Does group buying make sense?

**NYRogers** · 04-20-2009, 03:02 PM

Hi,

Just wondering if you guys have thought about group buying to save money? I've heard of smaller groups buying things in bulk. Have you tried this...does it make sense?

Thanks!!

**Contrary Housewife** · 04-20-2009, 03:11 PM

When I was in college my housemates and I pooled funds to buy things like rice and toilet paper in bulk from a warehouse club (where one of the guys got free membership because of his job). It worked well at the time because we all lived together and could agree on what we bought and could split it up easily.

I have also 'gone in' with friends who wanted to buy expensive fabric by the bolt to get a better price per yard. Again, it worked because we all knew what we wanted and were together in the same place to split the goods.

It does not work so well when the participants are split up, or when the goods are not your choosing. I passed on an option to buy kimonos by the bale, because the buyer was across the country and I could not pick which kimonos I wanted as my share, and I was going to have to pay shipping to get them to my house. If it's going to be a hassle to collect the items (if you have to drive across town on a workday afternoon, for example) it may not be worth the dollar savings.

**Momto2Boyz** · 04-20-2009, 03:17 PM

Our neighbors and I used to do this. We had a Costco membership, that we each paid 1/4 for. Since our Costco is 45 minutes away, we would take a trip up there all together in a mini-van every three months and we'd get what we needed. We occassionally bought things in bulk and shared that we knew we would use up in the three months.

It worked well, but I'm not sure I would do it with strangers. But with a group of neighbors I knew well, it worked out great!

**lvngwell** · 04-20-2009, 04:08 PM

I shared a side of beef once with some friends. I was much cheaper per pound and we knew exactly what we were getting before we ordered it so we actually split it up on paper before it came. Since we were friends we were more accomodating and let someone else have a few choice cuts of meat extra in exchange for the ribs or whatever we wanted. It worked out well and we all payed an excellent price per pound!

edited to add - once I had a candle party with three friends because neiher of us had enough interested friend of our own (we didnt want to mass invite and guilt people into buying) to make it worth while. we joined forces and qualified for a nice hostess package and we each got what we wanted from it - it worked well!

**justpeachy92** · 04-20-2009, 05:08 PM

I have had friends that we would share and split the cost of produce at Sams Club. The cost was cheaper per pound than the grocery store and neither of us ended up with excess that would go bad before we could use it.

**tfooter** · 04-20-2009, 05:32 PM

What about social stuff - like theater shows, exhibits, sports games, etc? I've seen more people embrace the concept of random groups for the purpose of acquiring tickets at discounts. Any thoughts? Any recommendations on websites that offer this? The only "group discounts" I've seen in these categories are offered directly from the event coordinator, and you typically have to round up 10 or 15 people yourself - I'd rather have the group formed in some other fashion than go through the hassle of doing it myself.

**Grainlady** · 04-20-2009, 05:44 PM

I have been involved with a food co-op (primarily "health" foods) in the past. We ordered once a month and they shipped the order in a tractor-trailer rig out of Fayetteville, Arkansas (I'm in central Kansas), and we had to help unload the truck and then divide the goods into the orders. It was very beneficial to split large quantities because we got such great prices.

We always saved money on our foods - especially bulk purchases of grains/beans/nuts, and a large assortment of food items, including frozen and refrigerated items. Things we couldn't normally get at our local stores.

The down side - everyone benefits from buying as a group, but not everyone bothered to participate in the "work" end of these adventures (LOL). And there are ALWAYS a few who can find an excuse not to help unload the truck, or always be late picking their food up and someone had to stay late to accomodate them. It can become a major headache for the person "in charge" of the whole thing.

Just working with so many different personalties could be more trouble than it was worth - but when it's a good group of people it was a lot of fun.