Group Buys

[caserri]

Just a thought that has been kicking around in my head for a while. 

I was thinking if we banded together we could put together an order that would allow us to take advantage of volume pricing. Anyone who wants to be included in the buy would have the opportunity to purchase at the discounted rate no matter how many units they desire. This can be done with any manufacturer but we would have to wait until we reached a sufficient amount of product before we could order.

This is also possible with locators as well. It will allow operators to get 1 location for the same price as if they were buying 100.

I like the idea as it allows all of us to benefit from lower pricing however I have not worked out all the details yet. Things like shipping to individual members will obviously take a chunk out of the savings.

Does anyone else have any input on this? Lets all give this some thought to see if something like this can be achieved.

I will say that I have been working with a pipe stand manufacturer who has agreed to sell their new pipe stands to us for $18.00 each with a minimum order of 100 stands. The roadblock to this is shipping. The 100 (or more) stands can only be shipped to 1 address. They do not drop ship so the added expense in shipping these things out to the individual vendors will probably negate any cost savings.

Let me know what you all think about putting together some sort of plan like this. If we can get the details worked out, we can all benefit from lower prices.

Steve

[Vendingguy]

That's an outstanding idea, and would love to get in on the action......But you are right, any savings that we may have will go away with the shipping costs to each member......If somehow a manufacture understands it's 100 machines shipped to 25-50 people, or it no sales at all, maybe they'll be receptive, who knows, it is worth a try.....If you need any help setting up the details, just ask

[caserri]

Yeah, the machine manufacturers I've spoken to about this said they would "rather not" ship to so many multiple addresses. One even told me that they did this before and people were saying they never received the machines. It was a nightmare to track.

So once again, we as a community are stricken with the after effects of a past deal, for someone else, that went wrong! Sound familiar? I hope so because we often times get blamed, or loose a potential location due to the actions of the previous bulk vendor.

If anyone has any ideas on how to distribute the items let me know. I'm not giving up on this!

 Locators, on the other hand, have no shipping costs. Another idea I had was to purchase a "block" of locations from a reputable locator at one time. Negotiate a reasonable lump sum price for the whole lot and divide the cost by the number of locations available. Then anyone on the board who needs less than 10 locations can get them for the volume price. 10 seems to be the price break point for most locators.

Thoughts? Lets get some dialog going here to get the ideas flowing.

Steve

"The bulk fire burns within!"

 

 

[grumpy]

Steve not much of an idea, but I do love your new signature

Try online distributors they have the most experience when doing multiple shippings.

grumpy

[AmuseStar Vending Co]

Sounds good. You could send them to yourself, and ship the from your house to us?

[jimbo]

Yeah, the machine manufacturers I've spoken to about this said they would "rather not" ship to so many multiple addresses. One even told me that they did this before and people were saying they never received the machines. It was a nightmare to track.

So once again, we as a community are stricken with the after effects of a past deal, for someone else, that went wrong! Sound familiar? I hope so because we often times get blamed, or loose a potential location due to the actions of the previous bulk vendor.

If anyone has any ideas on how to distribute the items let me know. I'm not giving up on this!

 Locators, on the other hand, have no shipping costs. Another idea I had was to purchase a "block" of locations from a reputable locator at one time. Negotiate a reasonable lump sum price for the whole lot and divide the cost by the number of locations available. Then anyone on the board who needs less than 10 locations can get them for the volume price. 10 seems to be the price break point for most locators.

Thoughts? Lets get some dialog going here to get the ideas flowing.

Steve

"The bulk fire burns within!"

 

 

Steve, one way around this, as far machines, stands and even product is to go thru a freight foreworder. Ive done it once with machines and once with product from TJ King that I didnt Like the freight quote TJ gave me.

These forearders do so much shipping that they usually have better rates anyway as the manufacturers usually use UPS which are high.

So we could buy at groups rates thru select suppliers and ship thru a freight forewarding company but under different purchase orders (consignee).

All the manufacturer would have to do would be to have a pallet ready with the merchandise and correct purchase order#.

Jimbo

[caserri]

So we could buy at groups rates thru select suppliers and ship thru a freight forewarding company but under different purchase orders (consignee).

I don't know what you mean but I think I like it! Please go on. Are you saying that we could have the entire order shipped from the manufacturer to the forwarder. Then the forwarder would split everything up and send it on to each member?

If thats how it works it may be something to look at. Do you have anymore info?

Steve

[jimbo]

There is something called ltl in the freight biz. essentially, a truck, Bestway, Conway, Yellow freight, whoever, run a trailer that has multiple pallets from different shippers, usually a small business. So on one truck, you may have many pallets going to many different places.

