Tatonka Group Buy Nr 2

[MagiKelly]

I have just found out about this offer

http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk/pages/products/offers/detail/name=tatonka-tarp-2-tc/rowid=595

It works out £1.50 cheaper than the group buy price for the same tarp. I am most annoyed as I got a price from this supplier and they quoted me £35 per tarp and postage of about £3 each if posted direct to the individuals, with a minimum order of 20. A total of £38 so I went with the other supplier as it was £0.50 cheaper but cheaper none the less.

I can't understand how they can now sell them individually for £29..05 when the best they could quote me was £35 each for an order of 20

I'll look into this and see what I can do about making up the difference.

 

[genuinesurplus]

Hi just a reply to Magikelly please do not take this the wrong way these group buys are a very good idea the lads and the ladies get a bargain and we can shift some bulk. But when we get customers who come in to the store and ask the staff about the pros and cons about the tarps for an hour and then says he just wanted to check them out because he can get them a few pence cheaper on this forum we were quite annoyed as we have overheads and wages to pay. But for a few pence we are more than willing to give our expertice and service that is what you pay for .But we do not feel that he had to rub our noses in it.

Unlike most of the internet stores we carry as stock the tarps these are paid for in the hope a customer wants one unlike the internet shops who take the payment then order them in. And if you look on our website and our ebay shop you will see that our prices are very good and we pride ourselves on our customer service .


Thats our 50p worth

 

[bothyman]

Hi just a reply to Magikelly please do not take this the wrong way these group buys are a very good idea the lads and the ladies get a bargain and we can shift some bulk. But when we get customers who come in to the store and ask the staff about the pros and cons about the tarps for an hour and then says he just wanted to check them out because he can get them a few pence cheaper on this forum we were quite annoyed as we have overheads and wages to pay. But for a few pence we are more than willing to give our expertice and service that is what you pay for .But we do not feel that he had to rub our noses in it.

Unlike most of the internet stores we carry as stock the tarps these are paid for in the hope a customer wants one unlike the internet shops who take the payment then order them in. And if you look on our website and our ebay shop you will see that our prices are very good and we pride ourselves on our customer service .


Thats our 50p worth

So why are you now selling them cheaper than the Group buy ?? why not before??

 

[genuinesurplus]

Hi the reason that we are selling them at cost is so that we can compete on a level playing field so when someone orders and pays for one we then order one that way we keep the cost down .

This is not the way we like to run the store but if people want to open and look at and feel the tarps and then turn round and say that they can get it 50p cheaper on this forum why should we stock the item??? .

It is annoying we had approx 30 tarps in store at the time that is one of the reasons that we can sell them cheaper than most people is because we buy in bulk and sell cheaper unfortunately we can not compete with people that order the items after some one has paid for the item .

If this is the way forward in retail I think is a step backwards what about customer service and the staffs knowledge in the items they are selling.
It may be alright for someone in a bedroom or there office to leave there computer on get paid for the item then order. While they do there day job.
We have 4 full time staff and 3 part time what happens to them I think 50p is not much to ask for this service.

What happens when there is a fault with the item that you have bought all too often we have people coming into the store asking if we can replace faulty items or fix items that they have bought online and cannot get in contact with the original supplier??

Sorry for the rant but all too often we getting more and more people saying I can get so and so for 10p cheaper off the internet this is because the trader is not laying any money out he can charge what he likes because he doesn’t have the overheads and in the end it benefits no-one.

 

[bogflogger]

Oh so is this why you trade on ebay?

Or am I missing something here?

And as for "Product knowledge" and "Customer Service" would you like to discuss why the S.A.Wetterlings Axe advertised by you on ebay 'transformed' into a Banko Axe on delivery.

Or why you had my full payment for 48hrs without sending the goods?

 

[genuinesurplus]

Unfortunatly bogflogger i think you are missing the point the only reason we posted was to highlight the fact that magikelly asked why we could do it cheaper now and we explained that we had a customer in the store trying out our tarp before saying he just wanted to check them out before buying one off here i think we have reason for being a bit annoyed .

