In the UK, the main organiser available is Filofax and when I was developing my organisation system the question wasn’t whether I would use a Filofax, but what size it would be. As I couldn’t decide on the size I tested an A5 ring binder. It was successful and was an eye opener for me that there were more options than Filofax, especially as it was cheaper to buy normal A5 paper allowing me to experiment with my own templates such as my day planner.
But there was one issue, the file was wider than I liked and took up the majority of my handbag. But as it had a lovely picture from our honeymoon on the cover which made me smile each time I looked at it, I didn’t consider changing for long. However, the issue came up again when I was working with my husband to develop an organisation system for him. He wanted an A4 system that would lie flat and preferably fold back on itself, so a ring binder was not an option.
I showed him examples of other systems I found on the internet, particularly Corrie Haffly’s (which had almost tempted me to convert because you just can’t use her project task cards with a two ring binder) and Stephen at HDBizBlog. The more we looked into the disk system, the more excited we both were at the possibilities.
So far so good, the internet found the solution to our problem, either Circa Levenger or Rollabind.
The problems
The USA and UK have different standard sizes of paper and although similar Letter and A4 are not compatible (I don’t know what the closest to A5 is). This would mean it wouldn’t be possible to use standard UK paper in one of their organisers, butI assume it is possible to buy American sized paper over here; or we could create our own organisers using the punch.
Unfortunately neither Levenger or Rollabind focus on the international market for their products so the postage to the UK is enormous. No estimate is provided on the site, but doing our own calculation it appeared it was going to cost about the same for the postage as the actual order which was going to include several packets of rings and at least two punches. I am happy to pay for international shipping, but not that much.
After further research I discovered two European equivalents; brilliant! Except Atoma don’t appear to have a UK supplier either and neither they or ADOC sell punches for their systems (which are not compatible with the Levenger or Rollabind systems) so it is necessary to buy their refill paper.
As a trial, I bought an A5 ADOC book for myself, and an A4 one for my husband, and I have to admit that I’m very impressed with the disc system. My organiser is much thinner than before and much more flexible. In fact, I want to create lots of notebooks for different projects, but oh yes we don’t have the choice in the UK! If I continue with the ADOC system I need to rely on their refill paper which for the A5 size only appears to come in wide ruled lined paper; I am still amazed that no stationer has been able to find the plain paper which I want to use for my day planner.
At the moment I only see three solutions to the problem; I return to my ring binder, I change my templates to fit the lined ADOC paper or offer to be an importer of Levenger or Rollabind to the UK and selling it from my garage!
Have you taken a look yet at Myndology? The products are very similar to both the Rollabind and Levenger systems, the prices are better, and their international shipping rates are very good. $12US for orders of $0-$30, over $30US is $17 and over $60US is $22.
You can check out the website here.
Kate,
I am sorry for the situation. (I work for Levenger.) If there were anything I could do to help, short of personally bringing a few punches with me on a plane [would these be considered suspicious cargo?], I would.
I am unsure how much I can change with our international distribution system. However, perhaps the best I can do now is simply listen. Contact me any time. [ryan.rasmussen[at]levenger.com]
Thanks,
Ryan
Hello JasonK,
Yes I had looked at Myndology after following a link from another site. I was initially excited because there are some really nice looking products. However there is the same issue as the ADOC that I’m currently using that there is no hole punch so I can’t use my own paper.
Thanks for the tip
Rasmussen,
Thank you for your comment, it is nice to hear from the company I’ve mentioned. I will be in touch to see if there is anything that can be done to resolve the postal costs (I’m currently spending time on your site to decide what I would like to buy again). I notice on your site it no longer says that overseas orders will be sent by courier, so perhaps the solution is already in place.
I suspect the punches would only be classed as suspicious if you tried to attack people with them!
By the way are there any UK levenger suppliers that I have missed in my searching?
Kate, you can get rollabind punches (and discs) from UK craft/ scrapbook sites – just google rollabind punch. I have a desktop one and the only difference I can see from the levenger one is that the rollabind punches 12 holes which is what you need if you are intending to use A4. (as opposed to 11 for letter.) The levenger junior is very similar to A5 – I use their covers and punch my own paper. Ebay is the best route for circa covers/ jackets as the postage from the US is around $22 – you really don’t want to know what my recent postage from Levenger was – the shipping was bad enough but then the shipper charged the same again for UK taxes, handling etc. I have made myself promise not to buy from Levenger again.!!!
Thank you Kate,
I didn’t know you could get rollabind in the UK. It will make my husband happy to know you can get that additional hole to work with A4 paper. For some reason, it hadn’t occured to me to look on ebay for US products, but I will set up some notifications.
You can buy the rollabind hole punch in the UK…
http://www.stampsandmemories.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=57_35&products_id=940
Not particularly cheap at £59.99, but postage is free. I’ve ordered one with the hope I can put together my own system.
Thank you for the link John. It is good to know that you can buy the punches in the UK, plus I have discovered that the rollabind punches have additional hole so they are more suitable for A4 paper.
