Comments on: Starting a Bulk-Buying Co-op with Your Friends, Family, and Neighbors http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Anni http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-365650 Anni Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:58:32 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-365650 We did something similar to this when the children were younger and all at home. There was a local supplier for health food stores who would help set up group co-ops. All deliveries were made to one family and we would go break things down, perhaps splitting a 50 lb bag of oatmeal between 5 families, or something similar. Beyond the obvious benefits of buying bulk organic products and saving money, we had a community who gathered together for an evening every two weeks, which was priceless.

]]> By: Alice http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-365605 Alice Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:51:57 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-365605 Well, if you get the business membership they assume you will be selling the stuff, and a lot of it is marked for resale. Technically though I think you should be paying taxes on your income, and a lot of the stuff that I would really want to split up (50lb bag of popcorn, giant sack of rice, etc.) is definitely not set up for resale as is, it is meant for foodservice. I suppose you would be looking at probably breaking some rules here or there if you set it up as a business this way.
Why not find a few friends and get the “spouse” card and then either take turns buying large items that both families use or pay halfsies to begin with. Seems like much less potential issues, although I doubt you’d get caught running this small business unless you started making a huge amount of money, not the tens of dollars a year I suppose you could expect from this venture.

]]> By: EVD http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-362810 EVD Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:37:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-362810 Read “The Big Squeeze”. You’ll stop shopping at Sam’s Club.

]]> By: Vicky http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361878 Vicky Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:00:17 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361878 I don’t think I would mark up the prices: I would either ask for a flat $3 for gas, or I would just settle for the benefits of increased cash flow through a credit card that offers spending rewards. (Though I know at least one of mine does not offer rewards when you buy at a club/warehouse)

]]> By: constant learning http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361865 constant learning Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:46:12 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361865 @Karl – I can’t see a reason there would be a problem. What you do with items you purchase is your own business. And anything that improves sales for Costco or Sams benefits them!

]]> By: Karl http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361855 Karl Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:22:33 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361855 There is nothing in the Costco Terms of Service that would prevent you from doing this. I would be more curious about the legal implications of doing this.

]]> By: conny http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361796 conny Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:10:05 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361796 #14 Hi Dave, I did just that during my collage years. 14m2 room and build a armchair , table, stools with boxes of different items. and when a box was removed the time for rearranging the “furnitures” made variation during the semester…

]]> By: Josh http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361585 Josh Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:17:22 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361585 @ Tom – Small correction Tom. If you spend $1000 you’ll earn $10 at 1% cash back, not $100.

]]> By: Michael http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361546 Michael Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:48:11 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361546 I agree with Catherine. I have always wondered how exactly to start a real co-op.

]]> By: Catherine http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361501 Catherine Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:01:20 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361501 Why not form a real co-op and order the items direct from the wholesaler, thereby not paying a membership fee at all?

]]> By: ruth http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361474 ruth Sun, 24 Aug 2008 18:53:13 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361474 I think this whole thing is rather silly and it wouldn’t be anything that I would ever take part in….but…just for laughs, you forgot to consider the “free meal” that you can consume while you are there…. with all the free samples…..hahaha.

]]> By: Shevy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361176 Shevy Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:17:12 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361176 i am very curious if this is permissible under the terms of a sam’s club or costco membership? are you allowed to buy products there and resell them at a mark up to people who aren’t members?

A number of the people you see at Costco are the proprietors of small corner groceries. You didn’t think the guy with a cart full of 6 different brands of smokes was really going to use them himself did you?

]]> By: Dan http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361077 Dan Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:46:48 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361077 If you mark it up shouldn’t you be keeping track of your “profits” and paying taxes on them?

