Any interest in a Discus Co-op?

[brewmaster15]

Hi all,

I was thinking about how expensive everything is that we use in this Hobby and was thinking about starting a Discus Co-op ....

I don't envision it as a retail storefront, but instead a preorder type of place....where we pool our buying power and place orders for equipment , foods and meds. WE may be able to get prices good enough to make it work.

I know this isn't a novell idea, its been done by several on a limited scale... I am proposing expanding it.

What I see is different people here taking turns "hosting" an item that we bulk purchase.... Maybe on one order I would work with a food supplier, bring it in and ship it out to those that preordered it... another time so and so , in calif would do so with heaters. This way no one bears the burden of an inventory and no one profits from the group order. Several people interested in spear heading this could act as negotiators with suppliers.

With a little planning... it might work. Many of us use many of the same products..

NOt sure if it would work... but we have a few Food co-ops in Connecticut that do very well like this.

If its successful, maybe The newly formed NADA can take it over once they are up and running. ..not to put additional work on them now. :)

Opinions? ideas? thoughts?

-al

Ps...
Theres no hidden agenda or motive in this idea, its not a money making business scheme, its just an idea to save us all money. Participation would be open to everyone and information can be posted on all Discus information sites via a mailing list.

[DarkDiscus]

Could be cool. Seems like a lot of work - would need someone to be on top of things at all times.

John

[Anonapersona]

One way to make it work is to divide the buy into equal shares, maybe 10, and the "dealer" takes one share as his fee, the others pay 10% over wholesale plus all shipping fees. It's the shipping fees that make or break it.

[JeffreyRichard]

I'm in ... I have a lot of contacts from my hatchery days, so I can get some stuff at really good prices. Let me know what you are envisioning ...

[Don_Lee]

I would be interested........ :)

[AADiscus]

I think that would be cool! It sure would make things easier to get everything you need at one time instead of order here and there and spending so much in shipping. Sometimes if you need just like med. or something, you pay just as much shipping as you do for the product.
To beable to get a one stop shopping would be great.

It could be called Discus World. :)

[bikhu]

Count me in to support this venture. Let me know how I can help.
peter

[heckelcrazy]

great idea but how about this as a twist. Group deals for the "club"
ie. paid up card carrying members of NADA (for example) could quote their membership number when ordering supplies from a designated club associated list of businesses and by doing so recieve say 10-20% off the cost of that product/discus. This would probably involve less legwork for each individual who was to coordinate one of these bulk orders you were talking about. i agree that you would likely get a better price the way you are talking about but much more work.

just my 2 cents worth
aran

[brewmaster15]

Hi Aran,
Thanks for the thoughts here. If NADA gets involved in this down the road , that maybe something for them to consider.

At this point NADA has enough on their Plate :) and I haven't even approached them with the idea... This is something that if started would most likely occur outside of Nada for the time being, but I would have no problem with turning over to them should the organization want to run it.


At this point its just something I'm kicking around which would hopefully benefit this sites membership and individuals elsewhere that wanted to participate.

-al

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Here is an article that Barry Nab Dahl of the Minnesota Aquarium Society wrote on a Fish Store Co-op of sorts back in 1999. A really good read.

http://www.mn-aquarium.org/masart49.htm

[Anonapersona]

I found this site awhile back that allows aquarium groups to get wholesale prices apparantly, but they require single shipments of $250 or more.

And, I will point out that the person doing the deal may have to work through lost or damaged shipments. I participated in a group buy of some compact flourescent bulbs and one shipment from the group buyer to the individual was destroyed in transit, not mine fortunately, but the buyer has a lot of work to go through to get it settled for the individual purchaser. With no profit to the buyer, that was a big cost in time unpaid.

[Cosmo]

Al,

Think it's a great idea to explore. Like Ann's thoughts on the 10% thing since the one exorbing the initial cost and labor should get something. Aran's idea was good too, but maybe we'd have to do it without NADA?

Had talked of something like this with a couple other members regarding NLS Discus Pellets, but. still can't get my fish TO EAT THE STUFF!! ARRRRGGH!

I'm a purchasing agent by profession (not aquarium supplies though), so if I can help let me know - would think some of the moderators with up and running business's should have some good contacts already too.

Wish you would have proposed this a few months ago before I spent all my money on new equip for a fish room though :'(

Jim

[brewmaster15]

Thanks Jim! and everyone else that posted. I'd like to explore this but only if theres alot of support. I think I might try a test run with one product...

Thoughts on what we may as group benefit from by buying in bulk?

