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Hi folks!
Sorry if this has already been started somewhere else - I looked but couldn't find anything relevant.

One thing that I haven't seen on these forums is group buys. Times being what they are - tight and uncertain - I'm of the opinion that it makes sense to try to save a bit of cash when buying common items. You know, anything from ammo in common calibers, to popular firearms, etc. A lot of the more cost effective deals out there seem to typically be for larger quantities, which can tend to create a higher barrier to entry. I know I can't afford to drop $200+ on 1,000 rounds of 9mm, but a portion of that? Sure. Same with rifles - there are great deals out there on crates of firearms that end up equalling some pretty sick savings per gun, but require a hefty investment. Obviously can't afford an entire crate, but ~$100 for a solid surplus rifle I can definitely do. I'd even be interested in going in on emergency supplies together.

So, really just want to gauge interest on organizing some group buys to save everyone here a bit of scratch.

Thoughts?
 
The idea of group buys intrigues me, but how do you agree on what to buy?
I want a crate of 1911s, but you want a crate of Glocks.
I want 1k rounds of SWC for target shoots, you want +P JHP.
I need lots of .22 standard velocity, but you don't.
etc...etc...

If you can organize it, though, I'm interested.
 
Ah, but 5.56 M193 or M855? Metal or Polymer mags?

Or alternatively, find a smoking deal on something you might do anyway, like when Palmetto has D&H mags at around $8-shipped when you buy 20 or more and say "when we have 20 signups I'll put the order in."
 
I like the idea.

Last one we did, the organizer got hosed in the deal.

You need all the money up front for the buyer to pay for the shipment. That's either a LOT of cash straight from the organizer or some system of buyers paying the organizer and then TRUSTING that they don't steal your money.

Then there is the space required to securely store the items when they get dropped off and organizing pick ups.

It's a massive cluster F.

Count on 30% at least for people that are "in" but back out last min etc.


+ @Joe Link has to give his blessing on the transaction I believe but could be wrong.




Not trying to kill the mood, it is just a much larger task then a majority of people here are capable of making happen.

Our last buy:
image.jpeg

^^ 70k of 9mm @$160/1000

This is how much came down to Portland:

image.jpeg

^^ 7,000 rounds

Only 2k went to one person who took me up on the offer to do the driving to tacoma. The other 5k went to my friends.


I'd estimate there were around 20 people in Portland who on the original thread say "I'll take 1k", "I'd take 3k" etc. Not 1 person other then myself made the drive up and the buyer had to sell on Armslist and other ways.

Yea it made it $8/50 rounds but it didn't go anywhere near planned - and 9mm was around $12-13 at the time.


So, if you give the money to someone to make the buy you could get hosed and loose your money -$50,000 is enough for some people to "drop the ball" and everyone loses their money or you could be waiting months befor enough people sign up and pre pay for the order to even happen.


Group buys sound good but are a nightmare for the organizer and buyers alike.

Also, I'd stick with non FFL items as that just makes it worse - case in point, the NWFA buy that everyone wanted an NWFA engraved lower in the thread but once they were bought loads of people bailed and now Joe L is still sitting on a huge pile of them.
 
I really like the idea of group buys but it seems that they always end up being more hassle than their worth (even if everything goes according to plan). Off the top of my head I'd guess that over the years I've seen around a third of group buys run into issues, such as shipping delays, people not honoring their commitment, theft of funds, etc.

@Joe13 is correct. In an attempt to try to avoid some of these issues we require approval for all group buys posted here. At the very least we require the person organizing the buy is an established member who has been here a while.

My preferred way of handling group buys is to get a business involved. It's best if it's the business selling the items, holding the cash until they've received enough to honor the discount. If that's not possible a third party business sometimes works, maybe taking a little off the top for the trouble.

I'm open to hearing suggestions, but risk mitigation is our top priority :)
 
My preferred way of handling group buys is to get a business involved. It's best if it's the business selling the items, holding the cash until they've received enough to honor the discount

That seems like a good way to handle things. Are there local businesses that would work with us for this kind of thing? It seems like it could be mutually beneficial - we get a good deal, the LGS gets a confirmed buy. Could even agree with the dealer that whatever isn't payed for in ~60 days they can keep to price and sell at their discretion. That might help mitigate the perceived risk on the business owner's side.
 
That seems like a good way to handle things. Are there local businesses that would work with us for this kind of thing? It seems like it could be mutually beneficial - we get a good deal, the LGS gets a confirmed buy. Could even agree with the dealer that whatever isn't payed for in ~60 days they can keep to price and sell at their discretion. That might help mitigate the perceived risk on the business owner's side.

I'd have to ask around but some of our Supporting Vendors may be up for it. I would depend on what the item was, of course.
 
Cash up front to a vendor will stop most if not all last minute dropouts and since it is a business the chance of them walking with everyones cash is very minimal.
 
I got in on a local X-Treme bullet buy a couple of years ago. It was a savings but had to wait a long time for it to come to fruition.
I was in on one as well and it may have been the same one. I believe we used PayPal for payment. It was a good deal, but yes, it took awhile to get everyone to sign up and you still had to pay shipping if you didn't want to drive to Vancouver. Lot of work for the organizer.

A good lesson in how running a small business can be a tremendous amount of work with a very small return on investment.
 
I like the idea.

Last one we did, the organizer got hosed in the deal.

You need all the money up front for the buyer to pay for the shipment. That's either a LOT of cash straight from the organizer or some system of buyers paying the organizer and then TRUSTING that they don't steal your money.

Then there is the space required to securely store the items when they get dropped off and organizing pick ups.

It's a massive cluster F.

Count on 30% at least for people that are "in" but back out last min etc.


+ Joe Link has to give his blessing on the transaction I believe but could be wrong.




Not trying to kill the mood, it is just a much larger task then a majority of people here are capable of making happen.

Our last buy:
View attachment 312326

^^ 70k of 9mm @$160/1000

This is how much came down to Portland:

View attachment 312331

^^ 7,000 rounds

Only 2k went to one person who took me up on the offer to do the driving to tacoma. The other 5k went to my friends.


I'd estimate there were around 20 people in Portland who on the original thread say "I'll take 1k", "I'd take 3k" etc. Not 1 person other then myself made the drive up and the buyer had to sell on Armslist and other ways.

Yea it made it $8/50 rounds but it didn't go anywhere near planned - and 9mm was around $12-13 at the time.


So, if you give the money to someone to make the buy you could get hosed and loose your money -$50,000 is enough for some people to "drop the ball" and everyone loses their money or you could be waiting months befor enough people sign up and pre pay for the order to even happen.


Group buys sound good but are a nightmare for the organizer and buyers alike.

Also, I'd stick with non FFL items as that just makes it worse - case in point, the NWFA buy that everyone wanted an NWFA engraved lower in the thread but once they were bought loads of people bailed and now Joe L is still sitting on a huge pile of them.

Gun owners (by large) are largely apathetic. Yup. I once was ready to order a crate or two of Mosins like a year and a half ago... not a dime came through so no order.

I used to tell buddies that if they wanted ammo they could load it here and I would pick up supplies and they could pay me back. Guess how that worked out? Now they supply their own stuff, I don't supply any of it.

I'll gladly shell out money to a trusted member on here for a group of the price was right and it fit my interests. Never again will I be the financier...
 
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