a group buy and lakeland bushcraft - a two part question

[phaserrifle]

I am currently looking at setting up a group buy for members of the scout group I help out at, as we recently went on a survival camp and a number expressed interest in aquiring a mora clipper (and a number of other smaller items) obviously as they are all under 18, I will be requiring their parents consent for any age restricted items (sharps, matches, lighters et al) and these items will be turned over to parents, not to the kids (got to keep on the right side of legal).

the company I am looking at using is lakeland bushcraft as they seem to have a decent prices on the items in question.

my questions are:
1) are there any other things I need to think about for setting up a group buy (I've never run anything like it before)
2) is lakeland bushcraft a reliable company?
and finally
3) would it be worth contacting them beforehand, to see if they have any kind of setup for group buys?

 

[g4ghb]

my questions are:
1) are there any other things I need to think about for setting up a group buy (I've never run anything like it before)
2) is lakeland bushcraft a reliable company?
and finally
3) would it be worth contacting them beforehand, to see if they have any kind of setup for group buys?

1 - keep LOADS of notes and records and keep on top of it as you go along
2 - Yes - Mark (Lurch) is a member here
3 - I would - best to work out what you want then ask what they can do

 

[korvin karbon]

Great company to deal with, as for a discount, im not sure they are quite cheap already. Worst thing you can do is NOT ask.

 

[British Red]

1) NOt too bad
2) Yes
3) Yes



Lurch is a good guy and I've had loads of bits through him - never had a problem

Red

 

[Shewie]

I think the thing with running a GB is 90% of the time you don't really know the interested persons from Adam, only a user name on an internet site. At least doing the one you're looking at, you'll probably know everybody anyway, trusting that they're going to pay up when the time comes isn't really an issue (hopefully).
When I've done them on here, like Graham says, just keep plenty of notes of who's interested, who's actually paid, who you've posted out to and then finally who's received the goods once they've been posted.

Mark's a top bloke and will do his best to be competetive no doubt, very approachable and should come up trumps.

You could shop around once you've got an idea of numbers but you probably won't make massive savings and it's good to support the local community

 

[Logit]

you have pm....

 

[rancid badger]

I had experience of 'group purchasing' during my 10 years as an A.C.F. instructor.

You WILL find, that kids who say they want stuff, even when parents are fully involved, WILL drop out, UNLESS you take all monies up front.

We did a few of these ''bulk buy' things and the first one we did was a night mare, kids wanted all sorts of gear, which we included in our order, then the little bxxxxxs couldn't or wouldn't pay up! It wasn't a major issue as such, as the lad who paid the bill got his money back from H.Q. and the unwanted gear went into stores. I would imagine it's a different ball game with boy scouts.

After that, we sent out notices to parents,informing them of our 'special purchase' offers,telling them, that if they wanted to purchase anything on the list; they had to pay in advance and actually in person, not via the cadet.
This covered a multitude of possibly unpleasant eventual outcomes,not least; " The Sergeant says I have to have..etc etc" mind you, we never organised anything for edged tools of any description. ( against County regulations)

Funnily enough;:bluThinki County H.Q. were happy to sell cheap, lockblade, multi tools to the kids, when away for annual camps but were not happy about us teaching the kids safe knife skills, with these same tools

Anyway I digress, Get ALL the money up front, from the parents and issue receipts. The name of the game is to cover your axxe

Good luck

cheers

R.B.

 

[Aliwren]

I can only repeat Lakeland Bushcraft (Lurch) Is great to deal with

 

[phaserrifle]

You WILL find, that kids who say they want stuff, even when parents are fully involved, WILL drop out, UNLESS you take all monies up front.
We did a few of these ''bulk buy' things and the first one we did was a night mare, kids wanted all sorts of gear, which we included in our order, then the little bxxxxxs couldn't or wouldn't pay up! It wasn't a major issue as such, as the lad who paid the bill got his money back from H.Q. and the unwanted gear went into stores. I would imagine it's a different ball game with boy scouts.

I had a feeling that would be a possible issue. I'm thinking of sending out a letter, with some kind of order form. then confirming price, requesting money, and finally ordering once payment was recieved.

 

[Graham_S]

I've run a couple of group buys in the past,
The most important thing is this; Get the cash up front
Keep records, a quick spreadsheet will do, and have a firm dealdline for payment and placing the order.

 

[Lurch]

2) is lakeland bushcraft a reliable company?

The bloke that runs it is a right ******

pm me with what you're looking at and I'll see what we can do but as said our margins aren't exactly huge.

 

[rancid badger]

I had a feeling that would be a possible issue. I'm thinking of sending out a letter, with some kind of order form. then confirming price, requesting money, and finally ordering once payment was recieved.

If you do it that way, you'll find it much easier in the long run

atb and once again; good luck to you

cheers
Steve

 

[phaserrifle]

unfortunately I have decided to shelve this idea for the minuit, due to complications at my end. basically myself and the leaders are worried about the potentiall legal aspects of supplying knives to minors. trying to get parents to turn up to collect their child's order could prove somewhat difficult.

thankyou for everyone's help, hopefully I can get the buy up an running eventually. I will certainly be passing on my reccomendation of lakeland bushcraft to any scouts who decide to order themselves (through their parents)

 

[Lurch]

I don't blame you, bit of a minefield.
We run age verification checks on orders for sharps, can't be too careful!

 

[phaserrifle]

having spoken to my leaders, basically their going to more or less take over, and deal direct with the parents in question.
I've passed on you'r web adress, although one of our leaders reckons he can get them cheaper. but as he also reckons a proper mora should set you back about £30, I'm not sure what price he's been charged.
we currently have 6 scouts interested.

 

[Lurch]

Depends what he considers 'a proper mora' I suppose!

 

[phaserrifle]

Depends what he considers 'a proper mora' I suppose!

supposedly, the mora's we get over here, are thier budget line. the "proper moras" have a galvaised blade which protects it from rusting, and the one's we get over here will "snap if you do the wrong thing with them".(something you can do with pretty much any knife if you try)

unless he's going on about the laminated blades (which I thought they phased out on most of their knives) then I'm stumped as to what he's going on about. I'm reckoning someones either fed him a line, or wires have been crossed somewhere.

either way, I cannot believe that the clippers would cost £30, when my understanding is they are to the swedes what a stanley knife is to the brits.