A freight forewarder has contracts with these trucking companies who are just wanting to carry a full load. So, as a group we buy say AA machines at group rate for vendiscuss. AA makes up our pallet, we call freight forewarder who makes bill of lading charging us at, again group rate, and say three different purchase orders get   picked up by the same truck but going to three different places and three different people.

Our group rate is based on how much volume we do together as long as it is going to locations in continental US.

Now, Jimbo in California will pay more for his freight from AA than Steve in MA, but the discount would still apply, usually a flat%.

Jimbo

[davidsurvz]

I've heard of this before (the shipping stuff)  just never heard all of these details. Sounds like a good idea.

David

[T BIRD]

Sounds like a great idea!  

[Beer980]

Some of the larger freight forwarders have negotiated lower rates with national carriers. I have had people come to our terminal to drop off a shipment but arranged a lower rate through a freight forwarder then we could quote them. Doesn't make sense but we must still make money off it or we would not do it. All LTL trucks are packed as full as they can get them to go from terminal to terminal and some companies wait until the truck is really packed before sending it down the road. Skids do get stacked on top of other skids if they are flat and stable. Sometimes they do crush what is on the bottom skid if it can't support the weight. This does not happen often but people do make mistakes. The best solution is to use decking that goes over the freight and is attatched to the wall to prevent this type of damage. There is a chance that it may not stay on the deck if it is not secured also but it is the best bet. This is good for them profit wise but it may delay shipments by a few days if it has to travel some distance. You will need to ask questions from the forwarder like: Does the trucking company use decking? What is the on time percentage? What is the damage percentage?

[caserri]

HMMM, Interesting indeed. There seems to be quite a few members on here with knowledge of various things that may prove useful in getting this put together. I can definitely work with the manufacturers and use our community buying power to make a deal if someone more knowledgeable with shipping can come up with some sort of plan to distribute the product.

Keep the ideas coming. If we all work together and pitch in with what we are each knowledgeable about we can make this happen and save some cash too!

Steve

[Vendingguy]

In any case Steve, until we can get the details worked out about buying machines in bulk, having the option of buying a locator service in bulk is also a great idea.

I'm new to vending, but walking into a place of business to ask if I can put a machine on site still makes me nervous......It makes me feel like a kid again, scared to ask a girl out because of fear of rejection.  Well almost, but you understand, I'm sure.  Having the ease of a reputable locator on call will make this business much more enjoyable, and allow more time to do more constructive things during the day.....

Again Steve, call if you need help

[gemstate]

I have to say I like the idea of a reputable locator with this bulk order in mind as well. I'm also sure a good locator wouldn't mind all the business. I do think that we must be very picky on a locator and make sure to suggest to them that we expect a good job, decent guarantee on locations and great rates as well as customer service to the members. I think with this mass approach we can pretty much govern ethical, honest locators and make them aware that we will not tolerate, as a community any shenanigans.

[gemstate]

Had another couple of thoughts on the Locators. We should probably not make the locators available to anyone that is not in the members + forum as we want true Vendiscuss members to participate. Also, there is nothing that says more than one locator can't participtate under the guidelines set up by the Forum members. Multiple Locators should be represented so as not to discriminate, unless of course there is a problem with one. Guidelines must be set and followed for them to participate, at least in my opinion. Any opinions on this?

[jimbo]

Some of the larger freight forwarders have negotiated lower rates with national carriers. I have had people come to our terminal to drop off a shipment but arranged a lower rate through a freight forwarder then we could quote them. Doesn't make sense but we must still make money off it or we would not do it. All LTL trucks are packed as full as they can get them to go from terminal to terminal and some companies wait until the truck is really packed before sending it down the road. Skids do get stacked on top of other skids if they are flat and stable. Sometimes they do crush what is on the bottom skid if it can't support the weight. This does not happen often but people do make mistakes. The best solution is to use decking that goes over the freight and is attatched to the wall to prevent this type of damage. There is a chance that it may not stay on the deck if it is not secured also but it is the best bet. This is good for them profit wise but it may delay shipments by a few days if it has to travel some distance. You will need to ask questions from the forwarder like: Does the trucking company use decking? What is the on time percentage? What is the damage percentage?

Right, one thing to watch out for is to make sure, especially with vending machines, it is that they are using the right class which is usually class 70, the lower the class, the cheaper but also they will run it with more inductrial stuff, engines etc. and/or rail it which is rough on it.

Jimbo