The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: ellied on March 08, 2013, 10:53:27 am

Title: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: ellied on March 08, 2013, 10:53:27 am
Following on from discussion in another thread, I spent 2 hours researching the internet for the best price for egg boxes and am very confused  ??? as some sites are including VAT, others exclude them, one excludes VAT then gives a 20% discount, the bulk box rate is obviously far better than low numbers and since one use only I suppose I'd get through hundreds eventually, but then you get to the order and they've added postage or excluded central Scotland except at extra charges..  I am tearing my hair out!

And then there are labels, some offer with labels, some I wouldn't want, some offer separate labels..

And a few trays would be nice but I don't need 100, maybe 4 or 5 but if I order them individually and go for plastic so I can hopefully put them through the dishwasher and not have to be chucking them after each use, then I'm trying to find an overall best supplier plus one I can rely on to deliver..

So I thought, why not ask what you do and who you'd be happy enough to recommend. 

And if I bought in a bulk order would anyone nearby enough to collect/meet up be interested in sharing it?
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: colliewoman on March 08, 2013, 10:55:15 am
I can't hep with egg boxes hun, but ask any cafe that does a breakfast and in my experience they will GIVE you as many trays as they have :thumbsup: (the large square jobs).
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: ZaktheLad on March 08, 2013, 11:05:52 am
I get my egg boxes from Wilkinson online store - just ordinary grey cardboard boxes but they are good and strong - think I paid £1 for 6.   They do a range of chicken related items so you might find the labels etc there too. 
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: taz08 on March 08, 2013, 11:19:20 am
i get them from ebay
300 for £22
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181004291899?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181004291899?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649)


lables i get printed for me  i can look for the name if you want it
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: Dan on March 08, 2013, 11:51:19 am
Ah, we can beat that.  :)

The TAS shop is a work in progress but here's a sneak preview:

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/shop/standard-half-dozen-egg-boxes-300/ (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/shop/standard-half-dozen-egg-boxes-300/)
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: ZaktheLad on March 08, 2013, 12:01:53 pm
That's "Eggs"cellent Dan, but would you also be able to supply in smaller quantities as I only have 9 hens but would definately be interested in ordering from you in future.
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: Rosemary on March 08, 2013, 12:23:03 pm
That's "Eggs"cellent Dan, but would you also be able to supply in smaller quantities as I only have 9 hens but would definately be interested in ordering from you in future.

We don't supply - we just show who stocks what at what price - you click through direct to the retailer.

That 300 quantity is just an example - more quantities going on later today.
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: Tudful Tamworths on March 08, 2013, 12:56:28 pm
Very useful, Dan. Have you come across any good suppliers of freezer-proof printed labels, for meat joints?
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: Dan on March 08, 2013, 01:11:58 pm
Very useful, Dan. Have you come across any good suppliers of freezer-proof printed labels, for meat joints?

Lakeland sell freezer labels that actually work (i.e. stay on in the freezer but peel off easily), and there are loads of cheap sellers on eBay:

http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/shop/freezer-labels/ (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/shop/freezer-labels/)
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: ellied on March 08, 2013, 03:38:09 pm
Thanks Dan, I had a look but the cheapest at £15.50 via Ebay were collect only so the free postage was a bit misleading.

I found 300 on P&T for £15.79 and 462 on Alphahatch for £19.50 as the cheapest bulk options, got right through to an order on Alphahatch before I realised they'd not mentioned the £8-9 postage on top which then made them more than the ones I'd found on Ebay and Amazon already.  I gave up cursing at that point..

Colliewoman I have one from that kind of source, and a few larger egg boxes I use, but from the post I read, if you can't re-use any egg boxes then re-using the trays would seem similarly excluded :(  My existing customers have no qualms bringing back boxes every time but the discussion suggested I could be breaking regs by doing so in case contamination occurred between batches/clients..  I thought the plastic trays might pass by being washable, but tho I can find them for just over £1 each, by the time you pay postage they're double that and I was hoping to get everything from one place for a good, if not free, postage rate..

I will keep looking and check out Wilkinson etc, thanks :)
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: Dan on March 08, 2013, 05:06:41 pm
Thanks Dan, I had a look but the cheapest at £15.50 via Ebay were collect only so the free postage was a bit misleading.

Ah, thanks for that, I think we can filter out collect only items, will look into it.

I found 300 on P&T for £15.79 and 462 on Alphahatch for £19.50 as the cheapest bulk options, got right through to an order on Alphahatch before I realised they'd not mentioned the £8-9 postage on top which then made them more than the ones I'd found on Ebay and Amazon already.  I gave up cursing at that point..


That's one of the problems we're trying to help with - transparency over postage costs which are often crippling and make what seems a good deal not so great.
Title: Re: Suppliers for egg boxes, trays and labels
Post by: ellied on March 09, 2013, 12:34:11 pm
That's one of the problems we're trying to help with - transparency over postage costs which are often crippling and make what seems a good deal not so great.

Tell me about it - I thought I'd sussed the best deal with 300 and free postage from your listed ebay sellers, they even sell trays in packs of 10 but they wanted £2.75 postage for the trays - I contacted them to see if they'd combine the two items under the one free postage, and the reply seems to agree to reduced postage for combining but doesn't specify whether reduced to zero..  Waiting clarification..

Meantime try the timber garden shed ads if you want really misleading - the cheapest one I nearly ordered was £129 and free postage - yay I thought, but the small print shows it comes without any floor or base whatsoever, and without roofing felt..  Bargain?  I thought not, tho I might have put a few tin sheets I have on the roof either instead or as well as the felt to try and prevent the dreaded red mites taking up residence in the felt I have to admit I did feel a little peeved at the seller's methods of appearing the best buy.. ::)