of emails (500+ a week isn't uncommon in Railtec's case), instant msgs, forum tags, social media tags, txt msgs, working with manufacturers both large and small, working with often very tight deadlines of magazines, TOCs/FOCs & govt organisations, prepping for shows, doing the shows, staying compliant with laws, administering the web site/database, advertising, even dealing with legal matters - it is a never ending hamster wheel. And that's before you even think about finding both the time and mental energy to navigate the inevitable handful of "enthusiastic" types, attention seekers, keyboard warriors and sometimes even venomous individuals that this hobby seems to attract. But we do it because railways and model railways are our true passion. It's the reason specialist suppliers even get started, and I'd say it's about the only reason they survive. (Money does not drive the consistent 80+hr weeks). At the end of most days the head is spinning and the body is exhausted, and chances are we've still not got through everything. If we're lucky we might get to see some rewarding comments for our work or somebody post us a photo of a finished model. Do fun stuff and spend quality time with loved ones? When we can. If somebody told my 18 year-old self that I had to make a living selling etched nameplates or transfers to the model railway industry at £4.50 a throw, I'd have had some serious concerns. Would you do it? Yes it's incredibly frustrating if we don't get a response or are unable to buy a product from a specialist supplier - or anyone for that matter. Strange way to run a business. Don't they want our money? But let's just back up a second and think about it. Specialist suppliers are not box shifters, nor have teams of support agents just waiting to take our calls. They're most likely beavering away working hours that junior doctors wouldn't touch, physically designing and making the product besides just selling it. If there's something that can be improved - tell them, preferably politely like a normal person to their face as that might carry more weight (chances are they may not have resource to monitor forum threads). Take someone on? For admin, maybe, but from my own experience admin is probably <10% of the workload, and if I hired a hot-shot graphic designer (costs passed on, regrettably) I can guarantee my phone would ring every 15 seconds with a question like, "Steve, this customer is asking if this class 37 pack for 1974 should have the early OHL flashes or later flashes... what's a 37?" Cue shotgun.  :hunter:  That's what it comes down to.

What I'm saying is that we should encourage awareness of just how a hugely versatile cross section of our hobby actually functions, just how thinly it is spread, how specialist products and services offered by so relatively few people constitutes a disproportionate volume and variety of what we consume, and it's the reason why when we go to shows that it's not just a string of box shifters. Anyone who's seen specialist supplier stands at Warley will get a good visual representation of what we're up against: a couple of us behind the stand and several thousand modellers in the hall. We want to help as many people as we possibly can but there's only so much we can physically do and when something doesn't work out as we might want it to, there's probably a very human reason why.

 

Right, back to put my feet up after I've taken the Porsche for a spin. Or rather, had my chauffeur take me for a spin :read:

Edited by railtec-models
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Right, back to put my feet up after I've taken the Porsche for a spin. Or rather, had my chauffeur take me for a spin :read:

 

It's a right pain moving the Veyron and the Mullinan first though isn't it Steve?!

 

An excellent and insightful (sic) post, should be sent to all customers of small companies as terms and conditions.

 

Mike.

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I have no idea of Brian's situation and so I won't speak on his behalf, but all I can offer is an insight of what it's like to establish, run and grow a similarly extremely niche business in the hope it may help shed some light on what some people are experiencing with Shawplan. It's good to see that there are some posts detailing positive experiences.

 

Doing this isn't easy. Far from it. There are multiple moving parts that go on behind the scenes on a daily basis, and unless we've ever been in that exact boat ourselves then there's no reason why we would know what that looks like. I'm sure many of us in Brian's position pour every ounce of ourselves into what we do. The painstaking research, design, endless testing, manufacturing, replenishing of stock, preparing all the orders, the daily queueing at the post office counter to send them all out, the 24/7/365 barrage of emails (500+ a week isn't uncommon in Railtec's case), instant msgs, forum tags, social media tags, txt msgs, working with manufacturers both large and small, working with often very tight deadlines of magazines, TOCs/FOCs & govt organisations, prepping for shows, doing the shows, staying compliant with laws, administering the web site/database, advertising, even dealing with legal matters - it is a never ending hamster wheel. And that's before you even think about finding both the time and mental energy to navigate the inevitable handful of "enthusiastic" types, attention seekers, keyboard warriors and sometimes even venomous individuals that this hobby seems to attract. But we do it because railways and model railways are our true passion. It's the reason specialist suppliers even get started, and I'd say it's about the only reason they survive. (Money does not drive the consistent 80+hr weeks). At the end of most days the head is spinning and the body is exhausted, and chances are we've still not got through everything. If we're lucky we might get to see some rewarding comments for our work or somebody post us a photo of a finished model. Do fun stuff and spend quality time with loved ones? When we can. If somebody told my 18 year-old self that I had to make a living selling etched nameplates or transfers to the model railway industry at £4.50 a throw, I'd have had some serious concerns. Would you do it? Yes it's incredibly frustrating if we don't get a response or are unable to buy a product from a specialist supplier - or anyone for that matter. Strange way to run a business. Don't they want our money? But let's just back up a second and think about it. Specialist suppliers are not box shifters, nor have teams of support agents just waiting to take our calls. They're most likely beavering away working hours that junior doctors wouldn't touch, physically designing and making the product besides just selling it. If there's something that can be improved - tell them, preferably politely like a normal person to their face as that might carry more weight (chances are they may not have resource to monitor forum threads). Take someone on? For admin, maybe, but from my own experience admin is probably <10% of the workload, and if I hired a hot-shot graphic designer (costs passed on, regrettably) I can guarantee my phone would ring every 15 seconds with a question like, "Steve, this customer is asking if this class 37 pack for 1974 should have the early OHL flashes or later flashes... what's a 37?" Cue shotgun.  :hunter:  That's what it comes down to.

