Shop and Save with Buyers' Club
Buyers' Clubs work best where there is some link between members. Church groups, sports clubs, village groups and other social organizations are ideally suited for this purpose.
There are several ways of organising a Buyers' Club, but they all fall loosely into two categories:
- The Shop System;
- The Share-the-load System
The Shop system
This is organised by a small group of people and, as with a shop, members buy only what they want.
It is an excellent system for people who cannot contribute labour equally, but want the benefit of cooperative shopping.
BUY CAREFULLY WITH EMPHASIS ON NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS TO AVOID WASTE
The Share-the-load System
This method depends on equal contributions of work and division of goods among members, so that there is no surplus.
This is achieved by members agreeing to take their share of whatever is ordered.
MEMBERS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO COMMIT THEMSELVES ONLY TO THE EXTENT OF THEIR REAL NEEDS.
Before deciding upon a method of buying in bulk, the following questions must be answered:
Is adequate storage space available?
Is there sufficient money to bulk buy in the quantities necessary to get attractive discounts?
Are members prepared to commit the time to help with organizing sorting, buying and transporting the purchases?
REMEMBER Ð YOU WILL NEED THE USE OF A VEHICLE AND SOMEWHERE TO SORT THE GOODS FOR DISTRIBUTION.
Having decided upon a method of bulk buying, members need to appreciate the several basic operating requirements and tasks involved in running a buyers' club.
Requirements:
- Stationery;
- Scales;
- Containers (boxes, bags, bottles);
- Access to a vehicle.
Tasks:
- Collect the orders;
- Go to the marker/grocery to shop;
- Buy and record purchases;
- Sort and weigh items according to the list;
- Price items according to the weight;
- Distribute items and collect money.
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