|
|
|
What
do I need to know when dealing with Figures ‘n Bits.com
? When I make a special order there are two drop down text boxes. What are these about? Do 1/43 scale figures and details work with 1/48 scale trains and buildings? Some of the images are missing or rather poor. Are you going to do anything about them? Figures ‘n Bits.com is my second model railroading business. About fifteen or sixteen years ago, I had a business to pay for my model railroading addiction. I sold figures and detail parts. As well I had sculpted some figures and had some detail parts I produced available. The core items I sold were the OMEN line of figures in O Scale but the British 1/43 size rather than the American 1/48th scale. I was quite pleased to see these in dioramas at several conventions and in layout pictures in magazines. One happy week in September, my wife gave birth to twins and I began going to school for an MBA. Since both work and the MBA were full time, something had to go and since there was no return address for the twins, it was model railroading. I’ve been involved with miniature figures and scenery during the last ten years. I occasionally picked up a Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette and drooled over the pictures. Whenever my wife saw this she smacked me in the back of the head and that was it for trains. About 6 months ago, I took a good look at the Bachmann On30 line and realized that I could have some nice locomotives for much less than the hundreds of dollars they used to cost. That was that and here I am. I began contacting old suppliers, renewed my addiction for Tom Yorke’s output and began to put together what is now Figures ‘n Bits.com. There was never any question about starting a business. That was half the fun of the last time I was involved with model railroading. So what you have here is my favorite part of model railroading. The people and details that bring things to life. If you ever see me in person and yank my chain, you will hear my standard 20-minute spiel on figures in the hobby. My goal is ultimately for you to come to this web site and find every figure and detail part available in the hobby. I doubt it will ever get that complete, but I’m going to make a good try at it. As well as the figures and such already out there, I will be producing my own line. I have an excellent sculptor who is going to be producing figures. You will like his work. I will also be doing some sculpting and pattern work. I think you will be very exited to see what we have in the pipeline. I will also do my best to link you to every online resource that will help you use these figures and detail parts to achieve the level of realism you want to achieve. Those will be found in the Techniques and Links sections of the site. Techniques will focus on the how. Under links, I will continue to add anything else I find that will help. From historical sites to great modelers.
I have been on eBay for a number of years as ZIPPER34 with 100% positive feedback. I can be trusted and you can believe that that I will be here for a while. I am a small operation. Aside from a sculptor, and myself there are one gecko, three spiders and my lucky rabbits foot involved in the business. The spiders are very unreliable, but I will do everything I can to keep you satisfied. However, I’m only human and expect to make mistakes. When I do, I will do everything I can to resolve it. If you have a problem, please let me know. Don’t bottle it up inside until you explode. To be sure that your email gets the highest priority, use the address of sales@figuresnbits.com. The other accounts I use are personal and the “sales” account raises a flag every time something comes in. It gets my attention first and foremost. I will try to respond to all email within 24 hours. At the outside, 48 hours. If you haven’t heard from me by then, please resend your message. There is one exception to my 24-48 hour rule. I am working out of town and away from home. Every other weekend I am able to spend Friday to Monday with my family. I will try to spend some time working on email, but for that time period I have other priorities.
There are several lessons I learned the last time I did this that I want to apply to the current effort. 1. Customers do not like to order something and find out that it is out of stock. They also do not like to have to wait while a vendor sends off an order for the items they have paid for. With one exception, you will never be permitted to order something that I do not have in stock. When an item is ordered, the shopping cart removes it from stock. When the last of an item is out of stock, then the cart shows this and will not permit someone to order what does not exist. The exception to this rule is Special Orders. The turnover on some items is expected to be rather low. Rather than tie up money stocking these items, I prefer to focus on building up a supply of those items that are popular and adding inventory that I believe will have a high demand. I have access to many items that are not normally in stock and more than happy to provide them to you on an as needed basis. There are several things to remember about purchasing Special Order items. All Special Orders must be paid in advance. There are no exceptions to this policy. When making a special order, you will be presented with a choice of shipment methods. I can either hold your order until all items are in stock and then ship it or I can do a “Split Shipment” and ship what is in stock. When the Special Order item arrives I will then ship it. There is an additional charge for each split. If you have multiple special order items in your purchase, these can each be shipped on arrival (with a charge for each) or I can hold these until all special orders are in stock and then ship all at once for a single charge. Figures ‘n Bits.com places orders with our suppliers on a regular basis. There is enough turnover that normally Special Orders are processed and ordered within a week. All of our suppliers are reliable and honest. They normally ship items they have in stock within a week of receiving an order. However, some items may be out of stock awaiting casting or other issues. Figures ‘n Bits.com can make no guarantees regarding shipping dates. I will give you my best estimate, but cannot do more than that. I do ask for your patience. While your special order is outstanding, I will communicate with you via email at least once a week and as situations change. At any time I will be pleased to refund your special order via check or credit.
