Fabric.com ships free for orders over $ 35 -- lots to choose from too!

there is a food co-op I have used here and it is Bountiful Baskets. it is real good. fresh stuff in summer and fall.

I have not done any for fabric but I have a huge jewelry making group on Yahoo, over 6,000 members and I run some massive Co-op buys. Everything is coordinated by me, shipped to me, and mailed all across the country and some international orders. I even have one vendor that I use that will drop ship for me.

For a first time organizer, it can be a "very" big headache, so I strongly suggest, start out small and work up to more buyers, if possible or have a mentor or helpers.

As for the shipping, most of my buys are equally split shipping...total shipping cost divided by number of buyers. Only for items weighing a lot, like the copper wire I offer is by the pound instead of ounces, those people must pay more as it is not fair that a buyer that orders only 4 or 5 ounces of wire has to pay the same amount of shipping as someone who orders a pound or more of wire.

Another thing to consider is charging a buy fee. A hostess should never do this for free because there are expenses. While you can use priority shipping and get free supplies, or if you do it locally, and everyone picks their stuff up, you still have expenses, because you really need to print out invoices for each of your buyers as some people use these on their taxes. Believe me, that can add up. My usual buy fee is $1.50 per buyer, in some instances, it may be more.

There are a bunch of other things to consider but if you get a good bulk discount, the savings can be tremendous.

If you ever have a question on running buys, just email me. I have been doing them for 11 years now so I think I have run into every obstacle imaginable. I would be more than happy to help you. Email [email protected]

Another thought, if you do a buy, you should "always" collect up front. If for some reason it is so much easier and you, as a hostess, should not be expected to pay for everything then bill people. You are just asking for trouble that way, with people that suddenly don't have the money when it comes in.

If you collected too much, then everyone is happy when their order gets there and they have a refund. :D

On a bulk buy, you should always collect the money up front. Your vendor wont ship it to you without collecting their money first why should you?

Most people understand that and are really more than happy to pay first. It is like they teach you in sales, if you don't get the sale right then, after they sleep on it, chances are they will decide they don't need it.

Most people are impulse buyers. Same with a coop buy, if you don't get the money up front, you run the risk of people deciding they don't want it and they don't pay you. Then you are stuck with whatever... maybe the ugliest piece of material you ever saw and now, you can't get rid of it. :(

I work with a very small number of gals. We often do co-op orders on clothing, cosmetics, household items, etc. We always pre-pay to whoever is placing the order so she can put the money on her credit card when the order is placed.

So far I haven't tried this with fabric. My online orders are usually large enough to offset the shipping fee. ;)

Patti

Thanks for your thoughts. I tend to be openhearted and open minded about things but you are all right. There are some people who want something for nothing (that being shipping or just paying their fair share). So I guess I will keep on doing what I'm doing. I try to wait until I have a sizeable order and look hard for that free shipping. When I think about it more it would be like laying yourself open to be ripped off.