Most online checkouts finish with a ‘ding’ notification that funds have left your account. Ours concludes with a form being submitted and then, briefly, nothing at all. Depending on your disposition that is either comforting or mildly unnerving.
This post explains our entire process, from the beginning to end. What happens to your order request once you send it, who gets to see it, when an estimate becomes a real price, and the moment at which you are actually ‘committed’ to the purchase.
The quick version
- Build your specification with our calculator and estimator tools
- Submit your order request, free of charge and with no commitment
- Your specification is sent out to the workshops, without personal information
- The workshops return a fixed quote and lead time
- We come back to you with the workshop suggestion, its location, the price and the lead time
- If you confirm, the full specification and contact details are exchanged both ways
- The workshop sends you an invoice, and the lead time begins when the invoice is paid
- Samples are dispatched without waiting for payment (if you requested them)
- If the specification alters after you have inspected the samples, the invoice is revised
Now lets dig deeper into each step.
Step 1: Build your specification
It all begins on a calculator page. Choose the product closest to what you need, enter your dimensions, and the visualiser redraws as you type so you can see the shape you are describing. The price and weight refreshes live underneath, and the figure you see already covers VAT. Delivery is estimated at £50 for desk tops sized products and £20 for shelf sized products.
You do not require every detail finalised. Wood type, thickness, edge profile, finish, grommet holes and corner radius can all be altered afterwards. If you are uncertain about one of them, pick the nearest option and say so in the order notes. That is genuinely the quickest way to get a solid answer to a query, because we can see the remainder of your project while we reply.
Note: the calculator produces an estimate, not a quotation. It is correct around 95% of the time, but the fixed quote arrives from a workshop at step 4.
Read more: Choosing the right size for your Solid Wood Top
Step 2: Submit your order request, free of charge
This website does not process transactions of any sort, so there is no card or bank details and nothing to pay.
What you have actually done is send us a fully specified project: dimensions, wood, thickness, finish, extras, delivery address and any questions you included in the notes. That context helps us give real answers to further questions, maybe about lead times or our opinion on the desk top thickness.
Note: an order request is not a purchase. Nothing is reserved, no timber is purchased and you do not hold a place in any workshop’s queue until an invoice is paid at step 8.
Step 3: Your specification is sent to the workshops
We partner with a network of trusted makers across the UK, and your project is sent to the ones that we feel suit it. At this point they receive your specification, your first name and your postcode. Nothing else. A workshop cannot approach you until you have confirmed to us you would like to work with them.
Workshops are selected to quote based on speciality with that product or wood, price, current availability, and proximity to your delivery address. A closer workshop means shorter transport (greener), sometimes a cheaper delivery charge, and the choice of collecting the top yourself.
Note: this stage that is not immediate. We are waiting on real people to examine the specification we made together, check their timber and price the work correctly.
Step 4: The workshops price it against the estimate
What returns is a fixed price and a lead time for your precise specification. We then compare it against the estimate you were given on the calculator. The estimate is accurate around 95% of the time, which is the figure we are quietly proud of, because it is worked out from all sorts of factors, not just a margin from thin air.
Quotes do occasionally come in under the estimate. That normally means the workshop wants your order for a reason: it already holds suitable stock, it has a delivery run near you, or your job helps it purchase raw timber in a better quantity. Quotes can also come in over, most often for unusually thick or scarce stock, an awkward shape, or a delivery to somewhere the workshops seldom visit.
If it returns higher we tell you what drove it, and normally there is a cheaper route: a slightly thinner top, an edge profile on the front edge alone, a different wood, or taking the top sanded and unfinished and oiling it yourself.
Step 5: We report back with the workshop, the quote and the lead time
You receive an email with the information you need to reach a decision: who the workshop is, where it is, the fixed price, and the lead time. We sometimes also pass on a message the workshop specifically has for you, which could be a note about the wood it holds in stock or a suggestion/concern about your design.
Delivery is agreed at this stage too. Hand delivery is roughly £50 and is what most desk and table tops require, because a large top passing through a courier’s distribution centre is asking for trouble. Smaller items such as shelves and monitor stands can normally travel by standard courier for roughly £20. You can also pick up from the workshop and pay nothing at all for delivery, or arrange your own courier.
There is still no commitment. If the price does not suit, say so. If you would rather not use that particular workshop, we can return to the network or share other suppliers for you to pick from.
Note: if we do not hear back we issue one follow-up, and after that we cancel your order request and don’t chase you again. A late response is still fine. We take it up and check the price is still valid.
Step 6: You confirm, and the full specification is shared
Once you agree, the introduction is made formally in both directions. The workshop obtains your full specification, your delivery address and your contact details. You receive theirs, including the workshop address, and they take care of your order from that stage on, including payment, updates and any support following delivery.
This is the first point your address and contact details leave us, and it only occurs because you agreed to a named workshop at a known price. We remain in the background and are still there if you need a second opinion on anything.
Details can still alter. Measurements, corner radius, grommet hole positions, edge profile and finish can all be adjusted right up to the moment the top enters production. If something about your design is unusual or appears like it will not work, we will have flagged it long before now.
Step 7: The workshop invoices you, and the lead time begins when it is paid
The invoice arrives from the workshop, some are no VAT, others VAT inclusive. Some workshops take a deposit, some take the full amount, depending on the scale of the order. There is normally a seven day window to pay and it can be extended if you require longer.
Work does not start until the invoice is paid, and the lead time runs from that moment, not from the day you submitted your order request.
Behind that lead time the workshop might source the wood, get on with joining staves and building the shape, designing CAD files for the CNC machines, then sanding, applying the finish and allowing it to cure properly. Finally a final check before packing.
Step 8: Samples are sent out before payment is required
If you requested samples, they are dispatched as soon as the order request is confirmed, normally within two working days and with nothing to pay up front. They arrive from the workshop that will build your top, finished the way your top will be finished. That counts more than it sounds, because every workshop has its own finishing products and its own hand.
If you examine them and decide against it, then no problem. The samples are on us, and there is no charge. If you proceed, they are included on the invoice along with everything else.
Note: standard samples are 18mm offcuts, so they display grain, colour and finish. They are not much help for gauging an edge profile or the feel of a 40mm top. Ask us for pictures of a previous job instead.
Step 9: If the specification alters, the invoice is revised
Samples exist so you can change your mind. If oak gets swapped for pine or a stain gets abandoned the workshop reissues the invoice to suit the new specification, more or less, and you pay the revised version. The clock begins from that payment.
Changes are simple before the wood is purchased and cut, but get progressively harder afterwards. Once a top has been machined to your dimensions a change at that stage may incur a cost. If something is genuinely not right with the finished piece, every workshop we work with offers a money back guarantee and will refund or replace it.
How and when to cancel your order request, free of charge
Customers often want to know at which stage they are committed.
| Stage | What you have committed to | What it costs to pull out |
|---|---|---|
| Order request sent | Nothing | Nothing |
| Quote received | Nothing | Nothing |
| Quote agreed, details shared | Nothing financially | Nothing |
| Samples received | Nothing | Nothing, samples are not charged if you pull out |
| Invoice paid | This is the commitment, work starts | Deposit or full amount settled, we will try to accommodate a cancellation |
| In production | Wood purchased and cut to your sizes | Depends on how far the work has progressed |
Ready to find out what your project would cost?
The quickest way to begin is to enter your dimensions into the relevant calculator and send the order request through, with any and all questions in the Extras field. It’s free and without commitment. It is the only way we can give you a genuine price from a genuine workshop rather than a guess.
Otherwise, feel free to get in touch, or ask our trained AI expert for help at any time.
