Trial Hub Shop for June

[DJGoogone]

Ok, I may be willing to run a Trader's Hub Trial for June if there is interest in it. Here is how I would see it as working.
Trader’s Club
·[FONT="] [/FONT][/FONT]To become a Trader of the Trader’s Club, A monthly fee of $7.00 will be required. This will cover sampler bottles, postage and envelops.A cap of 5 'trades' per month at the current fee

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[FONT=Symbol]·[FONT="] [/FONT]Traders can send in their samples for trade points. (ie – John Doe sends in 5ml of juice, the Hub will split this into 1ml samples and issue a ‘trade points' to Mr Doe. Points will be issued on a weighted scale. This is to keep the hub from having 500 samples of say RY4 and 1 sample of Peach. )


·[FONT="] [/FONT][/FONT]The hub will disclose it’s expenses at the end of the month, Depending on the surplus, if any, members will have a chance to vote on a new flavor to purchase or the Hub will ‘bank’ the funds for next month’s expense.
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[FONT=Symbol]·[FONT="] [/FONT]The hub will post it’s inventory as it changes, along with Trader’s Points.


·[FONT="] [/FONT][/FONT]Once the Hub considers the Traders Club a success, The Hub will send notices of it’s success to vendors to offer it’s services to distribute samples to it’s members.

[FONT=Symbol]·[FONT="] [/FONT]There should be a ‘Stock Expire’ time limit, where untraded stock will enter a ‘Point Free’ buyout, Traders will have chance to buy expiring samples and the funds would go to the bank for juice Buys.

Items The Hub uses to ship your order –
3cc dripper bottles - .30
Packaging (Kraft Bubble Mailers)- .25
Postage – .64 to $4.50 (This is where the issue is. I can mail items many ways, but because there is a liquid in them, a flat envelope worries me, boxes jacks up the price.)


So, to process one sample and ship it, the cost to The Hub is $1.19, 5 samples a month, $5.95, Take into account paypal fees (2.9% +.30, about .48 per my Premier Member chart on Paypal)
I would suggest, just to be on the safe side, a Trader’s Fee of $7.00 per month for a 5 trade a month plan. This fee is for the use of supplies, any surplus would be ‘banked’ for end of month juice as deemed by the hub’s most requested flavors.



The floor is now open for discussion.

 

[DCrist721]

Ok, I may be willing to run a Trader's Hub Trial for June if there is interest in it. Here is how I would see it as working.
Trader’s Club
·To become a Trader of the Trader’s Club, A monthly fee of $7.00 will be required. This will cover sampler bottles, postage and envelops.A cap of 5 'trades' per month at the current fee

The Hub method is still in 3rd place with 10 votes, while the "At-Cost Sale" method has 15 votes, and the Direct Trade method has 13 votes.

That $7 fee doesn't sound too cool either. I made this group so that people could try new flavors while only having to pay the bear minimum for them. What if you only want to try one flavor? Or what if you pay the fee, but then that month there is nothing available that you're interested in trying? Or even worse, you pay for 5 months and find that there was nothing good for the last 4 months of the membership. Besides, it's one thing for a member to hold onto some e-liquid, but it's entirely different having someone hold onto money.

·Once the Hub considers the Traders Club a success, The Hub will send notices of it’s success to vendors to offer it’s services to distribute samples to it’s members.

This seems like it could cause problems. If the liquid is being donated to the club, the members would still get 1 point taken from their score, however that point wouldn't be going anywhere because the liquid was donated and not traded. Now eventually since the points aren't getting recycled, people would just have less and less point

·There should be a ‘Stock Expire’ time limit, where untraded stock will enter a ‘Point Free’ buyout, Traders will have chance to buy expiring samples and the funds would go to the bank for Juice Buys.

This doesn't seem very fair. If someone gave up some of their liquid, then they should be enittled to save their points for something that they really want to try, and for as long as they want to hold onto them for.

Anyway, I was thinking about this method, and I realized that there was really no reason for a "central hub" aspect of the Hub idea. Each person can send their own liquid, and we can still use the same points system that the Hub would-have

 

[TDM]

Not to mention 3cc bottles are .19 not .30

 

[DCrist721]

Not to mention 3cc bottles are .19 not .30

I think that he might be taking the shipping cost into account as well. Or maybe he just doesn't know where to buy them for 19 cents.

I just think that the actual central hub idea is not a very productive method to use, and that just taking the point system from the hub plan is a better solution. There's really no need for the middle man. Plus each sample has to be mailed twice with the central hub method - once to the central hub, and then once to the recipient. With just the points system it only needs to be shipping once - from the person supplying the liquid to the person receiving it.

And also with the hub method, one person would have all of the money and all the e-liquid, so if that person goes on vacation, get's really sick, or for some other reason can't get online, then the whole club is put on hold during that time

 

[DJGoogone]

Welp, I was going off the basis of the other post, but as I went over the numbers, I was also having the same thoughts.. Man, this just isnt worth it.. There are pros and cons.. and I am more than happy NOT to do it as I would be to do it...

and yes, all the numbers I had included shipping.. I took my last usplastic order of 50 3cc bottles and divided the bill...