-al

[oodi]

Al,

My suggestion would be a product that we all need to purchase on a regular basis. The first thing that comes to mind would be a food product.

Judi
:)

[BrianNY]

I really think this is an excellent idea. I'd even expand on this a little further........

I know Al has spoken to my wife (Tara), about taking vacations. It's tough to leave for any period of time and worry about all of the maintaining that goes into our discus tanks. Wouldn't it be great to have some sort of buddy system where someone experienced could care for our fish while we're away?

[FarWaters]

I would be willing to help in any way that I can. I spent two years as an investment banker and five as a stockbroker, so I have a little business sense (enough sense to get out anyway). If you are looking at items we all use, I agree with starting with food. Also, meds and filters. There are plenty of items to buy, but the staples are a good start. And I don't see anything wrong with someone devoting time to the project and making a profit. I would suggest a three tier system to allow someone to be paid for their hours, it would also allow greater discounts for purchases in bulk. The only downside to my suggestion is that it requires an inventory. I would suggest the following…

1st tier would be people actually creating the co-op and running it day to day. That would be you guys that run this board daily, you would get actual cost plus shipping.

2nd tier would be users and supporters of this site. The site could advertise and send its users to a site designated to sell the co-op products, they would get a special price, say 12% above cost plus shipping (cheaper than anywhere else on the net).

3rd tier would involve the world of internet users. The designate site would sell discus specific products that are tested by the professionals that use them everyday (the same people that would create a co-op). The people would come to the site through normal means and would purchase items at a fair market price.

This would allow someone to make a profit while holding an inventory. Everyone would benefit. I know that I moved from Florida and the fish farmers association had something similar to this where they received pricing according to their membership type. I would jump at the opportunity to head this up, but I am planning on moving to a larger facility sometime in the next four months. It is actually a great opportunity for someone to get a good business started. In fact, if no one jumps on this, I would do it myself after I get settled in with this boards support.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to steal anyone’s idea. I just see an opportunity for everyone to benefit. Anyway, just throwing that out there. You are free to tear up my suggestion in whatever ways makes you happy.
Jerry

[Cosmo]

Couple thoughts after reading the post.

First, isn't a co-op where members pay in and reap the lower overall cost? Florida Fish Farms is probably a good example though I'm not sure how they actually do their internals, financing wise.

Holding inventory is expensive and therefore adds to the end cost even the co-op members pay so unless this were to grow to a business where outside (non members) bought sufficient volumes the overheads could kill the sought after benefits.

Next, my initial thought on this was that select members, or, volunteers, could shell out the front money to make the bulk purchase on a case by case, or item by item basis, then distribute to others who have committed to purchase the same item at a small markup covering some time and cost of money considerations. Distributee's would pay their own shipping.

In this scenario, there would be no need to hold stock of numerous products, and in theory at least any member looking to purchase something could make a post seeking others looking to buy the same product and the volume could be formed in that manner. Maybe we'd need another "Main Discussion Topic" page just for this?

Question would then be, how to best negotiate the best price as all members may or may not be proficient at negotiating, or, know where to look.

Perhaps a solution to this would be a sourcing and negotiating committee? The co-op could then either pay the committee members a percentage of the overall purchase (commission), or, the committee could work gratis with any commission (if any) going to either Simply, or, promoting the co-op to other fish (non Discus) user groups as things such as meds and equip cross over all the various fish types.

Just a few thoughts
Jim

[paletka]

Hi Al,

Great idea I'm In !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris

[Cosmo]

So where does this go from here ??

Next Steps??

[tdr1919]

This can be very good, I have done it with a Sports car group, as all items for classic cars are expensive, we would do group buys, and it all worked out quite well.
Tom R.

[tdr1919]

Al,

My suggestion would be a product that we all need to purchase on a regular basis. The first thing that comes to mind would be a food product.

Judi
:)
How about freeze dried bloodworms (Hikari), thats a product we could probably buy by the case(s). my discus eat the freeze dried bloodworms like my kids eat potato chips!
Tom R

[jimmyhat]

I really think this is an excellent idea. I'd even expand on this a little further........

I know Al has spoken to my wife (Tara), about taking vacations. It's tough to leave for any period of time and worry about all of the maintaining that goes into our discus tanks. Wouldn't it be great to have some sort of buddy system where someone experienced could care for our fish while we're away?


Yeah im trying to get a buddy into this hobby so i can travel safely...

I wanna hit the rainforest this year or next when the rains show up... Cannot do it with 5 tanks and many discus...