FAQs

We've been selling plastic rod, sheet and tube online as theplasticshop.co.uk since 2004.
theplasticshop.co.uk is a trading name of Gilbert Curry Industrial Plastics Company Limited. Our company registration number is 1644094 and we were established over 30 years ago in 1982.

During normal working hours Monday to Friday - we aim to reply to all emails within 12 hours. If you need an urgent response, please Live Chat with us, or call us.

For convenience, most items generally display an excluding and including VAT price. Where only one price is displayed this is EXCLUDING VAT, and VAT will be added at the current rate when items are added to your basket. A VAT breakdown will be displayed on the checkout page. If you have a VAT exemption certificate, or are ordering from outside the UK - please contact us to discuss your requirements. Our VAT registration number is GB307699917.

All internet orders must be paid for when you place your order. We accept payment by credit or debit card. All card transactions are processed through our 100% secure payment provider PayPal. For other payment options eg bank transfer, cheque, please contact us by telephone to process your order. Existing customers can apply for a credit account which can also be used to make online purchases.

We are happy to open credit accounts for schools, colleges, universities and government departments when supported by official purchase orders. We have an MOD Supplier Code for direct purchases. Please email your official purchase order quoting the online prices - or contact the sales office to discuss your requirements.

Generally stock items are despatched within 3 to 5 working days depending on any cutting requirements. Some product pages may specify additional lead times. For all orders - including non-stock items - we will confirm exact lead time when we send you our official order acknowledgement. If you have a particularly urgent requirement, please contact us so that we can ensure we can meet with your expectation.

Click here for more information about our carriage & packing charges

We use our own transport, together with preferred carriers to ensure we can deliver to every part of the UK and Europe. We also have shipping partners around the world enabling us to deliver our products around the globe. Our website can only process orders being delivered to UK addresses - for all non-UK deliveries please contact us by telephone to process your order.

Your order will be packed with the appropriate amount of packaging required to protect your order whilst in transit. Typically, items are packed according to the type of material and the size of the item (eg. In bubble wrap, cardboard sheet, cardboard tubes etc). For particularly heavy, or large and fragile items - including Perspex sheet - your order may be delivered on a wooden pallet. You may be required to assist with offloading your delivery. At this time, all items of packaging are non-returnable. Please advise us at time of order if our method of packaging/delivery may not suitable for you so that we can try and arrange alternative methods.

We have a trade counter which is open Monday thru' Friday, where you can come and collect your order or take a look at our range of materials before you buy. Please be aware that a packing charge may still apply for collections, depending on material ordered and method of collection. For a map click here

Prices displayed on our website are, we believe, competitive. However, we recognise that our competitors may offer special prices which occasionally beat our published prices. Please see our Price Promise for further details. We also offer a standard online discount for orders over a particular value - this advertised discount will be automatically deducted at checkout. For volume or contract discounts, please contact the sales office to discuss your requirements.

There is a minimum order value of £5.00 excluding carriage & VAT for all online purchases.

Yes, you can order up to 3 samples of our most requested items online. Due to the volume of sample requests, there is a small administration charge of £5.00 for this service. This cost is refundable should you subsequently order a previously sampled material. Samples normally take a couple of days to be processed - if you need it urgently, please call us and let us know. We reserve the right to reject multiple sample orders. Click here to order samples online.

All of our materials are sold as semi-finished products. This means that thickness and diameters quoted are generally oversize to allow for subsequent machining. Similarly, standard sheet sizes and diameter lengths quoted are for indication purposes only and are normally the minimum manufactured size you can expect. Manufacturing tolerances of individual materials can normally be found on each product page, or alternatively contact the sales office for confirmation BEFORE you place your order. Returns due to material supplied within normal manufacturing tolerances will not be accepted under any circumstances.

Our industry standard cutting tolerances for cut pieces are:
Sheet: +/-1mm
Rod: -1/+3mm
Tube: -1/+3mm

Our standard tolerance for machining, CNC routing, laser cutting or water-jet cutting is +/-1mm.

If you require specific tolerances - please contact the sales office to discuss your requirements.

All products listed on theplasticshop.co.uk are normally available from our UK and European stock facilities. If, on receipt of your order, the exact size, thickness, diameter or colour you require is not available for some reason, we will contact you to offer the closest possible alternative. Your order will only be processed if you are happy to proceed.

Click for a summary of our returns policy, or see our full Terms & Conditions of Sale

Click for a summary of our returns policy, or see our full Terms & Conditions of Sale

On rare occasions, some customers may experience problems ordering online or navigating around our site. We're really sorry if you are having difficulty - please contact the sales office to discuss your requirements.

If you would like more detailed information, pricing information, or have any other question about any of our products and services - drop us an email, or call us and we'll be happy to help click here.