Anyhow...

 

[DCrist721]

Welp, I was going off the basis of the other post, but as I went over the numbers, I was also having the same thoughts.. Man, this just isnt worth it.. There are pros and cons.. and I am more than happy NOT to do it as I would be to do it...

and yes, all the numbers I had included shipping.. I took my last usplastic order of 50 3cc bottles and divided the bill...

Anyhow...

Thanks for trying to give back to the group by volunteering to organize this, and your offer to help is really appreciated, but I've been thinking about possibilities for this group for a pathetically long time, so I figured a lot of these things out already because I have no life, and can you know, afford to think about meaningless stuff like this for extended periods of time.

 

[wegster]

This sounds more complicated than it should be, IMO. Not sure anyone commented in the other thread on my related but simplified suggestion, which would still need a bit of thought/details, but:
- Each month (or say, up to 3 months), 1 or two people act as distributor/Hub.
- Each month, members have a fee, similar to the above. A set juice purchase date is defined, say the 10th of each month, 1st, whatever. Anyone not paid for the month by the first is not in for that month (nor in the voting)
- Each month, members nominate and vote for say, 5 fluids they each want to try. Perhaps a 'random' one is also left at the discretion of the Distributor/hub. In the event of ties (say 7 people, each select a single juice), Distributor makes the call.
- The Distributor(s) collect the funds for that month, either to a single person, then if more than one distributor (allowing it to scale, not be overwhelming on one person if we wind up with 50+ members), then paypal-ing the right amount to any other Distributors.
- *New* fluids is bought, based on club funds and number of members. Depending on cost breakdown, we can say something along the lines of each month is 5 (+ possibly the 6th 'random') fluids, at least 3-5ml of each. Should aim for no unused juice, thus amount is slightly variable, depending on cost, shipping, etc.
- At the end of the 'distributorship,' any remnants shipping supplies are sent on to the next person.
- Missing but I think a nice gesture, something like as the Distributor picks the 'random' juice, he/she keeps half that bottle, or amount of it, as 'consolation' for being Distributor/efforts, or something similar.

Thoughts?

 

[brialeeanna20]

i am too new to this to have extra juice around but if someone is going to do it were members send in like $20-$30 to one person that that person buys liquid and bottles and than send out small samples out to each person i will be in as long as it is not from J.C.

 

[brialeeanna20]

ok i did some math
ok get 10 people to sign up
10 bottles each from CandleChem, Plastic Bottles, Amber Dropper Bottles, Cobalt Blue Dropper Bottle, Boston Round Bottles is $30 shipped
10 30ml e-juice from MyVaporStore.com (10 diff flavors) $180
flat rate shipping fron usps for lower 48 is at most $4.95 = 49.50
total=259.50 so say $26 for 3ml of 10 diffrent juice to try i would love that!!!!!!

 

[firhill]

Not to mention 3cc bottles are .19 not .30

If you can find them for .19/per after shipping, shoot me the info as to where,please.

Cheapest I can find for 50-60 bottles is .30/per like DJG posted.

Thanks.

 

[wegster]

I'm still interested in a variant of this, any comments on my post #7 above?

Have now done 3 trades, but I'd still like to see what we could work out with simply 'purchase and distribute' in smaller quantities to members, etc.

 

[DCrist721]

I'm still interested in a variant of this, any comments on my post #7 above?

Have now done 3 trades, but I'd still like to see what we could work out with simply 'purchase and distribute' in smaller quantities to members, etc.

I think that's still a little more complicated then it needs to be, but it does seem to have some advantages. Feel free to start a new thread if you want to try to get a group of people to go in together on a purchase of different flavors to divide up for sampling.

In the thread that I started before this forum was formed, people seemed to like the "points" system of the central hub idea, so next month we will be incorporating a points system into the current trading system to provide a third option for trying samples (the first two being direct trades and purchases/sales).

I still haven't sent your package out, and I'm feeling really bad about it being delayed so long, along with packages for 2 other people, but I've just been so busy lately, that's why I haven't really been on the forum, and when I have, it's been late at night like this..

 

[dawnmarie]

i agree ,,, the bottles are 33 cents AFTER shipping....i order 100 at 19 and had like 14.00 in shipping it was crazy..so yes have to add shipping on those bottles..
cause someone asked to buy from me.. and i looked at what it cost me... bottle+ liquid + postage and i told them 2.00 for 4ml of juice and 2.00 for 2ml flavor and for a full 3cc 3.00 im not a suppler but we have shipping and i guess they didnt like that price.. but i also said if you have a better idea let me know...because i figured by trading i get bottles back so no loss.. i get juice back so no loss.. i thought that was a great idea..
just my 2 cents

thanks dawn

 

[wegster]

@Dcrist - no worries, I 'know where you live'

Seriously, I haven't been even able to sample the samples I have in front of me right now.

Yeah, I'm trying to find that 'right balance' in there on ease versus usefulness on the 'pay in, buy, distribute to members' bit. I'll give your posted idea a try and keep thinking on it a bit.