PIF Policy On co-op's

[nephilim]

In Light of recent events the PIF mod team has decided that co-op's in the PIF group for now will not be allowed,

The amount of work to make co-op's happen
is just to much for one person to handle, It also opens up a way for people to take advantage of our giving nature.

The ECF mods are revamping the classifieds section and may put a co-op section if you are looking to still do co-op's

Please discuss openly but keep it civil. Any questions or concerns please PM a mod. thank you

The PIF team.

 

[WhatAClumsyGirl]

I think a co-op is a great idea...with that being said..I would think it was a hassle to ship out everything.

I love doing pif, but i hate the shipping part ! That's why i have to limit myself to only trading once or twice a week...I have so much running to do as it is.

I think if co-op's eventually are allowed again..there should be a " cap" on it like Blaze and Georgas did....i think it was easier on them and not so much to handle.

I will miss that option here..but i do understand the problems with it.

 

[Thyestean]

ditto what Clumsy said.

and... since I think a big part of the draw with the HG co-op was the colored eGos ... GoodProphets is carrying all different colors now and with his sale prices and free shipping over $30 the price is pretty close to the same as it would have been through the co-op.

 

[WhatAClumsyGirl]

Nice to see you Thy !! Your little screaming face always makes me smile

 

[Thyestean]

lol Hiya Clumsy good to see you too. Kinda funny ain't it.... all the threads we used to converse in and it seems these days this group is the only place we run into each other

 

[tiburonfirst]

as everybody knows i had been interested in a trueman coop and jules had giving her blessing in a pm.
i don't think this coop would reach the size of jules' in any way, shape or form. as an additional precaution i think i would cut it off once it got too much past the free shipping point.
i still like the 4081 cartos a lot and thomas at trueman emailed me that he would give me a special price on them since i had a problem with my original order. those problems btw were rectified in a timely manner. it was after i received my replacements by ems that i contacted jules. i was not going to take a chance with this unless i was confident customer service was alive and well with this company.
if the new coop policy stands i'm wondering if there would be a few brave souls considering to participate with me by going the pm route.

 

[UntamedRose]

So what defines a Co-op and a........I'm making a flavor purchase soon if you would like some PM me for details...kinda thing?

 

[tiburonfirst]

So what defines a Co-op and a........I'm making a flavor purchase soon if you would like some PM me for details...kinda thing?

rose, without the official ecf stamp of approval, where updates are listed in a sticky, it becomes even more of a trust issue.
nonetheless, even with ecf's approval there still would be no guarantee that whoever is in charge does not run off with the money.
and strangely, i cannot picture myself participating if coops get moved to the classifieds.
pif feels much more comfortable

 

[mini_art]

I agree with Neph and Clumsy. I also think that PIF is not the place for co-ops.
IMO they should be in a separate forum run by people willing to dedicate their time to it, if it is to be done at all.

They are after all, a non profit business enterprise, not a pif one.

The participants are involved in importing large quantities of goods and subject to laws pertaining to larger order importation.

The goods are subject to seizure by customs, putting all involved in the co-op at risk.
There is a much higher likely hood of seizure with large orders then there are with individual small orders.

This being the internet, we are dealing with people we dont know and trust is an issue in some cases, but even trust is not enough in this case.

If the co-op is penalized for illegal importation of goods all involved would perhaps suffer.

I ran a business for many years and imported form all over the world. So I do know a bit about how this is done.

Though the risk is relatively small, many dealers are having shipments seized right now.
It is a higher profile thing at the moment.

I would not participate in a PIF co-op at the moment. In my opinion the relatively small amount of savings does not justify the risk. By risk I dont mean just money. The risk of disention within the forum is very high.

 

[crazygirll22]

That's too bad because the original HG Co-op is what brought me to this forum! That and Jules of course, now I see everything has changed and now we're not allowed to do co-ops? Shouldn't that be the decision of the participants, now we're being told what we can and can't do? This just doesn't seem right to me and doesn't sit well, but hey that's just my opinion.

 

[UntamedRose]

Again....how are we defining Co-op kinda makes a difference IMO

We had problems with One, it was an issue simply b/c it got to large for the manager of it to handle it. Went from just a few folks sharing shipping to everyone plus a few venders jumping in...and ya it was a problem.
Plus the manager had physical limitations, that delayed the process.
However there were several successful coop run, that didnt have any real issues nor problems.

Now IDK the numbers for the other ones, but on the fairy's finest coop I ran.
Tell me where you can buy 10ml of flavoring for .66 cents???????
Umm No where, it's not a few pennys saved it's a pretty signification saving.
Average spent was like 7.00, and they got to try 8 different flavors.....if they had just placed the order themselves it would be 60.00 something.
Besides 10ml will last your average just playing around DIYer a good long time, most folks dont want nor need 120ml's to play with.
So they wouldnt have been able to try these without a co-op, know I wouldnt have.