As for the axe it was never described as being a wetterling it was descibed as "Swedish Army Axe" quality swedish steel with an american hickory handle and the delivery was in 3 working days all for £15.95.If you would like to look at the British Blades Forums you will see that it was one of their members who said it was a wetterlings not us.Out of 30 axes you are the only one who is dissatisfied and when you brought the matter to our attention you were offered a full refund even though it was not our fault.What more could we do???

 

[MagiKelly]

I think we are at crossed purposes here. First of all I have nothing but respect for Genuine Surplus. I have bought from them in the past and expect to again in the future.

I was annoyed because the price was suddenly much lower singly that I had been quoted for bulk. Had this price been made available when I asked about the group buy I would have ordered through you as you would have been cheapest. I now understand that you have done this because you have had someone in the shop looking at the tarps and getting all the information on them before saying they had no intention of buying them as they could get them on the group buy cheaper. As far as I am concerned that is unacceptable behaviour on their part.

Group buys are not designed to be some sort of punishment for suppliers, it is just using our buying power as a group when we all want to get the same product. If I could not get the product cheaper than it is available for I would not bother. Indeed if you look above you will see that as soon as I saw your price were cheaper than the group buy I highlighted it and pointed people to the offer.

I can understand your frustration when you had someone in the shop taking advantage of your service but not buying, however, slashing your price seems to the level you have does not strike me as being a productive response.

 

[swyn]

I would much rather buy from MagiKelly through his efforts on this BCUK website than any 'honest john' on the wider internet. There is a genuine reason for this; He is NOT in this as a bussiness and consequently his opinions are not commercially clouded. The group buy thing is a superb tool for us as a way to acquire stuff that we may ,or in some cases, may think, we need.
I have a feeling that this action will become more common as time goes on. Consequently all the more power to the group buy. This can only benefit surplus bussiness suppliers as they end up selling more.
This is not a knock of people in the surplus bussiness but 'MY OPINION' before it becomes a slaging match. Swyn

 

[bogflogger]

It's always a pity to spoil a good "Fairy Story" with a few Facts, however:

1. The reason that these were described as Wetterlings Axes by a BB member, is because YOU had an ebay advert with a photo and a caption describing the goods as: "made by S.A.Wetterlings."

2.This caption was subsequently removed by you, in the period between my making a full payment to you and late delivery of the goods.

3. I made a full payment for the goods on 15/2/06 and sent you a seperate, additional, email with my delivery adress and order details.

4. On 17/2/06 as I had heard nothing from you about any of my emails, or recieved your confirmation of reciept of payment, I telephoned you only to discover, that in spite of having been paid in full two days previously, precicely nothing had been done about my order.

5. The goods did not arrive until 20/2/06- Five days after full payment, not Three days as you claim for your delivery times.

6. Perhaps you would be kind enough to enlighten me as to when your Three day delivery period starts?
Is It:

A. When a Customer makes a Full Authenticated payment into your bank account?

B. When you can be bothered to see how much interest you have made on unprocessed customer orders?

C. After you have given negative ebay feedback to a customer, for daring to point out your Shoddy and Indifferent service?

And as for customers 'window shopping' in your store, this is a fact of life in retail today, deal with it, or sink.

 

[scanker]

I don't want to drag this further off topic but I wanted to say that I've dealt with Chris at Genuine Army Surplus at least half a dozen times and cannot fault the service and certainly not their prices.

BF's obviously got his pants in a twist about the axe transaction and that's his perogative, but I have to say that's not really relevant to a tatonka tarp group buy IMO. The thread about the axes is here: http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17135. I remember it as I bought one at the time too. I don't honestly recall them ever being advertised as Wetterlings. The first few people got Wetterlings and said so in that thread (along with a tone of surprise IMO), then I and many others got Banko. Other people posting in that thread said "oh, I got a Banko", not "they said it was a Wetterlings and sent me a Banko", that's only you BF. YMMV. If they said they'd deliver in 3 days and it took 5, that's obviously a different matter. If that's the sort of thing that geniuinely upsets you, I'm sure you won't be using that trader again.

Anyway. To my point. I can see John (magikelly's) point - it makes him look a bit daft (through no fault of his own I assure you - I can't think of a better way of putting that) if a trader he approached then starts selling items at less than John can on a group buy - which should be the most favourable price - that is after all why he organises such excellent group buys. His time has been wasted, apart from anything else.

