Just a heads up that I will be announcing a group buy tomorrow. It will have room for 3-14 others to join in, and it will basically provide 30-40 30ml bottles of a variety of flavor juices for $100, shipped (within the US, folks outside can still participate but will have to pay the difference in shipping).
I'm on an extreme budget right now, and going in with others looks like it will save half or more of the cost of buying these traditionally (after accounting for shipping, bottles, etc). Buying 120/480ml volumes and re-bottling them seems to be a great way to stretch my money, and while I'm looking for work, I have free time.
Orders will ship the second week of November. The juices themselves will be listed when I announce the buy itself, so you know what you're getting yourself into, but it is a mix of FA and TFA with a few CAP, FLV, and INA flavors thrown in.
I'm keeping this order small and manageable. Limited volumes and number of participants. If there's interest and this goes well, I'd love to move towards a monthly/quarterly group buy that focuses on less common juices (MB, etc) one month, juices in a particular flavor profile another month, new product introductions, etc...
I do plan to have an online spreadsheet that provides full transparency on what is being bought, from where, for how much. I do plan on splurging on well-reviewed US-sourced bottles. I do plan to communicate often on the status so folks know where their shipment is at.
Really, the biggest questions I have right now is how the heck I should label these, as I don't have access to a label printer. I figure worst to worst I'll get a small package of labels that are easily removable and write on them.
So, stay tuned. I'd love to hear your comments, advice, etc...
I asked for some feedback on our awesome Telegram chat, and one great point was raised that 15ml bottles would be more useful -- but that breaks down for this run when I figure in the cost of the bottles (15ml cost nearly as much as 30ml) and have to account for twice the volume (480ml/30ml = 16 people, 480ml/15ml = 32 people, and twice the flavors). If I had enough money saved up, I'd simply take the cash flow hit and sit on some if necessary, and offer more flavors or a lower price point -- unfortunately, that's not viable. I want to make sure this order gets out on time and I'm not biting off more than I can chew.
Update 1 I commented to explain the 14-person number, in case anyone sees that as being odd. Also, I'm planning to use BCV for this first order, and we'll be taking advantage of their 15% off sale on Monday. This leads to payment: folks participating will need to use PayPal this time around. If you'd like to participate and other payment methods are preferred, please leave a comment so I can figure out how to accommodate in the future when we have a bit more lead time.
Update 2 It's 9:30pm Eastern US time -- I'm writing up the post now and it should be up shortly!
Update 3 The order thread is now posted!
Very cool idea. If it fills up I'd suggest trying to get everyone to pitch in for one of those fancy little label printers, it would be under five bucks a person.
I decide to let folks pitch in optionally to fund a printer. If people want to send me money above the $100, I'll use it to get a better label solution. A couple of people have volunteered to help out with label printing, and worst to worst I'll suck it up and get some inkjet labels that will work temporarily. I'll include information in my PM's to people with the payment information.
Let me leave this here before I forget.
A picture of one of my single testers.
http://imgur.com/tD0bmXn
How I do it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mixersclub/comments/51ddg6/absolute_favorite_labeling_solution/?st=IUTQQHU4&sh=166c5c77
I can put whatever on them though, just need a JPEG file. I make my labels in Photoshop.
Even if I don't participate in the buy, I can still help on the labels and make as many as you need then mail them. It'll make your life 100x easier
This sounds intriguing. I will be watching for the flavor list :)
Hey Im very interested, I live in Europe. Paypal is the best way for me to pay. I would really appretiate if you let me join the group buy, thanks :)
i don´t want to sabotage the initial groupbuy, but maybe in the future we could do an european on? should be way more cost effective...
hmmm well as you ish, I would gladly pay the shipment costs. Anyway if you have some stuff left please keep me in mind ok? ;)
I don't mind shipping internationally. I've budgeted $13.45 per person for shipping, as that pays the flat-rate medium box shipping anywhere in the United States. When they're ready to ship, I'll PM anyone that's not in the US and provide an updated shipping price -- as long as you're fine paying the difference between $13.45 and the actual shipping cost, it works fine for me. :)
In case anyone notices that 14 is a weird number:
If we get 3 participants, I'll order 120ml bottles and break them into 30ml bottles. This I can do easily myself.
If we get 14 participants, I'll order 480ml bottles and break them into 30ml bottles, but I'd like to have a hand doing this. I'm paying full share for my own set, but if it looks like too much for me to do and send out on time, I'd like to be able to reward a local helper with a set for helping to do the work. If I end up not needing this assistance, then we'll have a giveaway here in /r/diy_ejuice (if the mods don't mind) where an aspiring DIY'er will get a set of juices for the cost of shipping.
I'm interested.
This is a great idea. I'm in Canada so will not be participating in the first round but maybe some time down the line I'll hop on. Hope this takes off!
Whereabouts /u/T_Mace. East end of Toronto here, and if we could setup our own small group buy for in the future, we could see if it was cost_effective.
Just to make sure it's clear, Canadians may participate, they just have to pay the increased shipping (the amount over the included Medium USPS Flat Rate shipping rate within the US).
That's half of my DIY budget this time around. I'd love to be a part of this!
Interested- when will the buy list be up? Also, I have a really good labeling solution. I'll take some pictures of labels and post. Can replicate the normal labels nearly 1:1 for almost nothing.
Edit: I know you said it's going to be announced tomorrow, but let me know if it's anytime sooner cause I'm going to be totally without service this weekend.
Do I want to do this? Yes. Do I need to do this? Only a little. Should I do this right now? Nope :(
To answer your one question directly :
something like this. I use one for my personal mixes.. they are great, cheap, fast, you can type up one label and print as many as you need, then do the next, and so on... I realize you say money is tight, but if you get 3-14 people paying 100 each, you should be able to "find" a good 20-30 bucks in there for the label maker and some labels.
edit: link
I'm interested, still room?
There is indeed! I'm writing up the post now, and it will be posted in a little while.
if someone had a wholesale account boy we could order gallons at a time. who ever came up with this group buy idea is a genius!!!
There have certainly been group buys in the past -- when I was searching around and looking for what had been done and worked before I saw a group buy for an LA flavor that was many gallons (people buying 4oz+) and another for FA flavors when they were harder to purchase.
With this group buy, I wanted to keep it relatively simple -- baby steps help encourage success while we learn what works and what doesn't. 500+ 30ml bottles are involved at even this small of a scale -- no way I'd be able to subdivide entire gallons with a one week turnaround. I'd definitely love to see it grow and evolve, though. :)
Hello, I'm the inventory guy at Bull City.
Once you have your list it shouldn't be too much bother for me to create a file I can email you that you can print directly onto your labels.
Message me when you place your order and I'll see what I can rustle up.