Group buys vs members

[admin]

This is only floating the idea, but when we start charging for membership (likely to be €10) certain things will change. One of them is the group buys. There is the opinion that they should be limited to members only, and then there is the counter opinion that they should be open to everyone, but that non-members should pay more.

What are people's thoughts?

[Shane Phelan]

I would suggest that there should be a certain number of posts too. If you aren't an active member, i.e. less than 20 posts for example, then you aren't seen as an active/contributing member of the forum.

[johnrm]

Is it possible to generate revenue from ads?
Have   it ad free for members too.

[newToBrew]

pay your tenner - be a supportive member - enjoy the spoils !!

less complicated - support the cause !!!

[Ciderhead]

to be honest if its membership only in group buys I am going to suggest 20, why? because I have saved over €200 from information I have directly received on the site or from group buys.  The Hop buy alone saved me 20 and a further 20 from the group malt buy.
Somebody give me a reason why it shouldn't be 20?
I believe we should also have cards and our membership status next to our icon
I see where you are coming on the post thing but not sure that is equitable, but less that 20 posts should not qualify 

[Shanna]

Hi there

By all means charge a membership if you want I am not sure that making group buys exclusive is entirely necessary. I see the group buy as a means to get get the best deal on widget x by.leveraging the combined purchasing power of as many people as possible. excluding people based on membership would in my opinion reduce they.number of people you could draw support from. from past experience on doing a group buy organising a list of people, collecting the.money from people in a timely fashion and then distributing the widgets is the biggest problem that membership won't sort out. unfortunately a certain cohort of people will remain either lazy, indifferent or or disorganised meaning that things take longer than expected.

Declan

[Ciderhead]

Apart from that stupid plastic carbonator I was trying to buy, every group buy has been a total success and totally oversubscribed, many having to have a second go.
I am struggling to understand why the financial benefits of group buys being organised by members like you and me should be enjoyed by people who are not contributors to the forum, the club or those not prepared to organise a group buy themselves.   

[DEMPSEY]

As homebrew clubs go,we are unique in the success of our group buys. Moving on from here,I would like to see this as an incentive rather than letting someone make one post,and then benefit from a good group buy,only to disappear. Active engagement in the club is what what is required and so I would prefer to see a little commitement

[Shanna]

Hi guys

I understand the.communal nature of the group buy and the desire to encourage participation in the club but I still would like to follow a free and fair access where we are open to new members. Don't see.how charging someone a tenner is going to make the group buys more successful. All for getting people to give back and might be an idea to get people to put that into concrete form.

Declan

[Taf]

I'd be in favour of charging €10 for membership, and then giving group buy priority to members, and then open up the lists to non members at a higher margin.

[loftybush]

Why not charge a % on top of each group buy. That way you pay as you save, and the club is guaranteed a % of every group buy.

If the club took (for example) 10% of the savings of the group buy, by Ciderheads example the club would get his proposed €20 of the €200 savings he made last year.

Not all people brew enough to make those savings suggested by Ciderhead and might just join in the group buys for a piece of equipment or a top-up of hops each year. Charging them €20 to join in the group buys would be  a disincentive to getting involved as it would cost them more than going to the homebrew store.

[Eoin]

Pay membership, get all the privileges.

I don't think that people should be discouraged from joining on the basis of just getting group buys, the more the merrier.

What's the point of making it someway exclusive?

[Eoin]

Charging them €20 to join in the group buys would be  a disincentive to getting involved as it would cost them more than going to the homebrew store.

Do we want people who come here just to get stuff cheaper than the homebrew store?

Why not, it would inflate numbers and chances are that they will become useful community members with time?

[JimmyM]

Im all for charging membership.
Lets face it most of us on here have paid Beoir membership and received frankly nothing.

Ciderhead is loaded so he would say 20 - I think 10 is the obvious number to start off.

However, charging someone membership immediatley makes you accountable to deliver something in return.
So Ok we have the forum - and I'd imagine there would be some kind of members only area.
But in terms of group buys we would have to "Guarantee" (this is not the word) a schedule of group buys. I think we do this already but not officially. So we have the malt buys every e.g. 3-4 months 3 or 4 a year.
And then we can make the hop buy an anual thing.
There will obviously be limits on these - i.e. first come first served and members get priority etc..
Then whatever ad-hoc buys like grain mills etc would only occur on a per demand basis.

Now, obviously somebody has to take responsability for the above - which brings us back round to the debate of roles etc. And what to do when someone isnt pulling their weight.

So my point/summary is I think if you brew, you will definitely get bang for your buck. But, I think there is a few more wrinkles to iron out before hand.

[JimmyM]

Ciderhead is loaded so he would say 20 - I think 10 is the obvious number to start off.

How about we charge ciderhead €20 and then €10 for everyone else?

Im sure he'd gladly give it too!