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#1
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Can we pull this off?
I was thinking about the Damasteel thread, and it got me to wondering if we could organize well enough to make bulk group purchases of common items on a quarterly basis. One time everyone chips in and order steel from Admiral or the next time everyone orders belts from 3M or something like that. Would the effort of having to organize and disperse the items make it more trouble than it is worth? Would it be hard for everyone to make a big enough order to pull a lower cost? Perhaps if someone knows they are going to make a rather large order, they can put the word out on the forum and pool resources. I am just brainstorming, so throw in your thoughts. |
#2
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I've been waiting for someone else to start thinking along these lines. I think this idea would be excellent in ordering steel, especially damascus. I used to do this type of thing with the other U.S. plants for my old company. We saved a bundle, but spending $5 million annually gets peoples attention. I don't know how much buying power we could generate. That is the key in this case. |
#3
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If your going to succeed in this kind of endeavor here a some things to consider. Standardized orders versus 1 or 2 of this and that, having firm quotes including shipping and handling charges, pooling the funds prior to confirming the order with the vendor, finding vendors who are willing to drop ship from a list, set up an account with a major carrier like UPS or FEDEX. Just some thoughts, Tim |
#4
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SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA, BUT IT WOULD BE A, SON OF A GUN, TO GET TO WORK RIGHT. SET IT UP AS A CO-OP, WITH INVENTORY DIRECT DELIVERY FROM MANUFACTURER, TO THE MEMBER. BASE YOUR BUYING POWER ON THE AVERAGE NEEDS OF X NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS, MEMBERS. JUST SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT. KEN (WWJD) |
#5
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This all sounds well and good but in reality,it doesn't work that well for the following reasons. Belt are very competive priced by the two Georgia suppliers already. 3-M,norton,and klingspor all sale thru distributors. these distributors will discount some of their products for large orders but even then you may only save a few pennies per belt. I know there are some cheap belts out there and some bargains but the good belts are already priced about as low as you can find from the knife suppliers. Check with some of the industrial supply houses and you will find out what abrasives are retailing for Steel--If you buy a few feet at the time you pay a premium a couple of hundred pounds will save you 30 cents a pound 500 pounds will save you even, 30 cents more buy a 1000 pounds and save about $1.00 a pound over the 3 foot price. Boy this sounds good but in reality what you have done is, invested $12000.00 to save $1.00 per knife and if you make 100 knives per year you have saved $100.00 on a $12000.00 investment Now it doesn't sound that good. A piece of steel 3/16" thick and 1 1/2" wide weigh less than one pound. The work and aggravation evolved it co-ooping a deal like this is very time consuming The only time I would suggest doing this is when the material is not available any other way. This is just my opinion I could be wrong----Rade |
#6
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I agree with Rade, tieing up a lot of cash to save a few dollars is not a good way to do business. I prefer to purchase on the spot market and keep my cash reserves. Sure, I will pay a dollar or two more, but the value of materials in knifemaking is not such a high proportion of the selling price that a couple of dollars outweighs the ability to respond to customer demand by having cash on hand to purchase that special material that the customer requests. I simply do not know what I will need two or three months out in the way of materials. |
#7
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I'm with Rade and George. We struggled with the concept several years ago on the Knife List, and never got off the ground. |
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gmwoodturner |
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