 

What I'm saying is that we should encourage awareness of just how a hugely versatile cross section of our hobby actually functions, just how thinly it is spread, how specialist products and services offered by so relatively few people constitutes a disproportionate volume and variety of what we consume, and it's the reason why when we go to shows that it's not just a string of box shifters. Anyone who's seen specialist supplier stands at Warley will get a good visual representation of what we're up against: a couple of us behind the stand and several thousand modellers in the hall. We want to help as many people as we possibly can but there's only so much we can physically do and when something doesn't work out as we might want it to, there's probably a very human reason why.

 

Right, back to put my feet up after I've taken the Porsche for a spin. Or rather, had my chauffeur take me for a spin :read:

 

Thank you for a very interesting post. Perhaps I can share one from a manufacturer who took a very different route but ended up with possibly similar results!

 

Years ago we reached a point where we were spending so much time answering phone calls and responding to emails and doing shows, at the expense of a significant amount of product-creation work, so we took the decision to change more or less completely to being an online company, including giving up shows. We also serve the military modelling/aircraft market and so more than half of our orders were going overseas anyway.

 

To do this successfully, it is in my view absolutely essential that you link your stock levels to your web site, so that you never get orders for something you haven't got. We also did not want to operate a back-order system - hassle for both the supplier and the customer IMHO. We then added the shopping cart facility and a virtual card terminal + PayPal facilities.

 

All this has costs of course, and we have to endure quarterly scans by the card payment provider's agent, in order to test the integrity of the site. It is not an overnight job to set it all up and there is quite a 'pain barrier' to go through + you have to have all your stock packed and ready to go and carry higher quantities of it, since we try to send out all orders with 24 hours, or 48 at the most. Try keeping an American waiting for several weeks for his order and see what kind of reaction you get!

 

However - it worked. The phone calls virtually stopped overnight and most of the emails too. We obviously answer any enquiry emails, but with most things explained on the web site, we don't get many of those either. All emails that relate to orders placed are fully automated and the web site knows the weight of every product, adds it up at checkout and works out the postage when the customer enters their shipping country. At that point it will also deduct the VAT if it is a non-EU sale.

 

I think we made this decision based upon our own preferences for online shopping. It is just so much easier if you can 'add to basket' and go to the check out! Also, as has been said on this thread, increasingly people will insist on shopping this way. The thought of writing out a cheque and posting it off would frighten most of them to death. I will do it for something I really want, but it always makes me pause to see if I really want the item that much.

 

Anyway, the outcome is possibly not that different, in that it doesn't make the market for specialist items and kits any larger! But for this very reason, you do not want to do anything to stand in the way of making it easier for the customer to place an order! The one positive outcome of running the business through a stock-level linked online store though, is that it completely avoids the risk of having an RMWeb thread like this one devoted to you. Attention you do not need!

 

David Parkins

Modern Motive Power

www.djparkins.com

Edited by djparkins
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I agree David - I think real time stock levels and order automation should be a given. Without that, it risks being old school and puts a seamless customer experience at risk. I'm not sure if Shawplan stock levels are linked to the web site, or even if it's possible to place an order on the Shawplan web site. If it isn't, then somebody may want to diplomatically ask if it's been considered when they see him (we share a couple of shows but I scarcely get time to go to the loo, let alone socialise away from the stand). I'd hate to think what the fall-out might be if every single order had to be emailed or phoned in, and if it's not linked in then perhaps that could be the source of some of the frustration. But at the same time, there should be an understanding that implementing that technology and those processes can be expensive, not just in terms of making the technology work (particularly if you have to pay someone to do it), but equally in time. Also quite daunting too if somebody isn't technically minded. Ok it would be a short term investment to be recouped over time, but even so, it's a flip side to think about particularly if you're operating on small margins to boot.

 

I think there could perhaps be one subtle difference though David in your line of products (which I understand a number of my customers enjoy using), and the likes of nameplates, transfers and other smaller detail, and it could be a signficant contributor to the endless crippling tides (or not) of incoming emails and phonecalls. I know little to nothing about kit manufacturing but by its very nature might it be reasonable to assume that the scope for new product is far smaller and hence far fewer people making contact along the lines of, "Can you do X", or "This new livery/name has just been released, can you do that?" Constant changes in the railway scene contribute to probably around 200 new product lines a year of the ~400 I release. If we were still in BR blue days then I'm sure there would be vastly fewer "can you do or will you be doing" type emails and it would free up so much more time to get stuck into some of the items from previous eras. It wouldn't surprise me if Brian got equally hounded with requests for newly named locos, the designs of which seem to be getting ever more ornate, requiring more time to design and test.