On the other hand you could probably also write off some expenses…

]]> By: Rob in Madrid http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361053 Rob in Madrid Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:56:16 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-361053 4-pack of toilet paper at Sam’s Club is $1.88 (or 47 cents a roll)

HA it’s cheaper over here 30 cents a double roll :)

]]> By: A. Greenspan http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360961 A. Greenspan Sat, 23 Aug 2008 22:56:28 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360961 while this is definitely a way to make extra cash, it’s also illegal. Even if you don’t charge a penny extra to your friends, not only are most of the packages marked “not for resale” but the agreement you sign when buying the membership says you will not use the purchases for resale or commercial means. That’s why these big box retailers have special(more expensive) business memberships. And just because we all know people who resell stuff from costco, from neighbors following this plan to the corner coffee shop selling muffins at a mark up, that doesn’t make it right. Even if you don’t make a penny — or even sell the products at a loss, it is still considered resale and it is still illegal. Hate to take away the punch bowl just as the party is getting started…

]]> By: anne marie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360919 anne marie Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:40:30 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360919 i can totally see rounding the prices up- especially to make the math easier- yikes!!

costco is an excellent company- they pay good wages, have benefits, visit the farms they purchase from to make certain working conditions are good- i love costco. they’re the anti walmart.

from what i’ve read, even though they pay workers more, their labor costs are lower because they have very low turnover, so they have to invest less money on training a constant influx of new employees.

anyway…i often pick things up for friends at work, but i never did a formal items list.

and we just bought a house- before we contacted a real estate agent, we used the costco referral service- so we got a $100 gift card, and then an almost $1500 rebate check because the lender was part of the referral too. our mortgage was just shy of $225,000.

my membership was free anyway- i do the $100 annual membership which gives back 2% on each purchase. you can get 3% if you get an amex card, but i don’t want to. anyway, my yearly purchases are high enough so my annual rebate always pays for the next year’s membership.

but that gift card and rebate check were such a huge blessing- and they referred us to a century 21 real estate agent who was fantastic, and our mortgage guy was great too.

i could say it is like getting a free lifetime membership, but our membership really already works out to being free.

back before, when i was a single mom of just one child a friend and i used to go and park next to each other and then split things up as we were packing the trunks of our cars.

now i have a larger family, and my little boy is now a ravenous teenager, so we can just shop for ourselves if we have to.

]]> By: gbtwinsmommy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360911 gbtwinsmommy Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:23:19 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360911 My warehouse is closer to my job than my house so this is easy. We, co-workers and I, share coupon booklets from Costco and split items. I need the pull-ups coupons and I have a co-worker that wants the cleaning supplies. It works for us…cheap lunch too!

]]> By: Adrian http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360904 Adrian Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:08:06 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360904 The problem that I see with this is it would not work everywhere, in Utah we have just about every 3-4 months the local major grocery stores have a case lot sale in one form or another. So most people here tend to buy in bulk, if they can afford to at the time.

]]> By: Sophia http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360878 Sophia Sat, 23 Aug 2008 18:58:30 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360878 If you are organizing the trip, driving, putting miles on your car, paying for gas, plus all the effort of making a grocery “menu” with prices, plus taking the time to call them before you go, and then giving them substantially cheaper groceries I don’t see anything wrong with the arrangement. Trent is talking about a markup of 5 cents, he even mentions maybe just a few pennies on cheaper items. I think it’s well worth the convenience when all I have to do is answer the phone and say “yes” when my friend offers to shop for me :)

]]> By: Elizabeth http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360849 Elizabeth Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:48:26 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/08/22/starting-a-bulk-buying-co-op-with-your-friends-family-and-neighbors/#comment-360849 I love Sam’s Club! I find that Aldi or Wal-Mart generic oatmeal variety packs are significantly cheaper than Sam’s’ Quaker Oats, but you can’t beat Sam’s’ price on diapers, even with sales and coupons. I also got baby formula there when I needed it, in much larger containers and at better prices than Wal-Mart. Not everything will be cheaper, but the things that are cheaper tend to be things that you will use eventually anyway, and are worth the space they take up. I also split the cost of the membership with my sister and, before we moved away, we always went together to shop. If something was just too big or too much, we usually split it.

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