Gem Imports FAQs | Pound Shop Supplier

A. Our delivery charges are based on pallet rates by our carrier, which are visible on the checkout 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 £2,000 net. For orders between £1,000 and £2,000, shipping is calculated on the basket page.

• Europe - rates for European deliveries are dependent 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 10 pm, Monday to Friday, will be dispatched within two working days. Orders placed on a weekend will be dispatched the following Tuesday.

Please note that some delays may occur during 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 8 am and 6 pm, 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 on pallets, which are shrink-wrapped and fully covered. Whilst every effort is made to deliver orders in immaculate condition, occasionally damage can occur in transit. If you notice 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 equipped with rear tail lifts; therefore, please 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, including your delivery address, are correct, as we cannot be held accountable for any delivery errors caused by incorrect information you have provided.

A. We will not charge VAT on European orders if we are shipping your order directly 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 charge VAT accordingly. Once your order has been shipped from the UK and you provide us with a valid export document that includes an EU VAT-registered number, we will refund the VAT we charged 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 necessary export documentation.

A. No, anyone can buy from our product range, but we do have a minimum order value of £500 excluding VAT.

A. Yes, we do. The minimum order on www.gemimports.co.uk is £500 net (before VAT or delivery charges). You can order as many different products as you want, but each product is sold by the carton, not individually.

A. Unfortunately, not. Our warehouse and logistics systems are designed to process large orders; therefore, all orders are shipped on pallets rather than in individual cartons.

A. No. If a product has assorted colours, styles or designs, you would purchase a mixed carton. We cannot split cartons.

A. We accept all credit and debit cards, and there are no additional fees when paying by credit card. You can also use PayPal or 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 cancellation of your order, and we may charge an administration fee.

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. A member of our sales team will review this, and you will be notified of the outcome. Please be aware that to process your application, we will perform a soft credit check.

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

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

We understand that many of you want to ensure access to products that are not yet in our warehouse, 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, which looks like this..

Pre-order products can only be ordered along with products from the same range. For example, if you want to order your standard replenishment stock for immediate delivery and pre-order from our Christmas range, you will need to place two separate orders. Both orders must meet a net order value of £500.

You cannot mix pre-ordered products with products from other ranges. The £500 minimum order value applies to pre-orders as usual.

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

To keep things simple and avoid mixing in-stock items with pre-orders, we ask that pre-order products be purchased only with other items from the same range. This helps us manage orders smoothly and keep prices competitive 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 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?

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

A. Once we receive an order, it is processed immediately by our warehouse team. We regret that we can only cancel or amend orders under extreme circumstances. Please call us on 01226 395095 or email customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk quoting your name and order number to request this cancellation. 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 the carton level rather than an accounting system that rounds VAT up from individual units.

A. We import all of our products in large quantities so that we can offer them at a discount price. If you want to purchase products in vast quantities, you may be eligible to use our direct import service, whereby we import your products directly from the Far East. The minimum order is a 20ft container. Please contact our customer service team by calling 01226 395095 or emailing customerservice@gem-imports.co.uk to discuss.

A. Yes, 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. Using our product descriptions will damage your search engine optimisation.

A. We do not ship units directly to end customers. We can deliver to any address in the UK, but you must meet our minimum order delivery requirement of £500 net.