Edited by railtec-models
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A fellow rmwebber who tried to order from Shawplan a while ago via email but got no response so he asked me to try and get them at a show. Unfortunately at the stand I was told to email for the items. I have tried to order custom plates but got no joy so went elsewhere and had them within days albeit decal type but they were fine for N scale.

Edited by roundhouse
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Thank you for a very interesting post. Perhaps I can share one from a manufacturer who took a very different route but ended up with possibly similar results!

 

Years ago we reached a point where we were spending so much time answering phone calls and responding to emails and doing shows, at the expense of a significant amount of product-creation work, so we took the decision to change more or less completely to being an online company, including giving up shows. We also serve the military modelling/aircraft market and so more than half of our orders were going overseas anyway.

 

To do this successfully, it is in my view absolutely essential that you link your stock levels to your web site, so that you never get orders for something you haven't got. We also did not want to operate a back-order system - hassle for both the supplier and the customer IMHO. We then added the shopping cart facility and a virtual card terminal + PayPal facilities.

 

All this has costs of course, and we have to endure quarterly scans by the card payment provider's agent, in order to test the integrity of the site. It is not an overnight job to set it all up and there is quite a 'pain barrier' to go through + you have to have all your stock packed and ready to go and carry higher quantities of it, since we try to send out all orders with 24 hours, or 48 at the most. Try keeping an American waiting for several weeks for his order and see what kind of reaction you get!

 

However - it worked. The phone calls virtually stopped overnight and most of the emails too. We obviously answer any enquiry emails, but with most things explained on the web site, we don't get many of those either. All emails that relate to orders placed are fully automated and the web site knows the weight of every product, adds it up at checkout and works out the postage when the customer enters their shipping country. At that point it will also deduct the VAT if it is a non-EU sale.

 

I think we made this decision based upon our own preferences for online shopping. It is just so much easier if you can 'add to basket' and go to the check out! Also, as has been said on this thread, increasingly people will insist on shopping this way. The thought of writing out a cheque and posting it off would frighten most of them to death. I will do it for something I really want, but it always makes me pause to see if I really want the item that much.

 

Anyway, the outcome is possibly not that different, in that it doesn't make the market for specialist items and kits any larger! But for this very reason, you do not want to do anything to stand in the way of making it easier for the customer to place an order! The one positive outcome of running the business through a stock-level linked online store though, is that it completely avoids the risk of having an RMWeb thread like this one devoted to you. Attention you do not need!

 

David Parkins

Modern Motive Power

www.djparkins.com

 

.....and very efficient your website and ordering is, David!! Just one happy customer!

 

Regards, Deano.

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I think there could perhaps be one subtle difference though David in your line of products (which I understand a number of my customers enjoy using), and the likes of nameplates, transfers and other smaller detail, and it could be a signficant contributor to the endless crippling tides (or not) of incoming emails and phonecalls. I know little to nothing about kit manufacturing but by its very nature might it be reasonable to assume that the scope for new product is far smaller and hence far fewer people making contact along the lines of, "Can you do X", or "This new livery/name has just been released, can you do that?"

 

 Yes -  I do take your point - but around six-hundred kits, sets and packs over four ranges do require constant stock monitoring and renewal - especially when they range in price from £1.50 to over £300.00. Lots of casting too!

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I would just like to make it clear that when I started this thread with a simple ' is shawplan still trading' it was not to end up dragging Shawplan through the mud.

It was a genuine enquiry regarding the lack of response from Shawplan based on the excellent previous service I have received from Shawplan.

There is some interesting reading through the thread and I would also like to take the opportunity to praise Railtec and djparkins,two other companies I have recently used and am more than happy with the service and products received.

Keep up the great work guys.

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Guest teacupteacup

I've contacted Shawplan a few times, successfully in all cases.

 

I never phone, thats my choice.  Mainly because the only time I can call is in the evening, and to me that is out of normal working hours.

 

When I send an email I make sure the subject line states "Order Enquiry" and put the reference number of the product.

 

I'll state how many Im looking for, and if they are in stock then I would pay via paypal.

 

I've always had a response saying yes (not had any not in stock yet!) with a paypal invoice, once I pay that then the stuff arrives through my door in a few days.

 

Maybe Im lucky contacting him at quieter times, I do try make sure that what Im looking for wont hold up a project, and indeed unless I can get the parts I need, I wont make the commitment to starting a project.

 

I do agree that a fully automated online facility with live stock levels would help matters for Brian

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I e-mailed Brian a few weeks ago to ask for a price for a bunch of nameplates and he e-mailed that he was away... then I sent a reminder a week or two later. He e-mailed back with a Paypal link. The parcel should be on its way to the US now.

 

So, Shawplan is definitely still trading, but I think being away, being busy and having more to do is causing the slow responses these days.

 

I agree Brian has been quicker in the past, but I love the nameplate quality and am not in any big hurry. I also agree that a modern internet shopfront would speed up ordering and paying - but In any case someone has to be around to pack and ship!

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