Has anyone ordered from AquariumLifeSupportSystems ?

This raises an interesting topic,
Society Purchase vs Wholesale Purchase
I've been questioning the ethics and finacial liability of this.

This is my opinion, maybe different than the BRS Officers and BOD but,

Group buys and Wholesale Purchase
The BRS is a collection of individuals, that when "grouped" together, have the financial ability to purchase in bulk quantities. The bulk purchases should yield a significant cost savings over an individual purchase.
Thus the "group buy"

I feel that the BRS, as a collective group, can AND should pursue the LFS sponsors and online vendors to give us the best bulk price.
If we reach a point that the items of interest are not available through any of our LFS or online vendors, I am confident that any of our BRS sponsors would be willing to step up and take the necessary actions needed to obtain product. If only motivated by the additional foot traffic and advertising. There?s nothing better than a LFS that can meet its customer?s needs. Even if the customer is 500+ strong.

What I don't agree with is:
The BRS should not be setting up wholesale and distributor accounts. I don't think the BRS as an organization would care to entertain that kind of financial (credit) exposure as well as the negative impact this would have on the LFS.
What?s next? Livestock? And before you know it, your favorite LFS is closing its doors. End result: we all loose.

The BRS as a group should continue to pursue direct pricing and online quotes, but when those purchases require wholesale/distributor status, we should look to our sponsors to step up and take the business.
That is why they are OUR SPONSORS

Now the Society Purchase....
I am cautious of the account holders financial liability if someone from the BRS was to order by using the account # without consent from the account holder. If there are 15 people willing to provide their name address, Phone and email, I will submit the form. I am doubtful that our prices as a society would be better than that of a wholesale distributor, but it should serve as a great tool to establish a baseline cost.
 
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Well said Scott.
Just one thing to add: if and only if someone decided to pursue this (and I agree it's definitely not in the best interest of the club) but IF ...Then why would we go through a reseller? Certainly if we decided to we could set up direct accounts with all the major players. Then we could just go to our sponsors homes and empty their refrigerators? Also what criteria would you put on what products to offer? Sign up and purchase just because they can be had cheap and offer discounts to clubs?
I mean really where does it stop and what?s the up side? Make the club into one big purchasing co-op, put all the stores out so every time you need something it needs to go through committee and come in the mail?

BTW on a positive note there is another way to get wholesale pricing and not cut out our sponsors..... Most of the manufactures in this business are fairly small. If a dealer comes to them with a club of 500 behind them looking for special pricing on a one time large order they're going to talk.
One way to approach it would be getting the order first then see which dealer can cut the best deal.
 
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I think that going thru our sponsors is a great idea. But there may be some products that there isn't enough oof a markdown for an LFS to swing the deal. Case in point, the Orion fans, cost break point was 1,000 fans, it just wasn't worth it for an LFS to deal with the order
It would be interesting to see what they offer
And we may have 500 members/friends, but how many are active? I think the battery air supply was the "largest" order I have seen
 
Hmn. I would suggest this topic be moved to a different forum...one where we discuss BRS business and operational issues, however, I don't think we really have one. :)

These are really tough issues. In my opinion, it shouldn't be the function of the BRS, nor our sponsorship program, to funnel business to LFSs. I don't think anyone is suggesting otherwise, but that is one end of the spectrum. The other end is completely bypassing the LFSs, which is equally as short-sited and unproductive.

I think we need a balance and I think our policies/practices are helping us achieve that balance. I think we give the LFSs the opportunity to reach our members conveniently and affordably. That's what our sponsorship packages are promising and what we are delivering, and that seems like a good middle ground to me. Now that we're on our own forum system, the whole group buy forum should further help LFSs tap into and meet our membership's needs.

I don't think many/any of us would prefer to deal with online vendors -- if we can get a competitive deal locally we generally choose that option. If LFSs can't be competitive for a given item, I don't think they should expect to get our business. Competitive doesn't necessary mean the lowest price although that is always a primary factor.

One point that I've heard implied that I'd like to challenge is that the BRS is significant enough to drive LFSs out of business. Sure, if you take all of our business away from the LFS community, it would hurt them, some a lot more than others...but I don't think we represent the bulk of the customers at almost any of the LFSs (the only exceptions being the businesses that have sprung from our members).

That said, I still don't think it is part of the BRS mission to start acting like a co-op. If people want a co-op, they should start one and that should be a separate organization (and a BRS sponsor). :) Personally, that sounds like a lot of work for what I would expect would be extremely little benefit -- co-ops have to be run like businesses...are you really that envious of the lifestyle of our LFS owners? ;-)

I think most of us are saying pretty similar things. Give the LFSs a crack at whatever group buys we are interested in... Give our sponsors additional means to service our membership. Don't restrict our members from pursuing whatever option they wish to pursue. Don't use the BRS organization to bypass the sellers we would traditionally have to deal with to purchase things (in other words, if the organization would have to set up an account, then don't deal with them).

That's my opinion. Compelling arguments for/against welcome.
 
joefitz said:
but I don't think we represent the bulk of the customers at almost any of the LFSs
You're probably right. Everytime I go to an LFS, only less than 5% of customers I see in the saltwater section are BRS members. Not to mention there are lots of customers in other departments - dogs cats etc.
 
For what its worth most places won't sell to the BRS if there is a dealer in the area. This place will not sell to the BRS as there is a dealer here.

I also think that the BRS is doing things right with the new sponsor packages.

Thanks
 
I think, for what it is worth, that going through the sponsers for large buys is a good idea. It brings our sponsers much-needed and welcomed business, and everyone involved gets a fair price. As much as I love a bargain, these businesses have a right to make a fair profit. I would hate to see the LFS go the way of the local hardware stores (Because of places like H. Depot) or video stores (Same thing with Blockbuster, etc). I enjoy being able to walk in, see what I want, and be able to buy it. I can honestly say I will NEVER buy livestock online, or from someplace I can't see it live and in person. It's too great a risk, in my opinion.
 
ooops I was not aware of the group's policies. It makes sense to support our local sponsors. I buy live stock from local sponsors.

Scott I didn't mean to step on your toes, I usually try to save a buck and at the moment I was looking for loc-line and they had a good deal.

It's easy for a newbie brs member to get in trouble, I think I will not make any more sugestions unless I want to get spanked. (OH! I might like it! just kidding)

Thanks guys,
Gilbert
 
EVERYONE is looking to save $$ in this hobby :D
If we can do that & support our sponsors, all the better
And the more suggestions, the better. You never know when you may stumble across something that will be a benefit to the club
 
ggomez said:
ooops I was not aware of the group's policies. It makes sense to support our local sponsors. I buy live stock from local sponsors.

Scott I didn't mean to step on your toes, I usually try to save a buck and at the moment I was looking for loc-line and they had a good deal.

It's easy for a newbie brs member to get in trouble, I think I will not make any more sugestions unless I want to get spanked. (OH! I might like it! just kidding)

Thanks guys,
Gilbert

no oops. no toes stepped on. keep the suggestions comming. if anything maybe WE as a group can help the LFS find thier stuff cheaper too. just because we don't order wholesale direct doesn't mean we can't get our LFS to do it for us. :D
 
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