Yep, you read it right! Back by popular demand and coming to an Instagram story near you next week…The Martha Brook stationery sample sale is almost here!

Some of you know the rules already but for those new here (hello and welcome!), we thought we’d pop on to tell you how it works, give you a few tips and tricks and answer some of your frequently asked questions about our stationery sample sale.

When is the stationery sample sale?

The stationery sample sale will start at 5pm GMT (UK time) on the Tuesday 5th July. We’ll give plenty of notice with reminders and notifications on our Instagram. Will we be shouting about from the rooftops? Absolutely, so don’t worry you CAN’T miss it!

Tip: We’ll do a countdown on our Instagram stories in the few days before we launch the sample sale so you can sign up to be notified when it starts 

How does it work?

Our stationery sample sale is run on our Instagram stories, so you’ll need access to an Instagram account to take part. We’ll upload one story per product that is available with a number at the top. To be in with the chance of nabbing it for yourself, you have to reply to that particular story with the following information:

• Your name
• Email address
• Delivery address

It’s really important you reply with all three of these things and not just ‘I want it’ otherwise we can’t hold the item for you! If you’re successful in nabbing the item, we send you a secure Paypal invoice link to your email address.

Tip: Make sure you reply with your name, email address and delivery address if you want something!

How do I pay?

A secure Paypal invoice link will then be sent to you email address provided, you’ll need to pay within 15 minutes of receiving the email to secure the item. You can pay by debit/credit card or Paypal. You don’t need to have a Paypal account to pay.

Tip: Check your junk/spam mail if you can’t find the email from us in your inbox

Will there be any non-personalised items included?

Items that go into our sample sale have usually previously been used for events, photoshoots, or are brand new but made incorrectly (e.g wrong colour) so most are personalised and it’s a lot of fun watching to see if your name or the name of someone you know comes up! We do though always have a few non-personalised items available. You’ll have to be quick though as these go extremely fast!

Tip: Once an item has sold, the story will be taken down so you’ll know when an item has gone!

Do I have to pay for postage?

No! UK postage is included in the price displayed on the instagram story. If you’re living in Europe, delivery is £7 or £9 for the rest of the world!

How do I know I’ve got the item I’m after?

We’ll reply to your message to let you know if you’ve got the item or not so either way you can expect to hear back from us! Please do be patient as we receive hundreds of messages and it takes us a while to get through them on the night,

Tip: Keep your eyes peeled on your direct messages/message requests on Instagram so you don’t miss our reply!

How likely am I to get the item I am after?

Our sample sale is very popular, and it’s all done on a first come first serve basis so if you are online early you have a good chance, but there are a lot of people who will also miss out so please don’t be disappointed if that is you. We try to take down the story of the product as soon as it’s sold but due to the volume of replies it takes us a while to get though them so bear with us!

Tip: Reply to the story as quickly as you can for the items you want and wait to hear back from us.

What if I’d like more than one item?

If you’d like multiple items, just reply to each story you’d like. HOWEVER, every time you send us a DM you will go to the back of the queue so do try to send any replies as close together as possible. Never send a chaser message as this also will put you to the back of the queue!

Tip: Send multiple messages as close together as possible and then wait to hear back from us

I don’t live in the UK, can I take part?

Absolutely! The prices are all inclusive of UK mainland delivery, but international delivery is £7 for Europe and £9 for the rest of the world.

Please note, we cannot be held responsible for any charges/customs incurred once the parcel has left our West London studio, so if you are based in the EU please do check if Brexit has had an impact on goods coming into your country.

When will I receive my items?

Mainland UK: Your order will be sent by standard delivery and you should receive your item/s within 7 working days.

Non-mainland UK: Your order will be sent by standard delivery and you should receive your item/s within 10 working days.

Europe: Your order will be sent by standard delivery and you should receive your item/s within 10 working days.

Rest of World: Your order will be sent by standard delivery and you should receive your item/s within 14 working days.

Phew! We hope that has answered all your questions and helped to demystify how the sample sale works. It really is very easy! Most importantly you need to be on Instagram and watching our stories at 5pm on Tuesday 5th July. See you there!