We had one very minor bloop with a missed order but it was fixed with two emails.
Everyone paid within 24 hours of me posting, and the order was re-bottled, packaged and shipped within two days of getting it. Everyone got what they ordered, with no problems nor complications at all.
Between "we are getting theses flavors...which do you want/order" to....in each persons hand took about a week and half.

Personally I'd really like to do something like this again.

 

[WhatAClumsyGirl]

Will the mod's get together and discuss Rose's idea ?

Rose's co-op Might be an exception to the rule, because it is a cheaper co-op. And honestly, id like to try some of those flavorings myself.

 

[pipskicks]

Again....how are we defining Co-op kinda makes a difference IMO

We had problems with One, it was an issue simply b/c it got to large for the manager of it to handle it. Went from just a few folks sharing shipping to everyone plus a few venders jumping in...and ya it was a problem.
Plus the manager had physical limitations, that delayed the process.
However there were several successful coop run, that didnt have any real issues nor problems.

Now IDK the numbers for the other ones, but on the fairy's finest coop I ran.
Tell me where you can buy 10ml of flavoring for .66 cents???????
Umm No where, it's not a few pennys saved it's a pretty signification saving.
Average spent was like 7.00, and they got to try 8 different flavors.....if they had just placed the order themselves it would be 60.00 something.
Besides 10ml will last your average just playing around DIYer a good long time, most folks dont want nor need 120ml's to play with.
So they wouldnt have been able to try these without a co-op, know I wouldnt have.

We had one very minor bloop with a missed order but it was fixed with two emails.
Everyone paid within 24 hours of me posting, and the order was re-bottled, packaged and shipped within two days of getting it. Everyone got what they ordered, with no problems nor complications at all.
Between "we are getting theses flavors...which do you want/order" to....in each persons hand took about a week and half.

Personally I'd really like to do something like this again.

I'm a complete noob.

That being said, I see the PIF thread as great, but I see a co-op type buy, and more one of what Roses said (i.e. flavors over cheap shipping from China, although both have their place) is amazing.

I think the ability to try flavors like that is great for someone like me that is new, and maybe some older vapers who never wanted to spend money on a 30ml bottle they may not like.

I don't have much of a standing as a member, but I would push those at ECF to strongly consider co-ops in general. If you have to take out the international customs issues, or even put that somewhere else, so be it.

Rose also brings up a pretty good point at the splitting of ejuices, I guess that may be separate because of the different issues but this doesn't have as many of the co-op issues with shipping etc. Especially when you buy Ejuices from people who you know no better than some members.

 

[Neo]

The amount of work to make co-op's happen
is just to much for one person to handle

Isn't this up to the person who offers to run the co-op to decide?

 

[tiburonfirst]

Isn't this up to the person who offers to run the co-op to decide?

good point, neo, and i believe jules' coop did fall into that category and she did say this would not happen again, it was just too much.

but gunji said his was fairly easy to handle since he just concentrated on cartos.

i feel that way about trueman, smokestik sells those cartos for $20/5, good prophet, i believe, $12/5 compared to trueman's $6.50/5 and he is willing to offer an additional discount. bottles are extremely reasonable and to me the pooling of resources is not a business enterprise unless somebody is ordering and planning to resell.
somebody on another forum just stated that the 510 cartos from ikenvape seem to be identical to the 4081s. well, trueman has adapters for $1.90.

 

[Neo]

That's right but that was Jules and it was complicated by other issues, including health from what I understand. So to make a blanket statement that it's too much work for one person doesn't necessarily hold water. I believe a lot depends on if you have an organized type personality to begin with.

That is not a dis.

 

[tiburonfirst]

That's right but that was Jules and it was complicated by other issues, including health from what I understand. So to make a blanket statement that it's too much work for one person doesn't necessarily hold water. I believe a lot depends on if you have an organized type personality to begin with.

That is not a dis.

well, i guess i'm not that organized then,lol, and i would not appreciate sorting an order from maybe 30 to 40 individuals amounting to $1000.

but if people knew that they could order every month or so there would not be such an onrush and it would help moneywise.

 

[Gunjji]

Yea.. Mine was easy...
I also had a word doc set up and updated it as needed, Who got how many of this & that.
That being said... Im with Shag, gonna hang back and watch. i feel I became a part of a family in PIF, but now it feels like its turning more to a Gestapo regime.

I also agree with you Neo... should be up to the individual to post a co-op if they desire. I wont participate in one from the classifieds, feels to shady atm....

Ill most likely hang out, post a reply to a PIF family members post until i eventually vanish. Might get back into WOW, idk...

 

[Neo]

In that case, whomever is running the co-op needs to set a limit from the onset. Again, it's not a dis. I don't intend it that way at all. Know your capabilities and set it up accordingly. And then stick to it. Most of the time getting in over one's head can be avoided by saying I'm sorry but no.

 

[tranced]

I think that running a co-op is a personal thing. If you have the time and organization to do it and want that hassle, I think it should be allowed. I didn't do the carto thing (new - didn't understand cartos) but it seemed pretty organized to me? Personally I've been hoping UntamedRose uses up all of her flavors so she organizes another flavor co-op and I can get in on it.