Also though, I can see Chris' (GenuineSurplus) POV - they're a bricks AND clicks operation, complete with overheads (staff, a shop people can visit) and I'm sure I'd have been annoyed if someone visited the shop, fingered the goods, chatted about them and then said, "right, I'm off to buy it cheaper somewhere else".

I haven't got a solution. I was just wanting to try and point out that there are two sides to the coin.

 

[MagiKelly]

The more I think about it the more I too am annoyed at the person who went tot he shop then bought through the group buy. They were saving 50p but after they put a stamp on the envelope to send me a cheque they were only saving about 20p. Now I do not run these group buys to make money I run them as a way to get a discounted price myself, on this occasion for a 4.5 x 4.5m tarp and to save people money. It is the fact that they are saving a considerable amount of money that makes it satisfying. Me having to cash the cheque, gather all their details together, send the order to the supplier, with address etc all so that they could save 20p seems insulting to me as well as Genuine Surplus.


As to the axe issue, I agree with Scanker that it is not relevant to this thread and would prefer if it could be discussed elsewhere.

 

[Dougster]

I can only see any fault in the person who saved their 50p. Everyone has to make a living and I can't understand people wanting to always go through non-profit systems. How can people expand their business and offer more products at competitive prices if they make no profit?

I buy on Magikelly group buys and am grateful to him for arranging them. I hope to reciprocate at some point. When I received my hammock I went to my local climbing shop and bought tapes karabiners and accesories to fix them, I did not begrudge the guys almost as much as I spent on the hammock. They work hard and don't make a huge amount of money. On the one or two occasions I have tried things on and bought off the internet I said I was going to think about it, I certainly didn't rub their faces in it.

My little brother works for a major UK producer of kit, the shop guys know this and are happy for me to try things and have him buy them. As a result I buy all my other stuff there. Swings and roundabouts - and a bit of common courtesy.

Blimey - all this grief so someone could gloat at saving 50p. It makes you wonder.....

 

[bogflogger]

Sorry to have taken this offtopic Magikelly.

However, I would like to make one final post on this issue and will then leave this thread to go back on topic.

The Axe transaction is not actually the issue, it was mentioned purely to challenge some of comments made by GAS.

This Bleeding heart sob story about being undercut by the internet and window shoppers, simply does not work for me I am afraid.

I spent six years working for the three largest mountaineering/backpacking/skiing shops in Central London, and at least 45% of customers a day would be browsing, with the intention of looking at goods and buying the best deal they could get, either in our shop, or in the competitions.

This is simply a fact of life in Retail Sales.

 

[genuinesurplus]

Hi sorry about this the only reason we answed was that we thought magikelly deserved an answer.It was not our best idea to sell them at cost but we just got our knickers in a twist .
And as for Bogflogger he does not seem happy with the Swedish Army Axe we said at the time he could have a full refund but he did not take us up on our offer .
If he wants he can still have a full refund even if it as been used .And if anybody would like to look on our ebay shop and read our feedback your more than wecome.
Just look up GENUINESURPLUS.
Steven :swordfigh

 

[leon-1]

If he wants he can still have a full refund even if it as been used .
Steven :swordfigh

Well I think that clears up that.

Steven welcome to the forum and thanks for posting to John's question it's appreciated.

MagiKelly you missed a bit out of your equation, the drive into town and park so that that personb could then go into the shop and have a look at thier merchandise would probably of taken the group buy cost over.

 

[MagiKelly]

MagiKelly you missed a bit out of your equation, the drive into town and park so that that personb could then go into the shop and have a look at thier merchandise would probably of taken the group buy cost over.

I had thought of that but I was being generous and assuming they were in town anyway. I did not even allow for the cost of the envelope

 

[Aliwren]

Please can I order a tarp no 4 - the 3 x 4m Cotton one . I can pay cheque or PP please PM with payment details.

Thanks for arranging another great group buy! :You_Rock_

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Hi John,

Is this buy still open? Am I able to order a 4.5m x 4.5m cotton one?

Thanks,

cyclingrelf

 

[boots12]

can i order the tarp 4-, 3 by 4 cotton one please, i can also pay by pp or cheque what ever suits you, please pm me to let me know, as this is my first group buy thank you

 

[MagiKelly]

PM about to be sent