So we tossed the ball up to Oliver before about opening O&GHBAB homebrew store. He pretty much watched it bounce and roll away.
Got me to thinking, there's a lot of us on this board buying ingredients etc from various HBS's. What if we pooled our buying power and bought in bulk (at a much discounted rate) ? Don't know the how's or why's but you'd imagine the HBS's would be putting a hefty mark up on things. There'd be a lot of things to work out - ie payment, shipping, where to actually buy the stuff from etc, but, with our combined brain power, these things are but speed humps on the freeway of life.
What do you think ?
Buyers Consortium
Buyers Consortium
Evo - Part Man, Part Ale
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Guest
like the egg board ? 
I guess these guys need to make a aliving as well
Bulk buying usually means loadsa working capital costs which somebody has to pay, including the asscociated stock risks and use by date issues.... I suppose thats why we pay the markup.
Dont get me wrong Evo me man I also look for value for my hard earned $$ but I think there's probably enough home brew shops to keep a satisfactory level of competition while maintaining a decent choice for us consumers. It must especially apply to kits like Coopers that distribute through the supermarket chains I guess...
I guess these guys need to make a aliving as well
Bulk buying usually means loadsa working capital costs which somebody has to pay, including the asscociated stock risks and use by date issues.... I suppose thats why we pay the markup.
Dont get me wrong Evo me man I also look for value for my hard earned $$ but I think there's probably enough home brew shops to keep a satisfactory level of competition while maintaining a decent choice for us consumers. It must especially apply to kits like Coopers that distribute through the supermarket chains I guess...
Evo,
It's a great idea, but I don't entirely blame Oliver for bouncing it. The only real way to make it work for everyone would be if O&GHBAB were a wholesale customer of Coopers, Joe White, ESB, etc, and were able to arrange shipment directly from the manufacturer to the customer. This way there is bugger-all inventory held, which means much less cost and less time and effort for whoever is nominated to run the show (and as we all seem to work full time, unless someone wants to put it all on the line for this venture, the less time needed per transaction the better). The problem with this would be that, at least to start with, we're not going to get any bulk discounts for buying in dribs and drabs, and thats if they'll talk to us at all - I read on another site that Coopers won't accept kit orders of less than 2 pallets, which equates to about $10k per order. No problem if you're Coles Myer, not so good if you're The Little Guy Inc.
Anywho, thats my two cents. Oliver, if you ever go ahead with any O&GHBAB merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, whatever), I'll happily hand over the cash because I'd like to support this great site in any way that I can.
Cheers
Merlin
It's a great idea, but I don't entirely blame Oliver for bouncing it. The only real way to make it work for everyone would be if O&GHBAB were a wholesale customer of Coopers, Joe White, ESB, etc, and were able to arrange shipment directly from the manufacturer to the customer. This way there is bugger-all inventory held, which means much less cost and less time and effort for whoever is nominated to run the show (and as we all seem to work full time, unless someone wants to put it all on the line for this venture, the less time needed per transaction the better). The problem with this would be that, at least to start with, we're not going to get any bulk discounts for buying in dribs and drabs, and thats if they'll talk to us at all - I read on another site that Coopers won't accept kit orders of less than 2 pallets, which equates to about $10k per order. No problem if you're Coles Myer, not so good if you're The Little Guy Inc.
Anywho, thats my two cents. Oliver, if you ever go ahead with any O&GHBAB merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, whatever), I'll happily hand over the cash because I'd like to support this great site in any way that I can.
Cheers
Merlin
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
)?sounds good, however is there a national chain of HBS's so we can visit or will it be mail order type thingy, in which case would still maybe work for Dogger!
geez, i should stop drinking when i post, that is one long convoluted sentence
geez, i should stop drinking when i post, that is one long convoluted sentence
Some people say I have a drinking Problem....
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
I drink, I get drunk, I fall over....
What's the problem?
http://www.brodiescastlebrewing.com/
Perhaps that is why I understood you so easily Grab. I thought it was succinct. Maybe MORE succinct than what I was trying to say sober previously.
