saltwein
Member
Need to buy some pen kits and wanted to know if anyone was considering a group buy?
Regards, Steve
Regards, Steve
I'm curious, why don't we all pitch in and create sort of a "continuous" group by. Basically an internal store for the members here. Just keep a rotating inventory of the more popular kits. Is that too much trouble, not enough interest, would take business away from some of the individuals here, etc.? I'd be willing to put in some money up front to help things get started.
It's really NOT that easy. We have tried to do that on Exotics. I buy 100 at a time and sell at a very slim markup. Problem is, you buy 10 or 20 of each plating and then one plating sells out. You still have enough pens, but need to restock the one. A hundred pen order from CSUSA is over a thousand dollars. (Not a GREAT deal of money, but remember, you still HAVE the last hundred). Also, if you want to include ALL the styles your cost will be closer to five thousand.
Some day we hope to achieve this, but it will be a building process. And, we may decide instead to have our own pen bodies built. Stay tuned.
But this is NOT to stop you from trying, just give you a little idea of the business plan (I HAVE thought it through, it has NOT made an excel spreadsheet yet--too many better ideas to explore---for me.)
What about a large group buy of a one of a kind body? Come up with a new style, have made and market it as a IAP exclusive, sold through a couple of the preferred vendors? Same price points, but differnent demogaphics for shipping?
If anyone has been thinking about doing a CSUSA buy but has bees hesitant because of the number of pens etc and the hassle of a spread sheet for keeping orders straight, I may have a solution.
Curtis and I were talking a few weeks ago and he said he could set up a Virtuemart shopping cart with all the items in it. This could be set up permanently (maybe hosted here on IAP if Jeff agrees to or on Curtis' site or even mine) and anytime someone would volunteer to run one, the PayPal address could be changed to the person running the buy and all orders and payments would go to them.
If anyone is interested in being the Beta testor for this, PM me and we'll see about getting this set up.
Both Woodturningz and Woodnwhimsies have offered one line advanced pricing from Penn State.
My fear is that this would further blur the line between 'group buying' and 'sales'.If anyone has been thinking about doing a CSUSA buy but has bees hesitant because of the number of pens etc and the hassle of a spread sheet for keeping orders straight, I may have a solution.
Curtis and I were talking a few weeks ago and he said he could set up a Virtuemart shopping cart with all the items in it. This could be set up permanently (maybe hosted here on IAP if Jeff agrees to or on Curtis' site or even mine) and anytime someone would volunteer to run one, the PayPal address could be changed to the person running the buy and all orders and payments would go to them.
If anyone is interested in being the Beta testor for this, PM me and we'll see about getting this set up.
After readingNeed to buy some pen kits and wanted to know if anyone was considering a group buy?
Regards, Steve
Need to buy some pen kits and wanted to know if anyone was considering a group buy?
Regards, Steve
I think that you hit on why this thread went sideways. No one really knows what kind of pens kits that the OP wants. Otherwise, someone would almost certainly mention that two CSUSA group buys have been held recently, so it's probably going to be a bit before another is held or that there are some suppliers with whom there is never a group buy because there is little financial incentive to do one.Steve, I must apologize for getting off topic. I'm fairly new here and don't know exactly how the group buys work, which is why I posed the question about an ongoing operation.
What kit(s) are you interested in? I would be interested in participating in a group buy depending on what's being purchased.
You may also want to post this in the "Group Purchases" forum and see if anyone responds. Or check with your local chapter and see if ther's enough interest...