daguin
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- Mar 29, 2008
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I have recently been dealing with members' frustration over the time that has passed between when they gave someone their money and when they got their merchandise. It appears that there are a couple of things at work here. First, some people do not understand how a "Group Buy" works. Second, some people are using the label "Group Buy" for other actions.
To help clear this up, I will explain the different kinds of ways in which you can buy something on the forum
Feeler vs. Group Buy vs. Pre-Sale vs. For Sale
FEELER -- A Feeler thread is when a member is considering a group buy (or sometimes a For Sale thread) but wants to know if there are enough people interested in the item to warrant the work needed to do a Group Buy (or sale). The member starts a thread with general to specific info about the item and the potential prices to get feedback. If enough people show an interest, the member MAY move on to either a Group Buy or a For Sale thread. NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS IN A FEELER.
GROUP BUY -- A Group Buy is when a member arranges a better price than the general members could obtain individually, buy buying in bulk. This is usually done as a service to the community. The member posts a thread in which he states the price (or the price at a different numbers of units). He will state how many it will take to get the price and trigger the purchase. Once he is confident that enough will be purchased, he begins to collect payment from the members. ONLY after the members have paid will the items be purchased.
After the money is collected, the items are purchased, After the items have been received by the person running the Group Buy, he will ship the items to the individual members. The person running the Group Buy is generally rewarded for all of his work by either getting the "wholesale" price for himself as well, if the item is fairly expensive (i.e. $500 diodes), or by getting one or two of the items themselves for free (i.e. $20 sleds).
A Group Buy gets the members the best price generally available. HOWEVER, it also takes the most time and involves the most risk. There can be a significant length of time between when one pays for the item and when it is actually received. Not only do you have to wait for all the money to be collected, but you also have to wait for shipping time from both between the supplier and the person running the Group Buy AND from the person running it to the buyer. In addition, since this is NOT the persons' "business" things in their personal life may take precedence over getting the Group Buy completed.
Finally, it involves the most risk. Sometimes people loose control of their lives. If this happens while they are in possession of your money while collecting for a Group Buy, your money is in limbo along with the life of the person running the Group Buy. Another risk is that you are trusting the person running the Group Buy to have both done their homework with relation to what the item is AND if they have found a trustworthy supplier. If the supplier rips off the person running the Group Buy, where does that leave everyone?
PRE-SALE -- A Pre-Sale is when a person gets members of the forum to help him start a business. Some people say (or think) they are running a Group Buy when it is actually a Pre-Sale. In a Pre-Sale, the member collects money up front like in a Group Buy, but is selling the items at retail prices. In the Group Buy the person is rewarded with a lower price (like everyone else) or gets a unit or two for free. In the Pre-Sale, the person is rewarded by turning a profit off of each unit (just like a For Sale). The difference is that this member cannot afford to buy (or doesn't want to risk his own money to buy) the stock needed to sell.
Instead of selling at his cost (or very close to it) he sells at retail price. This person, essentially, gets the members to "loan" him the money to get started. He collects full retail price from each member and when he has enough to buy the items at the wholesale price, he orders the items. Then he charges full retail price for each item.
This gives the seller the most profit with almost no risk. The buyers deal with much the same risk as in a Group Buy. It takes time AND you are risking the loss from the same things as in the Group Buy.
FOR SALE -- A "For Sale" thread is run from the Buy/Sell/Trade board. In a For Sale thread, the seller buys the items at "wholesale" cost and then offers the items at a fixed price to the members. In a For Sale thread, almost all of the risk is assumed by the seller. The items are "in stock" and are shipped quickly. The reward for the risk to the seller is a higher "profit." The reward for the buyer is no wait and little chance of a loss via any of the risks stated in the Group Buy section above.