2. Customers do not like to wait and wonder what is going on with their order. To be sure that your email gets the highest priority, use the address of sales@figuresnbits.com. The other accounts I use are personal and the “sales” account raises a flag every time something comes in. It gets my attention first and foremost. I will try to respond to all email within 24 hours. At the outside, 48 hours. If you haven’t heard from me by then, please resend your message. There is one exception to my 24-48 hour rule. I am working out of town and away from home. Every other weekend I am able to spend Friday to Monday with my family. I will try to spend some time working on email, but for that time period I have other priorities. The up side is that the remaining time, I’m in an apartment with little else to do but play with trains and run this store. The Internet makes this much easier. If you have an email account listed, you will be notified that the system has logged your order. When I ship the order, you will be notified as well. If there is a problem with your order, the shopping cart will flag the order and I will communicate with you concerning what is happening. Finally, when I special order something for you, I will contact you at least weekly to keep you up to date on what is happening. I also respond to the regular postal mail, but you need to remember that the speed of the postman doesn’t compare with that of the Internet and your questions or issues will take much longer to resolve.
Do I have to use PayPal to pay for my order? Not at all. When checking out, PayPal will give you the choice of paying by Check or Money Order or. Selecting Check or Money Order will result in an email invoice with the mailing address for your payment. Your order will be shipped on receipt of a money order or once a personal check is cleared. The simplest way is using a PayPal account. If you have one, select PayPal and log in to your account following the instructions. If you prefer to pay by credit card, select PayPal and when you see the choice labeled "If you do not currently have a PayPal account Click Here", make that selection. After making the choice, add the information that is requested. You WILL NOT be creating or using a PayPal account when you do this. This will be a straight credit card purchase. At the end of the transaction, you will be given the opportunity to create a PayPal account, but will not be required to do so. IMPORTANT! If you use a credit card only, be sure to make the selection that returns you to Figures 'n Bits.com, otherwise shipment of your order may be delayed.
Special Orders The turnover on some items is expected to be rather low. Rather than tie up money stocking these items, I prefer to focus on building up a supply of those items that are popular and adding inventory that I believe will have a high demand. I do have access to many items that are not normally in stock and more than happy to provide them to you on an as needed basis. There are several things to remember about purchasing Special Order items. All Special Orders must be paid in advance. There are no exceptions to this policy. When making a special order, you will be presented with a choice of shipment methods. I can either hold your order until all items are in stock and then ship it or I can do a “Split Shipment” and ship what is in stock. When the Special Order item arrives I will then ship it. There is an additional charge
for each split. If you have multiple special order items in your purchase,
these can each be shipped on arrival (with a charge for each) or I can
hold these until all special orders are in stock and then ship all at
once for a single charge. These are items sold by our suppliers that we do not currently maintain in stock. The extensive number of items available makes keeping all of them in stock difficult. The difference between an item that is a Special Order and one that is labeled as Future Stock is that as Figures ‘n Bits.com grows, I will extend my stock and add items listed as Future Stock to the inventory of normal stock. They will be available for regular orders. For the present, I do not intend to keep a stock on hand of Special Order items. Until then we will list them
in this manner. These items
are available as Special Orders. All
Special Orders must be paid in advance. There are no exceptions to this
policy. There is an additional charge for each split. If you have multiple special order items in your purchase, these can each be shipped on arrival (with a charge for each) or I can hold these until all special orders are in stock and then ship all at once for a single charge. Figures
‘n Bits.com places orders with our suppliers on a regular basis. There
is enough turnover that normally Special Orders are processed and ordered
within a week. All of our suppliers are reliable and honest. They normally
ship items they have in stock within a week of receiving an order. However,
some items may be out of stock awaiting casting or other issues.
We have no control over this.
When I make a special order there are two drop down text boxes. What are these about? The “Available Options:” boxes that show are these:
I Agree: Have not read but I DO accept terms of Special Orders Have read and I AGREE to the terms of Special Orders
When making a special order there are some things that you need to remember. These can be found by clicking the “Special Order Information” link. It is your responsibility to do this. This box is my way of making sure that whether or not you read the terms, you know that they bind you.
Shipping Method: Hold Until Order Is Complete Split Shipment (+$5.00)
This is where you make the choice of shipment methods for your special orders. When making a special order, you will be presented with a choice of shipment methods. I can either hold your order until all items are in stock and then ship it or I can do a “Split Shipment” and ship what is in stock. When the Special Order item arrives I will then ship it. There is an additional charge for each split. If you have multiple special order items in your purchase, these can each be shipped on arrival (with a charge for each) or I can hold these until all special orders are in stock and then ship all at once for a single charge. If you want to split the shipment, but have your special orders held until they are all in, you only need to make this choice for one of the items. If you want them shipped as they arrive, you will need to pay for this option for each item.
Do 1/43 scale figures and details work with 1/48 scale trains and buildings? "Some
figures on the market are little better than blobs, with blank Trevor Marshall Trevor says it all. Many of the dioramas I have seen winning the prizes at the conventions include 1/43 scale figures. The key is how it is done. They are very useful for forcing perspective. This works by keeping them in the foreground. This is where they belong. They are for the most part far more finely sculpted than most of the 1/48th scale stuff on the market. Don’t place them next to 1/48th scale cars and figures. The amazing thing is that they look more natural next to structures than 1/48th scale figures. The eye and brain just seem to prefer it. Many modelers use 1/43rd scale vehicles all the time. They do it without thinking. Using the same level of care, figures in this scale work very well on American 1/48th scale layouts. |
|
| Figures
'n Bits.com P.O. Box 4132 Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4132 
|
© Figures 'n Bits.com 2004
|
|
