[Spoon]

I am new to the forums and I've only participated in one group buy but it looks like something will be coming together for a nevada jacks custom 5 cent chip or *maybe* a non-denominational chip.

I was just wondering what kind of effort it is to organize a group buy. Here's my best guess.

Be in contact with vendor (seems easy enough, already started)
Post poll or discussion for colors etc here in CT
Post Discussion thread for orders and keeping track of chip numbers
Determine pricing
Accepting payment
Packaging chips (might need some pointers here)
Shipping chips (shouldn't be too bad through USPS online)

Am I missing anything?
Is packing and shipping lots of chips a huge PITA?

[jojobinks]

my recommendation; don't ask the masses. go to those that have done it.

off the top of my head: nanook, warewulf, harlequin, joshuadalton, and tenpercenter are active guys around here that have gone through the process. pm them and see if any of them are willing to chat.

[Vince]

Two key things you need are:
Time and patience!

[blobe]

i would add a third thing, patience

[Spoon]

ok...so maybe I am opening up a can of worms here...but where does the patience come in...

A. Waiting for people to commit?
B. Choosing color/design?
C. Communicating with the vendor?
D. Waiting for chips to ship?

or all of the above?

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by Spoon

ok...so maybe I am opening up a can of worms here...but where does the patience come in...

A. Waiting for people to commit?
B. Choosing color/design?
C. Communicating with the vendor?
D. Waiting for chips to ship?

or all of the above?

E. All of the above.

This is a HUGE commitment. One that can seriously blow up in your face. You're responsible for a lot of people's money, and that can lead to some pretty bad situations if you don't handle it 100% perfectly.

[ky70]

Originally Posted by Vince

Two key things you need are:
Time and patience!

No doubt. You will be dealing with many different personalities and no matter how responsive you are, you may not meet the expectations of all.

Also, you will be at the mercy of the quality of the product as you will be expected to "make right" any perceived wrongs by the group buy participants (this may include product that actually meets your quality standards).

I have plenty of respect for those that organize group buys and I commend them as I myself do not have the patience to deal with a lot of whining (I'm not referring to "legitimate" complaints).

[sunderB]

Another thing to consider is your standing in this community. People may be concerned about sending money off to an unknown with no established reputation (to the long time members - not a direct reference to the rep system)

I see that you have only a few posts here, so it may be difficult for you to gain other's trust with their money quickly. Perhaps you can begin the discussion, and ask for a more established participant to take over or take the lead once the ball gets rolling.

Also, last I heard, Kim at NJ was actually handling GB's on custom denoms herself. She was asking people to submit their requests via e-mail, and when they reached the minimum qty for a custom order, she would let everyone know their pricing and start accepting payments. I would give Kim at NJ a call and ask.

[Nexttime]

How many times has paypal locked a group buy coordinators account temporarily at the close of a group buy? It's happened a couple of times now right? Not that the person did anything wrong, just that when paypal sees a large increase in traffic they get nervous.

[Spoon]

First off, thanks to all for the comments. Nothing like posting a question and watching it slowly die in a sea of newer posts.

Originally Posted by sunderB

Another thing to consider is your standing in this community. People may be concerned about sending money off to an unknown with no established reputation (to the long time members - not a direct reference to the rep system)

I see that you have only a few posts here, so it may be difficult for you to gain other's trust with their money quickly. Perhaps you can begin the discussion, and ask for a more established participant to take over or take the lead once the ball gets rolling.

Also, last I heard, Kim at NJ was actually handling GB's on custom denoms herself. She was asking people to submit their requests via e-mail, and when they reached the minimum qty for a custom order, she would let everyone know their pricing and start accepting payments. I would give Kim at NJ a call and ask.

I have been bouncing back and forth between CT and the NJ forums and I emailed Kim directly. She said usually members will organize group buys but she stepped up since no one had done so yet. I asked her if she would try to coordinate the color choice or qty's on the NJ forum and she said she would just do it by email.

I also asked her if there was anything I could do to help, this was her response.

I would actually prefer that you co-ordinate the group buy. I usually don't handle the group buys and let the customers do it but it wasn't going anywhere on the forum so I stepped in. At this time I only have interests in 500 chips total from the forum and the only color suggestion is the grey (same as the NJ $1000 grey chip). If I handle the group buy it will be via email. The price break is at 5,000 chips. Let me know if you would like me to hand it over to you.

So, it sounds like she would handle it but I thought some people would miss out if they didn't see Kim's post on the NJ forums and it also sounds like there's some interest in getting a 5c chip and/or a non-denom. I know I haven't been here long but I thought this might be a nice way to contribute to the forums.

I was also thinking since this a fairly specific buy and the only decision is color that it would be more straightforward then say the WTF/STFU buy.

Either way, I don't mind doing the legwork if one of the more reputable members would be willing to take the paypal, take the chip shipment and ship out the chips.

Also, I don't know if it makes a difference but I've got nothing but positive feedback on Ebay and I'm a mod on an R/C Car forum with a few thousand posts.