I haven’t convinced myself about spending £60 on a hole punch yet. I have one possible cheaper solution and if that doesn’t work I will probably just have to go for a purchase from the site you have suggested.
I would be interested to know how you system is working, once you have put it together.
Well the punch has finally turned up after a bit of a delay due to the postal strike. It is a 12 hole punch and I’m pleasantly suprised to find it is compatible with the ADOC folders I already use (sold by WHSmiths and Rymans).
The punch is very solid, well made and has worked smoothly so far. It will take me a while to build up my system, but so far so good – I’d definitely recommend it.
Hello John,
Thank you for the update. At the moment I hoping to buy a punch from Poland, but if that falls through I will buy one from the UK. It is reasuring to know it will also work with the ADOC system, because that is what I am currently using.
Good luck with the developing your system.
Just to let you know Atoma in Belgium (in US is Myndology) now has a paper punch available.
I have just ordered one. They don’t sell the discs though, and I want to make my own books – anyone know where I can get these (I live in France)
Tried to buy Adoc system items in France since they appear to have a really good range, but the distributor I was given from their parent company (Belgium) couldn’t be bothered to let me know prices, so you can imagine I don’t think much of them….. Pity – the US site of their goods is fantastic but I suppose shipping costs is high, so I prefer to buy in Europe.
Hello Patricia,
Thank you for the comment and the information about the Atoma punch.
You can find a lot of Adoc products for sale from Pegasus but no discs. However my Adoc paper fits on to my rollabind discs (although the hole in the paper is slightly larger) so you may be able to buy Rollabind discs to create your own books.
Hi Kate, and commenters. I’m from UK but currently in Belgium. I wanted to make a really nice-looking but inexpensive presentation book which would contain black paper, allowing me to paste in news articles and digital photo prints.
In the Brussels branch of Schlieper I found the ADOC and Atoma systems and actually I already had a notebook I bought in Office World years ago that works on a similar system. The only difference between ADOC and Atoma paper and covers is the way the holes are spaced. ADOC sells their rings all over the place and you can even get them from Ryman in the UK, albeit at a premium.
So as a note to Patricia, if you see this page, my advice would be to buy ADOC rings and use your Atoma punch.
I have to say that Atoma is very well-represented but I found ADOC to be more customizable and cheaper. A limited range is available from Pegasus Stationery and Ryman in the UK.
Amusingly, it was cheaper for me to buy an ADOC binder with 60 sheets of punched black paper and nicely rounded outside corners, than it was for me to buy 60 sheets of plain black A4! Naturally I went for this one then discovered wide acrylic covers and bought two, which extend out far enough to cover additional ADOC plastic wallets that are of course wider than the black A4. This way I can use the wallets as dividers with my own printed cover page for each section.
So I’m rambling – Kate thanks for this page it was actually very helpful and I look forward to raiding WHS, Office World, Ryman, Stationery Box and all the best British stationers in search of the solution!
Hello Sam,
Thank you for your long comment, I found it very interesting to read, particularly because I thought I had done a thorough search of UK stationers but I did not find the ADOC ring in Ryman only the Pegasus products.
I also have not found any covers for sale so I am currently one ADOC cover and the others are old binding covers from work that I have cut down to size, however they are not very robust and have already started breaking around the punches.
Unfortunately, it seems Stamps & Memories don’t sell the Rollabind desktop punch anymore. A year ago I bought the basic punch from them and now would like to step up to the desktop one. Anybody knows of another vendor in the UK? Thanks.
Update: to my surprise, on the Rollabind.com website it’s possible to buy the desktop punch with free postage to the UK! This means it costs about £33, much less than it used to cost from Stamps & Memories, it seems.
Second update: yesterday, I received an email from Rollabind, apologising and explaining that the apparent free shipping was due to a system error (they’ve just migrated their system and are still dealing with some issues)… The shipping actually costs $47.50, bringing the total cost of the desktop punch up to about £60.
Third update: a letter from Parcelforce informs me that I must pay £19 (VAT + Parcelforce clearance fee) in order to receive my parcel. In short, I expected to pay £33 for my punch, but the total is going to be £79 (not to mention six weeks waiting)…
Telmo Amaral,
Thank you for the information. I looked on the Rollabind website and saw there was free postage on offer to the UK so I was thinking of purchasing a punch for my husband and some covers. It is a shame that Rollabind made a mistake and weren’t willing to go by what was said on their site, and even more frustrating that you’ve had to pay tax once its arrived in the UK.
It seems that the issue of not being able to access the punches in the UK is going to continue for a while longer.
ADOC now do a 2 page A4 punch at a more affordable price. It is not shown on the UK website but if you ring up you can order it direct.
Tel +44 (0)161 432 0575 at http://www.pegasusnational.com . They show an expensive 15 page punch but also supply a lesser expensive 2 hole one.
The 2 holer is shown at http://www.aurora-productions.be/aurora.php?pagina=stationery&m=ADOC&t=options&g=punch-ex as product no 2910.010
Hope this helps everyone 🙂
Steve, that is very interesting. I’ve bought Adoc things from Pegasus before (covers and dividers), but they weren’t doing the punches then. I hope lots of people discover they sell the punch.