At my good buddy (not really) Mel's HBS (http://www.esbeer.com.au), he sells 1.7 kg of liquid malt extract for $12. He also sells 28kg for $110. Works out at $6.67 for 1.7kg. A pretty big saving. He also does malt @ $4 a kg or $45 for 25 kg ($1.80 kg).
Obviously most people don't really want 28kg of LME sitting around there house getting old (except for maybe "24 brews this year" Dogger), so it would make sense to pool. This is what my homebrewing brothers and I have done. We get 7kg of malt each and pay nearly half the price. Granted I WAS thinking on a larger scale when I posted this, but even getting a few people together to do this is a big saving.
...and Merlin, if what you're saying is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, what about the HBS that I frequent. There is no way he is buying $10K worth of Coopers kits at a time and he still sells them near supermarket price. How so ?
At my good buddy (not really) Mel's HBS (http://www.esbeer.com.au), he sells 1.7 kg of liquid malt extract for $12. He also sells 28kg for $110. Works out at $6.67 for 1.7kg. A pretty big saving. He also does malt @ $4 a kg or $45 for 25 kg ($1.80 kg).
Obviously most people don't really want 28kg of LME sitting around there house getting old (except for maybe "24 brews this year" Dogger), so it would make sense to pool. This is what my homebrewing brothers and I have done. We get 7kg of malt each and pay nearly half the price. Granted I WAS thinking on a larger scale when I posted this, but even getting a few people together to do this is a big saving.
...and Merlin, if what you're saying is true, and I have no reason to doubt it, what about the HBS that I frequent. There is no way he is buying $10K worth of Coopers kits at a time and he still sells them near supermarket price. How so ?
Evo - Part Man, Part Ale
This from someone who lives in a country that exported Celine Dion to the world.Dogger Dan wrote:Will it work over here in Canada or do I have to sign some sort of free trade clause
(But I'm almost willing to forgive you for giving us Trailer Park Boys.)
imbibo caveo ne canis morsus vos
http://antifsck.dyndns.org
http://antifsck.dyndns.org
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Dogger Dan
- Posts: 3168
- Joined: Thursday Aug 26, 2004 10:43 am
- Location: Lucan, Ontario, Canada
Evo,
I have 22 litres of malt and a bag of grains. Just putting in another order for a bag of grains.
But hey, I have a basement to so room is no issue, no one but me wants to be there.
By the way, keep Celine would you? Mr. Adams to, call it a gift.
Dogger
I have 22 litres of malt and a bag of grains. Just putting in another order for a bag of grains.
But hey, I have a basement to so room is no issue, no one but me wants to be there.
By the way, keep Celine would you? Mr. Adams to, call it a gift.
Dogger
"Listening to someone who brews their own beer is like listening to a religous fanatic talk about the day he saw the light" Ross Murray, Montreal Gazette
Evo,
re. Coopers minimum order, I've no idea if it's actually true, I just read it on Grumpy's site - someone asked why Grumpy's no longer stocks Coopers kits and that was Grumpy's answer. Which HBS is your local? I'm out north-west Sydney and unfortunately for me the only local choices I have are The Country Brewer in Girraween or The Country Brewer in Thornleigh. They don't stock the Coopers lines that the supermarkets do, but they do carry the Thomas Coopers Heritage range. No idea on what quantities they order in, but they do have 5 stores and an internet mail order service so I imagine they'd get it out the door pretty quick anyway.
Cheers
Merlin
re. Coopers minimum order, I've no idea if it's actually true, I just read it on Grumpy's site - someone asked why Grumpy's no longer stocks Coopers kits and that was Grumpy's answer. Which HBS is your local? I'm out north-west Sydney and unfortunately for me the only local choices I have are The Country Brewer in Girraween or The Country Brewer in Thornleigh. They don't stock the Coopers lines that the supermarkets do, but they do carry the Thomas Coopers Heritage range. No idea on what quantities they order in, but they do have 5 stores and an internet mail order service so I imagine they'd get it out the door pretty quick anyway.
Cheers
Merlin
