GB proposal

[H.crispa]

Alright you goobers! I am now proposing a group buy on peppermint shrimp. A lot of people have expressed an interest so I thought I'd kick some tires and see what I can come up with.

Heres the deal: 4 bucks apiece (wholesale)! 5 shrimp per person minimum. Shipping will be a couple bucks per person (2 or 3) depending on how many people want in. We have to move fast on this so no screwing around and asking a bunch of questions and cluttering up the post. If you want in it's 5 shrimp for $20 plus the above shipping. So if you want in, post your name and how many 5-shrimp units you want.

The only reason I did the legwork on this was because so many people expressed interest. I am keeping this simple and the deadline is 3-17-2006. Are you in or out???

If we don't make the minimum by the deadline I'll post to inform you that the whole deal is off. No point in posting the minimum as it is completely irrelavant to individual members.

Yin, yout?????

As Yoda said, "There is no try. Do or do not."

Another sales guru at some point in time said, "keep it simple, stupid!" This is known as the "kiss principal".

Thank you and good night.:rollface:

 

[mcox33]

1 unit here

 

[LtPiper]

Delivery date?

 

[odoprelude]

put me down for one order...

 

[odoprelude]

you do take paypal, correct?

 

[bneal3]

Put me on the list for 1 also. May get a second. Bruce

 

[H.crispa]

The deal is for lots of 5. If you want 5, then 1 lot is 5, 2 lots is 10, 3 lots is 15 etc. You can get as many as you want in multiples of 5. Go hog wild on it!

We have 25 shrimp so far. We are fast approaching the minimum and we are almost there. The thing is, the more we order, the lower the shipping cost per person. We can buy 5000 peps or more if we want.

I am discovering as well that many wholesalers really don't give a clam poop if we are a "legitamate" retailer or not. They simply don't want to deal in small quantities. So, if someone is willing to do the legwork, we can, in theory, do a GB on almost anything.

The trick is, to find enough people who want enough of the same thing to put the buy together. This is not as easy as it seems. Our members are now in the hundreds and we can do GBs on pretty much anything we put our minds to. Downside is that we have a couple hundred members in various stages of reef keeping and the needs of those various stages are vast. Finding common ground within a diverse group is the key.

That is why I thought the brine shrimp would be such a shoe-in. Everyone can feed BS nauplii to their reef with great results. Problem is many members don't want to fool with it or don't see the value in it. A similar scenario holds true with just about every conceivable product!

Common ground!

Really folks, I'm new at this group buy thing and I'm doing the best I can. I'm still on the steep part of the learning curve. I never thought organizing a GB would be so tough-- but it is.

I'm great at finding suppliers who are willing to work with us and hashing out the details of a buy. The devil is in the details. That is what I am learning.

Geez gang. I'm your V.P. and all and I'm trying to live up to my obligations to the best of my ability and this kind of thing is something I think I can do that brings value to the club. Boy oh boy though, it ain't as easy as it looks-- and I am discovering that at every turn.

So, although I have found a GB wholesaler who will deal with us and this supplier has a vast array of goodies, finding things all of us want is tough!!!

Bottom line-- our club is growing so fast that the growing pains are enormous and this is only one of them. But, we have to keep our eyes on the prize and stay true to our founding principals and vision-- lest we lose our way and are reduced to a bunch of squabbling tribes with different goals. That kind of clam crap will only divide us and spoil the whole thing. We are here to propogate, educate, promote, and share information. That is the most important thing...period.

Oh boy, did I just go off on a tangent??? Oh well. It was an important tangent.

Peace, love and all that stuff. And still-- even though I just polluted the thread with this rambling-- please stick to the instructions of the original post and don't clutter up the thread (like I just did..sorry). And remember, we do have a deadline.

Happy reefing!

 

[LtPiper]

ummmm Delivery date? I'm getting ready to go on vacation and would like to know when they will arrive as if they are delivered while I'm gone it dosent do me any good.

 

[H.crispa]

If you are going on vacation I'm sure you can work out some sort of "babysitting arrangement". Not a problem. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that my favorite LFS might concent to babysitting. I can't promise that but I'm sure you know who to ask for confirmation on that. Barring that, I'm sure you can work something out. There are many members I know of (as do you)who would do that.

Thing is, I am not going to obligate ANYONE. In addition, I'm not authorized to obligate anyone else. Also, this can not at all become the "norm". We simply can't get this type of arrangement going for 100's of people. I hope you understand why. This and all group guys have to be as simple as possible. Group buys are complicated enough-- far more complicated than I thought they would be when I took on this task.

