Gem Imports FAQs | Pound Shop Supplier

A. Our delivery charges are based on pallet rates by our carrier which are visible on the checking out page and on our delivery information page:

• UK Mainland - we offer free delivery on orders over £500 net. 

• Scottish Highlands & Islands - shipping is calculated on the basket page.

• For Channel Islands orders - shipping is calculated on the basket page.

• Northern & Southern Ireland - we offer free delivery on orders over £2000 net. For orders under £2000 (and over £500), shipping is calculated on the basket page.

• Europe - rates for European deliveries are dependant on the size and weight of your order. Please contact us to obtain a quote before placing your order by calling 01226 395095 or by emailing customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk.

A. Orders placed before 10pm, Monday to Friday will be despatched in two working days. Orders placed on a weekend will be despatched the following Tuesday.

Please note some delays will be caused by Bank Holidays.

• On the day that we dispatch your order we will email you with your invoice. Your order will arrive within the following timescales:

• Mainland UK within 3-5 working days

• Scottish Highlands, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and Offshore Islands within 3-5 working days

• Europe within 10 - 14 working days

• Under exceptional circumstances we can allow for a named day delivery, however this incurs a surcharge.

Delivery times are not binding

A. Our courier usually delivers between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. On rare occasions some couriers may deliver outside of this time frame. Unfortunately we are unable to accept requests for specific times or days.

All orders are dispatched by pallets which are shrink wrapped and complete with a top covering. Whilst every effort is made to deliver orders in immaculate condition, occasionally problems can occur in transit. If there are any visible signs of damage to the exterior pallets or cartons, please contact customer service on 01226 395095 or email customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk. Please do not accept the delivery if you suspect significant damage has been caused.

All goods are delivered on trucks that use rear tail lifts, therefore you will need to ensure your desired delivery address has sufficient access for the driver to safely and legally stop to unload the delivery. The driver is not responsible for decanting pallets, therefore you will need to use your own personal equipment where possible, to accept and take goods into your premises. Deliveries must be signed for by an adult aged 18 or over.

Please ensure that all details given including your delivery address are correct, as we cannot be held accountable for any delivery errors that are caused from incorrect details that have been provided by you.

A. We will not charge VAT on European orders if we are shipping your order direct to you in an EU country. You must also provide us with a valid EU VAT registered number. If we are shipping your order to a UK freight forwarder of your choice, or you have arranged for your order to be collected from our premises, we will then charge VAT. Once your order has been shipped out of the UK, and you provide us with a valid export document with an EU VAT registered number, we are then able to refund any VAT charged by us back to you.

A. Your order can be upgraded to be delivered on a named day or on a Saturday, however this will incur a delivery surcharge.

A. We can deliver your order to any UK freight forwarder, who will ship your order to any worldwide destination. However, you would need to arrange your own freight forwarder and pay their costs. You will also be required to complete all the required documentation of export.

A. No, anyone can buy from our product ranges but you must order goods up to the value of our minimum order.

A. Yes we do. The minimum order on www.gem-imports.co.uk is £500 net (before VAT or delivery charges); you can order as many different products as you want but products are sold by the carton and not as individual units.

A. Unfortunately not. Our warehouse and logistics systems are designed to process extremely large orders, therefore all orders are sent by pallets and not individual cartons. 

A. Unfortunately not. If a product has assorted colours, styles or designs, you would purchase a mixed carton. We cannot split cartons, as this would leave our warehouse with a shortfall.

A. We accept all credit and debit cards, and we have no additional fees if paying by credit card. You can also use PayPal or by using a bank transfer (BACS). If paying by BACS we can only dispatch your order once the funds have cleared in our account. This usually takes 5-7 working days. Please note that we require bank transfer payments to be made within 48 hours of receipt of a pro-forma invoice. Any delay in making your payment may result in the order you have place being cancelled and we may issue an administration charge.

