Forum Sponsors

[DethApostle]

Afternoon all,

I've had a bought of thriftiness come over me (don't worry, it won't last!) and it got me thinking, do we get a preferential rate/discount from the THBF forum sponsors?
Or is it more that we are encouraged to use them because their sponsorship helps keep THBF up and running, although their prices are really not much different to other suppliers that are available?

I've always (up to now) used Brew UK for my orders but they seem to be getting a bit hit & miss recently so am starting to look around! Any recommendations will be gratefully received too!

Cheers
DA

 

[ScottM]

I made a shopping cart area on my homebrewbuddy site. You add the items to your cart and it tells you the total cost from a range of suppliers. All pricing is manually added/updated but I try to keep on top of it.

http://www.homebrewbuddy.co.uk

Sign up and give it a go, I use it for every order I make now :)

 

[Pearlfisher]

I've always had first class service from our sponsors The Homebrew Company and their Full Extract kits make the finest ales I've made yet.

 

[31bb3]

the sponsors do invest into the running of the forum .their prices are generally very competetive and their service is also very good

 

[PD]

correction to that......

their service I've found to be excellent ...all of them.

 

[BicesterTerrier]

I had too wondered if there were better rates anywhere, although couldn't see anything. However, I used Ballihoo for my latest order and delivery charge and speed was better than my previous supplier, will use them again! :thumb:

 

[ScottM]

The Home Brew Company
Ballliihoo
Ebay
Brew2Bottle
Art of Brewing
The Hop Shop
The Home Brew Shop
Dorset Homebrew
Inn House Brewery
The Malt Miller


I float between the above depending what I am after, really good service from all of them to be honest. Some are a little more expensive with delivery than others (I believe Art of Brewing is generally the cheapest delivery with the lowest "free delivery" threshold). I use Inn House Brewery when I'm out and about as it's my local HBS. Ebay is fairly good for 1 off items.

I really need to get the finger out and add the malt miller to my program, haven't gotten round to it yet.

 

[Pearlfisher]

I've always had first class service from our sponsors The Homebrew Company and their Full Extract kits make the finest ales I've made yet.

Just received their newsletter and they've 5% off everything this week

 

[oldjiver]

For AG The Malt Miller seems unbeatable!

 

[calumscott]

We did have a discount with someone I think...

But as others have said, the sponsors do effectively pay for the upkeep of the forum. However, it is the fact that we know that they offer awesome service that makes them outstanding.

 

[graysalchemy]

The other thing with forum sponsors is that they are tried and tested and we know from experience that they are not going to rip you off (unlike some companies in the past). The fact that we have shops cuing up to sponsor this site means that site sponsors are kept on their toes to provide good prices and service as collectively we do spend a lot of money with them.

Being in business myself and previously owning a specialist retail business, one thing I always asked when a customer said 'Oh but Joe Blogs gives 20 %' I would say 20% of what :hmm: :hmm: companies add it on to take it off and sometimes add more to take off less.

Personally I would prefer good honest prices coupled with excellent service which we know we get from our sponsors. :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

We did have a discount with someone I think...

We did/do it's with forum sponsors Easy Home Brew :thumb:

 

[Algernon]

Am I alone in paying a lot more attention to the sponsor links at the top of the page and far less to the ones at the bottom of the page?
I barely noticed those links down there... oops.

 

[Vossy1]

Am I alone in paying a lot more attention to the sponsor links at the top of the page and far less to the ones at the bottom of the page?
I barely noticed those links down there... oops.

So you haven't noticed that when you reply to any subject the bottom forum sponsors are virtually centre screen on submission :hmm:

 

[Algernon]

Now I must reply to check that...

[edit] I think the difference is that when they pop up mid screen it is, as you say, just after I have been commenting. This means I am usually not thinking about buying stuff. It was only a personal observation really, I wondered if anyone else felt there was any difference between the upper ads and lower ones. It may well just be the way my brain works (or doesn't, of course).

 

[Pakman]

For AG The Malt Miller seems unbeatable!

I just got 25Kg of Maris (plus other grain) from Rob. A good price, better than my previous supplier. Luckily I was working near Didcot, so could pick it up, so I ordered the day before. Excellent service. :thumb:

Graham

 

[BackToBasics]

Now I must reply to check that...

[edit] I think the difference is that when they pop up mid screen it is, as you say, just after I have been commenting. This means I am usually not thinking about buying stuff. It was only a personal observation really, I wondered if anyone else felt there was any difference between the upper ads and lower ones. It may well just be the way my brain works (or doesn't, of course).

You're not alone. I'd never noticed the sponsors at the bottom. I'll certainly check them out now though.

I've mainly been using Ballihoo and The Home Brew Company; both of whom have been excellent. I'm sure The Malt Miller will get some business from me when I finally go AG.

 

[marksa222]

Has anyone had any problems with the Malt Miller recently?

I emailed a question at the end of last week (r.e. ordering 1/2kg grain and asking if hops were only available in the 100g packs on his site as I only needed about 10g in the recipe I was looking at) and had no reply... fair enough. Then I (using my brothers details as it's getting delivered to him) ordered £60's worth of stuff on Tuesday. Realised I had ordered 1kg less lager malt than I needed so emailed on Wednesday morning asking to add to the order... no reply again, but on wednesday afternoon I received an email saying the order had been dispatched and will be delivered on Thursday. It wasn't, although I appreciate this may be an issue with the couriers, whoever that might be.

Considering the positive things I've heard on here, I'm pretty surprised with this. I will be looking elsewhere in future.

 

[HLA91]

I just had an order from the Malt Miller delivered this morning, never had any problems getting in touch but sometimes it did take a while if he was busy. I think any orders placed before 2pm are dispatched same day so I would assume he is flat out getting them sorted and missed your email. Saying that I need to get in touch with him about a hop filter for my 50L boiler, I bloody forgot to ask for one to be fitted

 

[marksa222]

Good luck with that. Good dispatch time to be fair, but even more surprising emails goes unanswered! A whole week since my first email. Just over 2 days since the second. I'm assuming he gets notified by orders by email, so he must have seen them.

Ah well, can't have it all.