In order to do this for the club and do justice for all involved, I simply can't allow this to become a minutia marithon. Otherwise I'd be doing special packaging arrangements for some and babysitting for others and special shipping for others and in the end..... this would never happen! That is why I am saying to everyone, if you need special arrangements etc. contact your friends within the club and get that sort of stuff worked out yourself-- amongst yourselves. I love you all but my plate is full as it is and I just can't do everything for everyone. Honestly, I would love to do just that but I just can't and I appologize for that. But, if you want in, I'll guarantee you can find a buddy who will help you out.

And you know what?? Aside from coral propagation and the like, we are a group of friends with a common interest. You help your friends out when they need it. If you have special needs, use the PM system to work out stuff like this. There is ALWAYS a solution.

That said, we still have to move quickly on this and we must keep it simple. Therefore, if you need babysitting, please arrange for it yourself with members you know and trust. There are more than enough of us out there to take care of each other.

 

[mcox33]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6935505#post6935505 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by H.crispa
If you are going on vacation I'm sure you can work out some sort of "babysitting arrangement". Not a problem. I'll go out on a limb here and guess that my favorite LFS might concent to babysitting. I can't promise that but I'm sure you know who to ask for confirmation on that. Barring that, I'm sure you can work something out. There are many members I know of (as do you)who would do that.

Thing is, I am not going to obligate ANYONE. In addition, I'm not authorized to obligate anyone else. Also, this can not at all become the "norm". We simply can't get this type of arrangement going for 100's of people. I hope you understand why. This and all group guys have to be as simple as possible. Group buys are complicated enough-- far more complicated than I thought they would be when I took on this task.

In order to do this for the club and do justice for all involved, I simply can't allow this to become a minutia marithon. Otherwise I'd be doing special packaging arrangements for some and babysitting for others and special shipping for others and in the end..... this would never happen! That is why I am saying to everyone, if you need special arrangements etc. contact your friends within the club and get that sort of stuff worked out yourself-- amongst yourselves. I love you all but my plate is full as it is and I just can't do everything for everyone. Honestly, I would love to do just that but I just can't and I appologize for that. But, if you want in, I'll guarantee you can find a buddy who will help you out.

And you know what?? Aside from coral propagation and the like, we are a group of friends with a common interest. You help your friends out when they need it. If you have special needs, use the PM system to work out stuff like this. There is ALWAYS a solution.

That said, we still have to move quickly on this and we must keep it simple. Therefore, if you need babysitting, please arrange for it yourself with members you know and trust. There are more than enough of us out there to take care of each other.

Very well said Jason.

 

[LtPiper]

Baby sitting not a problem. Delivery and pickup not a problem.

Finding out what the expeceted delivery date.......

 

[H.crispa]

I get what you are saying. Plan on 3 to 5 days past the deadline.

 

[Aquayne_wv]

Jason,

We must be allowed to communicate.

Wayne

 

[H.crispa]

I'm not saying you can't communicate. Please do. However, in order to make these things work, I have to have some sort of sign up sheet that is free of clutter. It gets really confusing trying to dig though a conversational thread trying to find out who is and who is not on board. Using PMs gets too complicated as well as my inbox fills up fast and combing through them gets tedious.

Wayne and everyone else, I'm not trying to be a kill-joy or anything. I'm just trying to make things as simple as possible in order to move as quickly as possible so we can get these things done. Perhaps there is a way I can manipulate a "poll" to use it as a sign up sheet??? I'm just trying things right now to simplify and expedite this part of the process.

 

[grendl]

I would suggest you would make two posts then, one detailing the buys, & for signups, & a 2nd that is linked to from the first where ppl can ask questions. Piper was asking a valid question, a 5 paragraph diatribe came across as harsh to me. I think that everyone here appreciates the GB. I wish I could appreciate it dammit. But apparently shrimp need to be kept in water.

damn water.

 

[fishmon]

I'm sure if you guys asked, your local lfs could work out something on a group buy from them. Just a thought, and it would keep the money locally where its needed. And at 4 a piece on that quantity thats not really all that cheap. Just a thought?

 

[H.crispa]

I'm sorry if I came across harsh. It was not my intent. One of the things about message boards I forget is that the 70% of communication that is non verbal is not present.

Sorry guys and gals.