Co Ops can be a lot of work. But I'm certainly not going to discourage you if you are so inclined.
Co Ops can be a lot of work. But I'm certainly not going to discourage you if you are so inclined.
Co Ops can be a lot of work. But I'm certainly not going to discourage you if you are so inclined.
I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a totalWell, it's a thought anyway; seems like one way that tootle puffers could get their hands on an Achilles, without having to wait on a clone of the Achilles 2. I'm just totally unfamiliar with what-all would be involved.
Andria
I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a total.
My one and only co-op experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth for precisely the reason you mention, and a few others. It was organized and operated by a well-respected ECFer who had pulled off several priors without a hitch, but things went south with this one quickly.I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a total.
I know exactly the co op you're talking about. I almost jumped in that one but pulled back. I know several others who did get in on it and heard all the screaming and barking. I think that might of been the biggest co op blowup in ECF history. Sure glad I didn't bite on it.My one and only co-op experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth for precisely the reason you mention, and a few others. It was organized and operated by a well-respected ECFer who had pulled off several priors without a hitch, but things went south with this one quickly.
She'd negotiated directly with Kanger, struck a deal, collected the funds and made the transaction. Kanger, in the meantime, had decided to discontinue their current version of Protank, weren't producing or shipping any more until they'd retooled for a Protank II production run--and weren't shipping any part of the co-op's order until they could complete it in full.
The problem was exacerbated by the host, who was required by ECF rules to post progress reports at specified intervals even if there wasn't any; she later claimed she was snapping at Kanger's heels continually for any word, any scrap of red meat to throw at the co-op, but Kanger went mute and refused to acknowledge any more of her emails. This was probably so, but she erred catastrophically by going AWOL herself for weeks at a time.
The natives--of course--grew restless, then profane and hysterical as the nooses and pitchforks came out along with accusations that the host had absconded with the booty and was sipping martinis on a Cayman Islands beach far from the reach of the law. The vitriol grew so vulgar that the moderators had to step in and close the thread.
It all ended happily enough; Kanger made good on their contractual obligation, though several months late. I got a package, which turned out not to belong to me; I drop shipped it to the member it did. My real package came roughly 8 months downstream of the date I joined the co-op.
The host? After the last member got what they'd ordered, she was banned from ECF (or in ECF's choice of euphemism, she moved on).
If you're all still with me, the moral of this story--I suppose--is to be careful what you wish for.
Maybe we should wear helmets.Half full, half empty. Could be hit by a rogue asteroid...
Random other + for the achilles. It always lets me know when it needs juice well before any dry hit or wick singe-ing. In other words, who needs TC??
I didn't mean to be discouraging. The example I cited was the worst of all possible: I saw a photo of the shipment Hibiscus (the host I spoke of) had piled up in her living room--the result of many members ordering many different Kanger items--and she must have spent hours and hours unpacking, sorting, assembling individual orders, packaging them and mailing them. If your co-op consisted only of Achilles RBAs it would be a very different, simplified, streamlined story.Well it sounds like if I have a serious interest in doing something like this, I have a lot of reading and studying to do. Good to know, ahead of time. It just seems like forever and we're not hearing a single thing about Achilles 2 clones. I'd dearly love to have one of those authentics, but there is just no way in hell I can afford it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tootlers want and need a great RDA like an Achilles!
Andria
I didn't mean to be discouraging. The example I cited was the worst of all possible: I saw a photo of the shipment Hibiscus (the host I spoke of) had piled up in her living room--the result of many members ordering many different Kanger items--and she must have spent hours and hours unpacking, sorting, assembling individual orders, packaging them and mailing them. If your co-op consisted only of Achilles RBAs it would be a very different, simplified, streamlined story.
Although Hibiscus got a raw deal from a few nasty, tiny individuals hiding behind their computers and pseudonyms, she did create her own heartache by not checking in occasionally. A simple "nothing new, folks" every few days was all that was required, and I have no clue as to why she couldn't do that.
I should have three Achilles by one version of another in a few days and don't really need any more, but if the price came in at the $20 vicinity or less I'm sure I'd get in for a couple more.
After all, since when did need have anything to do with this?![]()