FFexpress group purchase (free shipping)

[DaveP]

I noticed FFexpress will pick up the shipping on a purchase of $300 or more!!! I would love to take advantage of this, but I only want a few items. Anyone interested in pooling an order and savings some $$?? It has to be ordered on April 1st.
DaveP
pipernod@aol.com

[ATLANTIS]

April Fools

[TrippingBilly]

Hey Dave, I would order. Anyone else?

[DaveP]

No this is serious, at least I think so. The web page has all the info on it. If anyone is intersted please let me know soon!! I need to get about two more people.
please email me
DaveP

[Rovert]

Hey, guys, I just thought I'd throw in my two cents on the concept of 'order sharing', since I think there might be a misperception.

In short, it just ain't all dat.

My bet is that if you see $10 it would be a lot, and for that, you have to hustle all over the place, to get to and from the person who's placing the order, unless you two are in the same neighborhood. Great for the person taking delivery. Not so great for the person picking up. :D

And, of course, that savings all but disappears, since the package will be heavier, because of the additional weight you have on the order. So, the savings winds up being zero, and all everyone gets is a huge logistical headache trying to work out the delivery and finances.

Unless the place you're ordering from is offering a significant discount on the livestock, so that it makes sense to bundle an order, I just don't think we've analyzed it thoroughly.

For the sake of illustration:

Detritivore kit from Inland Aquatics:
Livestock - 60 per kit (no discounts on this stuff)
Shipping - $25 for one, $35 for two (extra weight, bigger box)
Total for one person: $85
Total for two people: $77.50 per person (155 / 2 = $77.50)
Savings: $3.75 per person. BFD. :eek2:
[above is estimated shipping, from memory, but pretty close]

Live Rock from Premium Aquatics:
$3.99lb under 25lbs
$3.75 25lb - 40lb
$3.60 40lbs or more
OK, so say you want 20lbs, and someone else wants 20 lbs. NOW you've hit a volume breakpoint. But wait... we're not done yet...
Alone: $140 (20lb x $3.99 = $80 + 60 FedEx @ 20lbs = $140)
Together: $119 (40lb x $3.60lb = $144 + $95 FedEx @ 40lbs = $239 divided by 2)
Savings: $20 per person.
Ok, so now it's getting more interesting, but is it really worth the hassle for a $20 savings? Wouldn't you rather have the FedEx guy haul that box up the stairs for you? Do you really want that smelly stuff in your trunk, or back seat?

The assumption most of us have is 'a bigger order saves money', but not in most cases where there isn't a significant discount on the livestock, and not in the limited volumes that we are talking about. There would need to be BOTH a discount on the overall order due to the aggregated value to the reseller, AND as a result, an economy in terms of shipping fees, for it to make sense.

Then again, not everyone's time is valued the same, but I just thought I'd bring it up for conversation, since it seemed to me that not everyone was looking at it this way. If you're doing the order sharing to hang out, for the pleasure of each other's company, that's one thing, but from a monetary savings standpoint, I think the reality is much different.

[DaveP]

All that info makes complete sense, but FFexpress is offering FREE shipping for an order over $300. You have to pay $10 box charges and heat packages ( as usual ).
It has to be made today and it does not look like I will have enough people.
:(

[Rovert]

Dave, point taken. Yours was just the most recent post of this type to circulate the club during a recent run of similar inquiries, and this thought has been bouncing around the back of my head. I just figured I'd bring it up, in case nobody was looking at it from an analytical business sense.

Hope you can find a partner. I'm too far South for it to make sense for me.

[katspaw]

Rovert,
you have brought up some very good points in your post. I am sure that at some point with some internet sites this may work. I am not saying this has to be done with livestock only, but with R/O filters and other types of dry goods, it may be worth it. It never hurts to investigate a little time to save some money. Just the savings have to be worth it.

Tracey

[kennerd]

I'm with Rovert on this one: I just put an order through with Eric @ E & G's Tropicals in Miami. Some of you may remember my posts to the group & his contact a month or two ago, regarding group discounts, etc.

I mentioned to Rob about my order, and we both agreed it would not be worth the few hours it would take to get the livestock to our tanks. Even though there was a chance we could get some rather difficult-to-find blue zooanthis.

If it's a matter of local convenience, then I say great! If it's a matter of getting livestock not readily available, or rare, etc. then it's a much better situation.

Personally, I don't order much via mail order, because, as most of ou know, I only have small tanks. I deal with Eric because he sets aside small colonies & frags for me of species that are normally rather expensive and hard to find. I bought some orange/red ricordia from him (6 polyps or so) for $30 as an add-on to my order. The other colony he had on hand, same color, same size, just went on ebay for $120.00. Also got a package of 4 different color ricordia (aqua, green, blue & yellow-green) for $30, and the same thing sold on ebay for over $100 as well. He's flexible and very conscientous, and great price-wise.

OK, I'm rambling, but the point is, if someone is ordering from somewhere that has what you want, for a good price, let people know. After that, weigh the PITA factor!