Group purchase question....

[Zach]

Hi guys,

I am curious if anyone has tried to put together a group purchase on things like paints and resins?
I'm on a wood working board that just is splitting a 55 gallon drum of anchorseal (stuff to seal the end grain of a green log while it dries) at the commercial rate per gallon. Splitting it up by the gallon and folks are bringing paint cans and milk bottles to a wood working show to split it up....

Do you guys have any products you are interested in that cost much to much at retail?

Cheers,

Zach

[Vark]

Hi Zach,
I've done this with a group of other commercial fishermen. Someone will buy 55 gallons of resin, use half and sell the rest 1-5 gallons at a time. Also have done it with varnish, bottom paint, fiberglass cloth by the roll as well as with 55 gallons of 2 cycle outboard motor oil.
Commercial fishermen are constantly fixing and rebuilding their boats and use more materials than the average pleasure boater.
Since i own a commercial fishing boat as well as a pleasure boat I'm always buying or selling surplus materials, in fact, here in Rhode Island we have numerous marine consignment shops where one can buy or sell just about anything marine including a half a can of bottom paint or half a box of bronze screws !

Vark

[Rachel]

I have, in the past, thought about going in with someone when ordering anchor chain, because once you get up past the "per foot" amounts and into partial or full drums it gets quite a bit more economical -- and you could make a split with one or two other people fairly cleanly and without a lot of labor. Of course you have to find someone nearby who wants the same type of chain at the right time.

For example, in 5/16" HT chain:

90' pail ----------------$5.32 per foot
150' partial drum ---$3.89 per foot
550' drum ------------$2.99 per foot

I'm not one to quibble or scrape for a few bucks (maybe if I did I'd be better off ;), but that could be a substantial saving with minimal hassle. IF you found the right people in the right place at the right time. That's never happened for me so far, but if/when I ever go to buy 175' or more of chain, I might cast about to see if I could easily find a couple of people to split a drum.

I could see running into the time vs. money problem though, too, and then deciding that's why we pay stores to do that part for us sometimes. That depends on one's current time/money balance, I guess.

[Vark]

Rachel,
you could put a "feeler" ad up on Craigslist something like: ......... 5/16 HT chain , $3.25 per foot ,150' minimum..............and see what kind of response you get. I call it "test marketing". You can do this with any item ie: line, resin, etc. to see if there are interested buyers in your area.

--Vark

[Rachel]

Thanks, Vark. That's the sort of thing I meant by "cast about." It would all depend on my money/time ratio at the time of purchase, but I would certainly consider it.

I wouldn't do it just as a feeler though without making that completely clear.

if/when I ever go to buy 175' or more of chain, I might cast about to see if I could easily find a couple of people to split a drum.