Bottom line --
Feeler = Just researching interest in an item with no risk
Group Buy = The best price, with the longest wait and the most risk to the buyer
Pre-Sale = Retail price, with the same wait and risk for the buyer as the Group Buy
For Sale = Retail price, with little to no wait and very little risk to the buyer
Yes, sometimes a Group Buy will turn into a For Sale, but usually, this is simply that the person running the Group Buy realizes that the market could sustain a For Sale and just buys the next batch with his own money. There should be a significant difference in price between a Group Buy and a For Sale thread. Otherwise, it was probably just a Pre-Sale to begin with (or the seller is just one helluva nice guy
)
Peace,
dave
To help clear this up, I will explain the different kinds of ways in which you can buy something on the forum
Feeler vs. Group Buy vs. Pre-Sale vs. For Sale
FEELER -- A Feeler thread is when a member is considering a group buy (or sometimes a For Sale thread) but wants to know if there are enough people interested in the item to warrant the work needed to do a Group Buy (or sale). The member starts a thread with general to specific info about the item and the potential prices to get feedback. If enough people show an interest, the member MAY move on to either a Group Buy or a For Sale thread. NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS IN A FEELER.
GROUP BUY -- A Group Buy is when a member arranges a better price than the general members could obtain individually, buy buying in bulk. This is usually done as a service to the community. The member posts a thread in which he states the price (or the price at a different numbers of units). He will state how many it will take to get the price and trigger the purchase. Once he is confident that enough will be purchased, he begins to collect payment from the members. ONLY after the members have paid will the items be purchased.
After the money is collected, the items are purchased, After the items have been received by the person running the Group Buy, he will ship the items to the individual members. The person running the Group Buy is generally rewarded for all of his work by either getting the "wholesale" price for himself as well, if the item is fairly expensive (i.e. $500 diodes), or by getting one or two of the items themselves for free (i.e. $20 sleds).
A Group Buy gets the members the best price generally available. HOWEVER, it also takes the most time and involves the most risk. There can be a significant length of time between when one pays for the item and when it is actually received. Not only do you have to wait for all the money to be collected, but you also have to wait for shipping time from both between the supplier and the person running the Group Buy AND from the person running it to the buyer. In addition, since this is NOT the persons' "business" things in their personal life may take precedence over getting the Group Buy completed.
Finally, it involves the most risk. Sometimes people loose control of their lives. If this happens while they are in possession of your money while collecting for a Group Buy, your money is in limbo along with the life of the person running the Group Buy. Another risk is that you are trusting the person running the Group Buy to have both done their homework with relation to what the item is AND if they have found a trustworthy supplier. If the supplier rips off the person running the Group Buy, where does that leave everyone?
PRE-SALE -- A Pre-Sale is when a person gets members of the forum to help him start a business. Some people say (or think) they are running a Group Buy when it is actually a Pre-Sale. In a Pre-Sale, the member collects money up front like in a Group Buy, but is selling the items at retail prices. In the Group Buy the person is rewarded with a lower price (like everyone else) or gets a unit or two for free. In the Pre-Sale, the person is rewarded by turning a profit off of each unit (just like a For Sale). The difference is that this member cannot afford to buy (or doesn't want to risk his own money to buy) the stock needed to sell.
Instead of selling at his cost (or very close to it) he sells at retail price. This person, essentially, gets the members to "loan" him the money to get started. He collects full retail price from each member and when he has enough to buy the items at the wholesale price, he orders the items. Then he charges full retail price for each item.
This gives the seller the most profit with almost no risk. The buyers deal with much the same risk as in a Group Buy. It takes time AND you are risking the loss from the same things as in the Group Buy.
FOR SALE -- A "For Sale" thread is run from the Buy/Sell/Trade board. In a For Sale thread, the seller buys the items at "wholesale" cost and then offers the items at a fixed price to the members. In a For Sale thread, almost all of the risk is assumed by the seller. The items are "in stock" and are shipped quickly. The reward for the risk to the seller is a higher "profit." The reward for the buyer is no wait and little chance of a loss via any of the risks stated in the Group Buy section above.
Bottom line --
Feeler = Just researching interest in an item with no risk
Group Buy = The best price, with the longest wait and the most risk to the buyer
Pre-Sale = Retail price, with the same wait and risk for the buyer as the Group Buy
For Sale = Retail price, with little to no wait and very little risk to the buyer
Yes, sometimes a Group Buy will turn into a For Sale, but usually, this is simply that the person running the Group Buy realizes that the market could sustain a For Sale and just buys the next batch with his own money. There should be a significant difference in price between a Group Buy and a For Sale thread. Otherwise, it was probably just a Pre-Sale to begin with (or the seller is just one helluva nice guy
![Wink ;) ;)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png)
Peace,
dave
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