Group Buys...

snapper21

Has this forum ever participated in group buys? When I was on a sportbike forum we did many group buys on race plastics, and other universally used parts/gear, and everyone prosperred. Company's usually like to cut prices for group buys especially to a forum that is getting as many "hits" as this one is. Would it be something of interest to the mass? Would this be against TOS?

Mike Finley

Sounds like it has potential, however you can't seem to get two people on here to agree to the same brand of anything.

MJW

I want a new miter saw and a portable saw table. If anyone has any interest in this or brands, size, etc... post it

slickshift

That's not true!
I had a Same Brand of Anything, it fell off the back of my truck and broke!
What a piece of
Don't ever buy the Same Brand of Anything

CGofMP

A group buy might be a cool idea. It has the potential of helping everyone involved from the supplier to the contractors to the board itself.

You might start off small.... Perhaps get folks to commit to buying something small and used almost universally such as 10 inch table saw blades or a pack of sawzall blades .... stuff that wears out frequently and that we are always using. Gloves come to mind this week but sizes and stuff might make it to complex.

Then move up to things that we buy less frequently.... Tape measures were discussed recently the Fat Max seeming to have a lot of fans. Such middle of the road items as Tape Measures, rechargeable batteries, and this sort of thing. Stuff that we might buy a couple times a year.

If that goes well then you could move to the high end stuff. Getting folks to all agree on a particular brand and model of router for instance is gonna be tough as Mr. Finley noted, but once ya get this rolling, and if the discounts are deep enough that it makes it worth the trrouble you'll get plenty of folks onboard.

You could user the DIY site to up your numbers a bit as well by cross posting it there.

__________________
Memorable Places - My little home on the web
Member of the White Knights Of Contractor Talk

King of Crown

I need a saw table. bosch preferably

__________________
Real nice guys

snapper21

Home depot has them.

It more ranged to tape measures, saw blades, recip blades, router bits, drill bits etc.. Items that frequently need replacing and such. Kneedraggers.com gave dcsportbikes.com a drop down menu at checkout that allowed an additional 15% after sale. Just an idea carried over from another board that succeeded with it. No it's not going to work with power tools unless there is a new product on the market that everyone wants.

King of Crown

that makes sense. I didnt think about that, but home depot doesnt cary bosch mitre saw tables. at least not here in AZ.

__________________
Real nice guys

Nathan

I think it would be hard to have people agree on stuff.
What we need is a card of some sort that some retailers would accept and give discounts with?

Just an idea...

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

snapper21

I'll be pooling with 2 cab. makers and a couple remodelers in June to order bulk Forrest blades. Forrest doesn't lock the deal into any particular blade, rather they give their discounted prices to us on orders above 10pc. I will post up before filling the order if anyone wants in. The only blade that they don't discount 30% or better is the dado. They open the offer for us every June and Dec. and also give sharpening packages with most orders.

davidwcox

Forrest is good count me in. I should be in need of a couple by then. My sharpener guy is rolling his eyes at my blades lately. buzz me when your ready

donb1959

I think it's a great idea. Volume purchaseing works, ask Sam Walton. I think that as paint contractors we can agree that Purdy makes a good brush. How much collectively do the paint contractors on this forum spend monthly on brushes, roller covers, caulk guns, etc..

We need to brainstorm this idea. Do you guys think Sherwin Williams would be open to the idea of having 25,50,100 or more paint contractors agree to purchase all their sundries/tools from them monthly for a discount?

Logistics would play a role, Nathan had a good idea, when we have negoiated with the supplier we would need them to issue a ContractorTalk.com buyers card of some sort which we would present at the time of purchase.

This has alot of potential, and is a win for everyone involved. We the contractors get a discount, the supplier gets a dedicated group of buyers, and Nathan gets his sites name out there.

Lets start throwing some ideas around, maybe we need to start a new thread specific to this discussion.

__________________
I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

Nathan

But then there is a question of how that card gets recognized. Is it just an ID that stores know about or is it some type of bar code or whatever that the store would have to be able to read?
There are a lot of stores out there (whatever type) and they would all have to know about this program somehow.

I thought of this about a year and a half ago but I don't think we had enough for it back then. Maybe now we do?

Question: Would members be willing to pay to be a part of this program if we could do it?
You guys know me and everything I do is free for contractors but the cost in printing a card and organizing this is probably more than a few banner ads can cover. Thoughts?

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

donb1959

I believe if the discount is deep enough that most would be willing to pay a membership fee.I think that an ID would suffice, they (the store) would need to keep track of sales through the program, so everyone would have an acct. # on the ID. A differant colored card or something would need to be issued every year in order to make sure that the ones recieveing discounts are still in good membership standing.

Ok, lets say for instance we're dealing with the Sherwin Williams nationwide. The deal would start at head quarters, and work its way down. The main thing would have to be showing the potential customer base of such a program, and having some numbers in mind. Maybe float a trial ballon to see how many would take advantage of such a program, and how much would be spent nationwide per month in sales to the store.

In order to move forward we really need to find out those of us who would be serious in considering such a program, putting some numbers together, and talking with SW brass.

__________________
I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

Nathan

Or, we may need to put together a network of smaller retailers that are willing to give discounts. Things like printers, apparel, yard signs, and online retailers.
Then, once we get enough people on board we could approach some larger stores with real proof. Make sense?

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

littlefatdog

check out the group buy section of maxima.org - that is a well organized forum/style website that actually draws retailers in to offer group buys without being asked.

Nathan

I actually don't like that to tell you the truth. It's basically a SPAM forum. Also, advertisers have to pay to post in that forum.

I don't think you would get any major companies by doing something like that.

__________________
Nathan

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

donb1959

Yes, but in order for this to work we would need the small retailers to be accessible to all of us. I think the online route is a good way to start. What you have built here is powerful Nate, and I'm sure online shops would feel the same way.

__________________
I fish therefore I am
http://www.shimmerz.biz

RowdyRed94

The simplest way is for someone to call a distributor and ask what their threshold for deep discounts is. Report back here with a specific thread and wait for enough people to commit.

So, if you're looking to buy something, make a few calls. Let us know what you find.

__________________
Clint - carpenter, coordinator, webmaster