Important Update: Introducing a Handling Charge for Low-Value Orders in 2026

[exxos]

For years, I’ve aimed to make my store (https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/) a one-stop shop for all things Atari ST, offering everything from ST2VGA adapters to solder reels and ICs like the WD1772. I’ve loved supporting this community, but I need to share some tough news about changes coming in 2026 to keep things sustainable. This is part of my ongoing efforts in downsizing my store (viewtopic.php?f=90&t=7623)

Many of you know the reality of low-value orders—items like resistor packs, connectors, or solder reels often bring in less than £1 profit. Packing, labeling, filling out online forms, and making a 2-mile round trip to the post office takes at least an hour per order. Add in queuing and walking time , and it’s closer to 1.5 hours. For a £1 profit, that’s effectively 50p–70p per hour—less than a cup of coffee costs. If I sold 500 of these orders, that’s £500 profit, but it’d take 500–750 hours (12–18 weeks of full-time work) to process, not counting sourcing, storing, or buying packaging. That’s 500 boxes to stock, store, and reorder, in a space I’ve already outgrown. Storage alone is a nightmare.

The retro market’s tougher now. With the cost of living squeezing budgets, competition from eBay (where I’m banned), and open-source projects, sales are slower than ever. My RSI limits how much I can handle, and every hour on low-value orders is time I can’t spend on repairs, upgrades, or even just catching a break. I’ve tried everything—slashing prices, posting sales , even SCART leads—but low-value items just don’t move enough to justify the effort anymore.

So, starting in 2026, I’ll introduce a handling charge for low-value orders, likely around £5 for orders under £25. I haven’t finalized the details, but it’ll reflect the real cost of processing—time, packaging, and postage. I hate doing this. I know it might price out some loyal customers who grab a connector or two, and that feels wrong after 30 years of trying to serve everyone. But without this change, I can’t keep going. My dream of a one-stop Atari shop—where 100 niche items sell once a year for 100 sales—sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s a loss when profit and time don’t add up.

This isn’t about abandoning you. I’m downsizing to focus on what’s sustainable—higher-value items that let me keep supporting the community. I’m exploring ideas, but I need room to breathe first. Your support—every order, every forum post—means the world, and I hope you’ll understand why this is necessary. I’m open to feedback on how to make this fairer, so please share your thoughts below.

Thanks for sticking with me,
Chris (Exxos)

P.S. I’ll keep you posted on the exact charge and threshold as we get closer to 2026. For now, grab any low-value items before changes kick in!

[stephen_usher]

As long as you don't have Farnell levels of handling charge it sounds eminently fair and better than a blanket price increase. :-)

[WDB]

Sounds fair to me, whatever it takes to stay afloat.

[exxos]

I haven't had a chance to implement the minimum order charge yet, partly because I'm still deciding on the right threshold. I'm open to suggestions, but I'm currently thinking somewhere in the £30–£50 range.

The core issue is that packing and posting each order takes around an hour. If there's less than £10 value on an order, it barely breaks even on that time alone, something I've mentioned before. On top of that, my girlfriend is no longer able to walk to the post office, which means additional car travel costs for every order.

Looking through the sales data, around 50% of items bring in less than £50 a year in revenue, and that's before expenses, so the actual profit is considerably less. For small orders, say £10 worth of items, the processing cost simply doesn't make sense.

I've noticed handling charges rising across the industry for a while now. £20 once felt reasonable, but some places now set a £50 minimum to avoid fees, which I'll admit puts me off as a customer too.

On a related note, prices will be increasing on certain items that are reaching end of stock with no plans for another batch. The assembled DUALTOS boards are a good example. A small batch of 100 cost significant outlay, but only 10 sold last year, so there's no justification for another run. There's also a broader trend of around 50% declining sales year-on-year across many items, and the amount of physical space all this stock takes up is becoming a real problem.

This makes navigating the handling charge a little complicated, around 50% of the lower-value items won't be replenished anyway, so the charge may become largely irrelevant before long.

This also means I'll no longer be bulk buying cardboard boxes to ship items. Prices have already doubled since my last buy. Buying 1,000 boxes to get the good deal just isn't going to happen again. As a result, prices of boxes alone will be a lot higher.

I do expect these changes to cause a further drop in sales, and while I genuinely appreciate every order no matter how small, processing low-value orders is no longer sustainable. Even if sales dropped another 50%, the reduction in stock, packaging, and time would be worth it, ultimately, reducing the range of stocked items is the main goal. It reduces my outlay, workload and expenses etc.

[Darklord]

Do what you have to do Chris, we'll support you. :)

[exxos]

I've set the threshold value to £30. So orders below £30 will now have £5 handling fee added. Orders over £30 the £5 value is not added.

My girlfriend was talking about similar earlier as well. As some people do multiple orders, like one a week on occasions, of low value. Its daft really, as its costing the customers postage for each order. Problem is, its soaking up time and costs processing multiple orders when there's really no need.

Also related, as said, I will not be bulk buying boxes anymore. So the box prices will at least double. Though I don't think the box price will rise until next year as I still have a fair stock of boxes currently.

Store FAQ page updated.

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the exxos store, a £5 handling fee was introduced in 2026 for orders under £30 (no fee for orders over £30). This change addresses several key challenges:

• Low Profit Margins on Small Orders: Many low-value items (e.g., resistor packs, connectors, or solder reels) generate less than £1 in profit per order, making them unviable to process without additional support.
• Time and Labor Intensive Processing: Each order requires about 1 hour (previously estimated at 1.5 hours) for packing, labeling, completing forms, and a trip to the post office (now involving car travel due to mobility issues), resulting in an unsustainable effective hourly rate of 50p–70p.
• Rising Operational Costs: Packaging materials (e.g., cardboard boxes) have doubled in price, storage for bulk items adds overhead, and overall expenses in the retro computing market continue to increase.
• Sales and Market Pressures: Annual sales have declined by 50% year-on-year, with half of items earning less than £50 annually. Factors include cost-of-living impacts on customers, competition from platforms like eBay etc, and the rise of open-source alternatives reducing demand.
• Health and Workload Limitations: Repetitive strain injury (RSI) limits handling capacity, and time spent on low-value orders diverts from higher-priority tasks like repairs, upgrades, or developing niche products.
• Strategic Downsizing: The store is shifting focus to higher-value items to reduce stock, workload, and expenses—even if it means a further sales drop. Low-value items may not be replenished, and prices for some products (e.g., DUALTOS boards) will rise due to low sales volumes.

This fee helps cover processing time, packaging, and postage while keeping the store operational after 30 years of serving the retro community. We regret any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding—feedback is always welcome to ensure fairness. For low-value needs, consider bundling items to exceed the £30 threshold and avoid the fee.