orangehero
Well-Known Member
Sorry, didn't realize group buy of equipment is against the rules.
Stainless Equipment
- Thread starter orangehero
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
I really don't understand why they allow ingredient buys and not equipment buys. Grain has a huge mark up even for the online stores. Seams very arbitrary to me.
It's pretty simple:
#1 - Vendors support site. Equipment supports Vendors. Group buy equipment takes business away from vendors and they can't support site.
#2 (more important) - Equipment is expensive, and it's a lot easier to defraud people on equipment buys than it is on grain buys. In addition, ingredients are commodities with fixed prices that generally have consistent quality. It's much less risk/headache to allow ingredient buys than it is to deal with liability for faulty equipment. I'd hate to see this site shut down because of some fraudulent @-hole and their conical scams.
If you really want to support group buys, get proper licensing, become a vendor, and then sell to all of us at cost!
I run a ingredient group buy so I am supporting the local scene. In my current buy I have almost $6000 committed.
bmason1623
Well-Known Member
I'm just kidding. Good luck with your buy.
I just think that it's silly that if I wanted to put something together I would have to pay $50 a month to do so.
OP
OP
orangehero
Well-Known Member
I respect the rule, even though it may be arbitrary, but your points don't seem to be pretty simple at all:
#1: How is equipment any different from ingredients? In fact, it seems to me that markup on equipment is far less than ingredients.
#2: Why is it easier to defraud on equipment than ingredients? It's always buyer beware, ingredient buys included, why would liability be any different. Why would the site get shut down?
#1: How is equipment any different from ingredients? In fact, it seems to me that markup on equipment is far less than ingredients.
#2: Why is it easier to defraud on equipment than ingredients? It's always buyer beware, ingredient buys included, why would liability be any different. Why would the site get shut down?
bmason1623
Well-Known Member
perhaps, but would your buys be as large without the involvement of HBT? Say what you want about HBT and its rules, but it does bring people together in buys. $0.02
For the grain if I can buy a full pallet I can get the same pricing as 3 pallets. So honestly it wouldn't matter to me at this point. I looked into doing something with conicals last year and you really only need 20 units to get decent pricing.
bmason1623 said:
^^ This
I think I've done ~$10k on group grain since December, and may finish the year at $15k-20k. 100% of that is local HBT folks. I appreciate the opportunity. If Tex isn't comfortable, and it's his site, then those are the rules. And since the vendors pay most of the bills for the site, it seems fair.
As for fraud, i still view a $30 sack of grain, or 5 $30 sacks of grain much less individual risk than a $500 conical. Yes, pallet price is the same at the end of the day, but individual exposure is much higher. And there are a lot I layers, from the offshore manufacturer all the way to you, any one of which could be a problem.
I completely understand where you're coming from, and I don't disagree, but I'm appreciative enough that if I do a group buy on equipment I'll take it offline.