A. At any time, you can complete a Gem Imports Credit Application Form. This can be downloaded from your 'My Account Section' of the website. This will be reviewed by a member of our sales team and you will be notified of the outcome. Please be aware that for us to process the application, we will perform a soft search credit check.

A. We are the UK's cheapest online wholesaler and we work hard to provide you with the lowest price we can offer. All the wholesale prices on our website are already discounted.

For certain departments and ranges of products, we have now introduced the ability for you to secure your stock in advance of delivery into our warehouse.

We know that many of you want to be able to guarantee your access to products that aren't in our warehouse yet and this is the way to do it.

Whilst you've always been able to do this through our sales team, you can now do it yourself on this website.

How does it work?

You can Pre-order products that have the Pre-Order badge displayed on them - it looks like this .

Pre-order products can only be ordered along with products from the same range. You can't mix pre-ordered products with products from other ranges. The £500 minimum order value for orders applies to pre-orders as usual.

Why do I have to order pre-order products separately?

We wanted to make Pre-ordering as simple as possible, so as not to cause confusion with mixed orders of different ranges of in-stock and Pre-ordered product. We've made it so that Pre-order products are ordered only with other products from the same range. This also helps us keep our prices at a competitive level for you.

What is Pre-order Pay Later?

We understand that although you might want to secure your stock a long time in advance of the season, you might not always want to pay for it at the time of ordering. For selected Pre-Order ranges we now offer "Pre-order Pay Later" - place your Pre-Order now and we'll only ask for payment closer to the shipping date. 

How do I create a Pre-order?

Simply navigate to the range of products that you are interested in Pre-ordering and look for the Pre-order badge. You can add as many Pre-order products as you wish to your basket but they must:

• All be from the same product range (e.g. all Halloween).
• Have a total basket value of £500 minimum (i.e. our minimum order value of £500 applies to pre-orders too)

Once you have finalised your basket, go to checkout and 1. Either pay as usual or 2. select "PAY ON ACCOUNT" - Selecting this will secure your order without any payment needed until closer to the season. 

Your order will be sent once all items are in stock.

I need help with Pre-ordering.

Please contact our Customer Service team and we'll be happy to help.

A. In order for us to offer a fast and professional service, once an order has been placed, it is immediately picked by our warehouse. Any request for the adding of addition products that we can meet may cause a delay in the  processing of your order and may incur an administration charge. Please call us on 01226 395095 or email us customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk quoting your name and order number to discuss this request.

A. Once an order is received by us, it is processed immediately by our warehouse team. We regret that only under extreme circumstances can we cancel or amend it. Please call us on 01226 395095 or email us customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk quoting your name and order number to request this cancellation and we will do our very best to accommodate your request. If your order has been picked, your request may incur a cancellation charge. Unfortunately, we cannot cancel your order if it has already been shipped.

A. This is a standard industry occurrence and should not cause any problems when you are processing your company accounts and VAT returns. The difference is due to an anomaly in accounting systems where decimal places are rounded up when calculating VAT. Our website calculates VAT at a carton level as opposed to accounting system that rounds VAT up from individual units.

A. We import all of our products in large quantities in order for us to be able to offer them at a discount price. If you are wanting to purchase products in vast quantities, you may be eligble to use our direct import service, whereby we import your products direct from the far east. The minimum order is a 20ft container. Please contact customer service by calling 01226 395095 or emailing customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk to discuss.

A. Yes we do, just call 01226 395095 or email customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk to arrange a visit from one of our sales managers. We also have a showroom in South Yorkshire where you can view our products and receive advice.

A. You are permitted to save our product photography from our website by simply right clicking on the image and selecting 'Save image as'. However, you cannot use our product descriptions. This is because search engines penalise websites that use the same content. If you use our product descriptions it will damage your search engine optimisation.

A. Yes we do, we can drop ship to any UK address. Our drop shipping service is tailored specifically to our customers but you must meet our delivery minimum order of £500 net.