Thread: Discussion regarding future requirements for group buys

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Originally Posted by madmax

Like others have said if anyone does another GB it needs to be payment first, with a rough est of shipping cost, with the understanding the cost could be higher.

Eyegore was also charging exactly what the item cost him (ex: $1.00 per skull). Ideally, a little bit of padding should be built in across the board for "everyone", not just those paying via PayPal. Example: 5% was added for those paying via PayPal. Instead, 5% should have been added to everyone's order.

There are a variety of reasons for adding the padding to all orders (gas to pick up items, uhaul may be needed if large items/order, etc). Mainly though, PayPal's terms of service indicate that you cannot charge one person more than another just for the being able to pay via PayPal. Doing so can get your account suspended. Adding it to everyone's order (an not singling out PayPal users only) would comply with PP's terms of service so there would not be issues in the future for the seller. Plus, the prices for GB's are so low, adding 5 or 10 percent still gives a significant savings over retail. The padding would not be a major amount.

I knew of of PayPals guideline but disregarded on the skull GB because I knew Eyegore was already doing it for rock-bottom price with no profit involved; I didn't want him to eat the fees for my convenience.

I paid him with a check I'd have to check with my husband, by I don't think he's cashed it yet. I haven't mentioned any of this to hubby yet. I'm hesitant cuz I'll never hear the end of it

On the Blucky GB, we paid for shipping. I don't remember the exact but I thought it was $10 flat plus an additional $2 for each Blucky. I do not know what actual shipping costs would be for a Blucky (as most vendors overcharge for shipping or ship for free, which I would assume that as he had a large order, he would have received free shipping.). Either he miscalculated on the shipping or he was enticing us in with the low shipping costs with no intention of sending out the purchases.

Originally Posted by toddsdarlin

On the Blucky GB, we paid for shipping. I don't remember the exact but I thought it was $10 flat plus an additional $2 for each Blucky. I do not know what actual shipping costs would be for a Blucky (as most vendors overcharge for shipping or ship for free, which I would assume that as he had a large order, he would have received free shipping.). Either he miscalculated on the shipping or he was enticing us in with the low shipping costs with no intention of sending out the purchases.

But it doesn't matter if he got free shipping from the supplier (which I doubt). The shipping charge was to ship from him to you.

As has been mentioned, if someone wants to be dishonest no rule/guideline is going to stop that. What is needed is something to help organizers and participants who go in to these deals with good intentions.

It seems to me that what might help is a sort of 'how-to' document created by GB organizers for future organizers, a document that will give examples of just how much space x pieces of y will take up - do you have room to store it all? Warn about having to repack and ship to each participant - how many can you really handle and do you know where to get the boxes/packaging? Also guides for what needs to be communicated to the participants, sources for cheap/free boxes, etc.

A how-to for the participants to explain what the organizer will have to do and deal with - manufacturer delays, damaged goods, with appropriate warnings on possible delays - could help as well.

Most thing I've seen mentioned that should be guidelines - requiring tracking, insurance, paypal, etc - strike me as things that should be determined by the organizer. If the organizer wants to require tracking, then potential participants can decide if they want to pay the extra or not. If the organizer is willing to use different shipping methods based on buyer requests, then that's their choice. However, some suggestions - with explanations - should be given in the how-to guidelines, such as what Larry mentioned about using tracking numbers to protect yourself.

I know I'm a newbie here, just contributing my 2 cents.

The more I think about it the more I think tracking should be strongly encouraged, if we can't force people to do it. For something small and cheap like the LEDs in bulk that I just did, UPS for a $14 package almost doubles the price and kills the deal. But for anything expensive, over $30-50, having the organizer flat out refuse to offer tracking looks bad. I'd still want it sent the cheaper way if the item was small enough to send out 1st class or in a small Priority box, but for anything larger, I want the option to get it through UPS. Since rules can't be enforced on this kind of thing, as an alternative I would encourage everyone on the forum to ignore any group buy for expensive items where the organizer "doesn't want to deal" with obtaining tracking. After what happened I don't think anyone would consider joining a group buy without tracking anymore anyway.

I haven't shipped UPS. All of my packages go by USPS. I had one problem with the service, and was because of the way I packged the item. Since then, all items were received without an incident, even items shipped overseas. Tracking numbers come with shipping Priority Mail. It doesn't seem too hard for me to use this service. I can make sure the item was received, by checking the tracking number, just in case someone wants to dispute not receiving it.

I will continue shipping with USPS. I haven't seen any cause for a change.

Tracking numbers are always provided when using UPS and FeDeX. Only the USPS charges a fee for delivery confirmation.

I think a lot of it depends on what you are shipping as to what service is best. We pretty much ship everything USPS unless it is a really large or heavy order. It seems as the USPS is always cheaper for the smaller stuff. I won't ship anything out without delivery confirmation on it. It's free with the Priority Mail service and costs me 19 cents to add to Parcel Service which I gladly eat. If for no other reason I can track what I ship and make sure it got there. If you are purchasing your postage through PayPal, all of the notifications are sent to the buyer automatically when the label is purchased and all of the info is archived in the seller's account for easy access. Not saying it is perfect by any means, but it works and it is very cost effective.