goWholesale

I was recently lucky enough to stumble onto this forum....lots of great
information here! Thanks.

One thing I've noticed while reading this forum is the problem with the
"small guy" not getting the good deals because they simply cannot afford to
buy in the huge quantities required to get the best deal. I would fall into
this "small guy" category. I did some searches on the forum to see if
anyone has done any buying as a group -- splitting up the costs and then
splitting up the product. I found a few threads but all of them seemed to
fizzle out quickly.

I realize that there are quite a few problems with doing this but the main
one is probably having to trust everyone else in the group especially the
person in the group that is setting up the deal.

And the other problem would be this scenario - Assume 10 people go into a
lot of 1000 items together -- each getting 100. Then once they are get
their items they all run to Ebay and try to sell it off the same item. Now
everyone is competing with each other, they all know what the other guy paid
and how low they can sell for.

Basically, I have been brainstorming this idea and trying to come up with
ways to make it work. I welcome any ideas, comments, flames, etc. I'd be
interested in hearing more problems that you experts might think of for this
concept.

I think ebay is cut throat enough already, your gonna have more to worry about then the people you split the items with. For the 10 people you are splitting with I bet there are 10x more people already selling that product on ebay.

In an ideal world your best bet would be to form a group as a co-op. instead of dividing the items amongst the group and consequently competing against each other, one selling platform would be formed as the "face" on ebay. Each member contributes equally to purchase the load and rotates responsibility for maintaining the auction pages. Maybe each member would have the "job" each week. As far as purchasing goes, each member has a vote with majority ruling. Dispersal of the proceeds is actually far simpler then you could imagine. Paypal as most other services have a direct deposit function. A separate bank account with requirements for releasing funds, like multiple signatures etc..

Some good ideas here, I like the one about forming a co-op, that would be excellent for e-bay or other online venues.
I think forming a buying group would be a good idea for flea market vendors. Each member of the group would have to be in a market a certain distance away from the rest of the members.
As you flea marketers know it is hard to find a product that is unique and not sold by other vendors in your market. I have a hard time competing price wise because some of the vendors in my market are more established than I and get far better deals than I do.
Lets keep this thread going and see if we can come up with some good solutions on this, I think many here would benefit.

What type of products are you looking at splitting. I am from Canada and I do that already here with a few other stores in different communities. I usually purchase large quanities of giftware, clothing etc. and then they all purchase form me what they want.

Michelle
sheer-essentials@shaw.ca

neon wrote:We have been thinking of this idea for a while, but have yet to come up with a viable solution. Any suggestions are welcome.

It's really simple if you think about it. Ten people in ten different areas of the country. No compention. Co-op buying power. sell at flea markets, stores, etc. No e-bay.

Great idea, but what about if live I in another country, as I am in Australia, or is it for people in the United States only?

I think the group buying idea is an excellent one. A suggestion I have for avoiding con-artists is to bring in a professional escrow service to hold the money until it is all collected for a purchase.

think ebay is cut throat enough already, your gonna have more to worry about then the people you split the items with. For the 10 people you are splitting with I bet there are 10x more people already selling that product on ebay.

Good Point but I think the whole group buying idea will make selling an item less cut-throat and more profitable for all buyers in the group.

Let's say, by yourself, you can buy a quantity of goods and sell them each at a $10 profit. After buying with a group and most likely getting an additional discount, you can make $30 of selling an item. Factor in the supply going up, and that profit maybe goes down to $17-20 but you are still better off now then you were before.

Just my opinion on things

Let me make a few comments here.

First, I have been a member of a real world buying group. There are such things, but they involve a group of merchants in different cities going to a manufacturer and saying something to the tune of "We'll buy all of our zzz from you, if you'll give us an extra xx discount. If you don't give us that discount, we won't buy anything from you. Each order will meet your minimum order requirements and will be shipped to a single address. You can bill us individually, or through the group office, as you choose." There may be more, but's that the basics.

There are suppliers who will do business on these terms, since they realize that having so many new accounts will justify the discounts.

But, this is with brick & mortars, not virtual stores. And these are real people who have met at trade shows, belong to the same trade organizations, have shook hands and know each other.

Now, taking that background, I have promoted group buying on a forum I run for gift shop owners, both b & m and virtual. I've done a bit of legwork, but given it up, because while everyone thinks it's a good idea, they aren't really ready to do anything where the rubber meets the road. All talk, no action.

Now, in what you're talking about here is taking a minimum order and spliting it. Could happen, if everybody trusts each other and the checks don't bounce. But, the supplier will not want to split a minimum order into 10 smaller orders. If he thought he could handle smaller orders at a profit, he'd lower his minimum.

So, you'll have to get the entire order shipped to a single address. Then, one of you is going to have to break it down and re-ship to the other guys. And the other guys are going to wonder did they get an equal share? Did someone already pluck all the good colors? "I bet he let it sit around for days before shipping mine." Etc.

And who holds the money. Again, the supplier doesn't want to bill 10 people. He wants one payment from one person.

Sounds good in theory. Hope you all can work it out.