Firebox

History of Firebox.com

Founded by University of Birmingham students Tom Boardman and Michael Smith in 1998, Firebox began in Cardiff as Hotbox.co.uk. The founders' first unique, self-designed product, the Shot Glass Chess Set, combined a drinking game with traditional chess and was created using Boardman's mother's best crystal glasses. This set the tone for the company and defined its market niche, supplying essentially 'toys for grown ups,' and it made £25,000 during its first Christmas.

After a year of rapid growth, the company moved to London and changed its name to Firebox and is now a leading online retailer for gifts, gadgets, games and toys, plus clothing and accessories.

Firebox.com received almost 10 million visitors in 2009, along with 48 million page impressions. Offline, Firebox.com products have been displayed alongside menswear in by retail giant Harvey Nichols, and have inhabited concession stands in Game stores.

Over 650,000 customers now subscribe to its newsletter and Firebox uses affiliate programmes to drive traffic to its site. This thoroughly modern brand also relies on its social media networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, to achieve sales and grow its customer bases.

Firebox specialises in online shopping for retail customers but also offers a range of business to business goods, including wholesale, corporate branded gifts, retail ranges for high street stores, and the distribution of new products.

Students qualify for a 10 per cent discount on Firebox.com orders, and gift vouchers are available.

With the tagline 'Firebox€" Not for everyone', the company makes its mission clear, to provide unique, quirky and unusual gifts and accessories for men and women.

Brands

The nature of Firebox.com means its focus is on the individual product, rather than establishing a particular brand focus. However, it stocks products from the following brands, and more:

• iPhone
• Star Wars
• Star Trek
• Nordic Grip
• Tryble
• Pebble
• Zippo
• Aeropress

Departments

Firebox departments include Christmas, home and lifestyle, food and drink, gadgets, clothing and accessories, toys and games, and books.

Firebox.com mainly organises its products as gifts 'For him' and 'For her', and by price range, as well as offering customers the option to browse by personality type (including animal lover, geek, likes a drink, procrastinator and style guru).

Delivery Information

Free delivery is available on orders over £50 within the UK. Deliveries will arrive within five days. Standard delivery (non-tracked) costs £2.25 and arrives within five working days. Tracked standard delivery costs £3.95 and is delivered by the courier Yodel within four to five working days. Tracked items must be signed for.

A Local Collection Service is operated by UPS and allows the Firebox customer to collect their items from a chosen collection point. The service costs £4.95 and orders placed before 5pm generally arrive on the next working day. Courier next day delivery costs £5.95 and is available on orders placed before 7pm. Yodel will deliver the package, which must be signed for, between 7am and 9pm the following day. A similar Saturday delivery service is also available.

Firebox uses TNT post as well as couriers to deliver to offshore addresses. Some heavier or large items may incur an extra charge. International shipping is charged according to the value, weight and size of the order and exact prices are shown at checkout. As a guide, untracked airmail costs £3.25 for up to 2kg and takes three to seven working days. Tracked delivery starts from £8.95.

Some items may be supplied from non-Firebox warehouses, meaning delivery times may vary. All customers should refer to the estimated delivery day given on the Firebox website.

Returns Policy

Customers can return unwanted items to Firebox.com free of charge by printing off the Freepost label found on the website and returning the item within 30 days.

For heavier items, such as camping equipment, the customer should contact Firebox to arrange a collection by courier.

International orders cannot be returned via Freepost so in this instance the customer should cover the postage costs at first which will be refunded once Firebox has received the returned item (up to a maximum of £7 per kg). Receipts should be kept showing postage costs. An international returns label is available on the Firebox website. It should be noted that there are a small number of goods that aren't included in the free 30 day returns policy. More information is available on the website.

Security & Reviews

Firebox.com uses 256-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology to keep online payments secure, encrypting personal information and ensuring no sensitive information is captured or stored by Firebox.com.

When making a payment, once a customer clicks 'Proceed to check out', secure pages should be marked with https:// in the address bar, plus a padlock symbol in the bottom right bar of the customer's web browser.

Other Places To Find Firebox Voucher Codes

If you can't find any Firebox voucher codes to use here, you could also try some other popular websites such as Hot UK Deals or VoucherCodes.co.uk.