Co-op chat open!! - Page 2

[AFWife]

Could we do homeschool stuff? Learning cards or other supplies that aren't necessarily age specific?

[gossamer]

To answer previous questions, co-ops are when one person agrees to act as the pointman.  They set up the co-op, organize, sort and mail the goods.  Since we are such a large board, we are able to do some really great co-ops with really great prices.  It is exciting because it is often hard to get enough people together offline for a co-op to be worth the discount you can get.  Trust me, they are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GardenStream]

Originally Posted by sunanthem 

 woot! woot! Finally!! I'd love to see a dharma silks or thai silks co op soon, pretty pretty please? Also, perhaps a Casey's Wood one, too. THANKS!

I'll second the Dharma request. We have 3 very used play silks and the boys would love more. I could use some for gifts as well.

[DaughterOfKali]

I was excited but then saw that I can't run one for my own business.  That's a bummer.

Aside from that, I'd like to see one for PlanetBox.

[paxye]

I would love to see Frontier and Mercurius :)

[Lauren82]

Originally Posted by paxye 

I would love to see Frontier and Mercurius :)

I totally need to get my post count up. I host a local Frontier coop every month and would love to extend it to online. =)

[PlayaMama]

i would love a mercurious one too! so glad to see the co-ops back open!! mdc was the first co-op board i found and i have such fond memories of the mamas on here running such neat buys.

and, i just finished running my second organic woolen underwear buy on another group and would be willing to open it on here for next year. this is really early, since i'd probably open it in august or september, should i contact anyone to get it on the schedule this soon?

[HeatherB]

I'm so excited that we're open again!

I'm excited to get to mod the new Co-ops board, as well as organizing and participating in the co-ops.

Gossamer gave a great explanation of co-ops. "Group buy" is another term for it. All the information for the co-ops will be hosted in a co-op-specific thread here in the Co-ops forum, where members can post to participate, add their orders, ask questions of the organizer, etc. (Non "official" co-op business goes here, in the Co-op Chat forum.) All payments will go to the organizer, who will deal directly with the manufacturer to place the order and submit one payment for the whole thing. The order ships to the organizer, who sorts it out into individual orders, packs them up, and gets everyone their shipping totals. Once shipping totals are paid, orders are shipped to participants who get to enjoy their lovely goods!

We are accepting organizer applications now, so go ahead and get those in if you want to run a co-op!

[BathrobeGoddess]

Originally Posted by PlayaMama 

i would love a mercurious one too! so glad to see the co-ops back open!! mdc was the first co-op board i found and i have such fond memories of the mamas on here running such neat buys.

and, i just finished running my second organic woolen underwear buy on another group and would be willing to open it on here for next year. this is really early, since i'd probably open it in august or september, should i contact anyone to get it on the schedule this soon?

Your best bet would be to apply for organizer status now (we have a new process for verification that takes a bit) and then you can apply for your coop to go on the calender 3 months in advance or Heather would then verify that the company allows group buys directly from them and then we would be good to go

I looking forward to a Family Pastimes next holiday season myself!

[ancoda]

So very excited. 

Things I would love to see reusable bags of any brand.

Folkmanis puppets- http://www.folkmanis.com/

Home school supplies- especially science supplies

[weliveintheforest]

Yay!!!!  thankyouthankyou!  i have missed mdc co-ops so much.

I'd love American Apparel/trendyblanks, sternlein socks and tights, yarn.

[georgia]

MDC is also going to be revamping the entire Trading Post format shortly, and I think y'all are going to *love* it. Co-ops will be in all new home, and it's going to be so nice. Thank you so much for your continued support. I am *so* happy to have co-ops back. My cloth shopping bags I got in an MDC eco-bag co-op 7? years ago are looking pretty nasty at this point....

[riomidwife]

I'm still not quite getting the "coop" thing.....So you buy directly from a manufacturer? Or a distributor? Or either? And do you pay the wholesale price, or some other price?

[HeatherB]

Ha! I can't believe we forgot to mention that part! It's the whole reason for co-ops: the discount! It varies by company, but typically we get 30-50% off.

[beanbean]

Tierra Farms

&

Mountain Rose Herbs

[MissMommyNiceNice]

I'm an account holder with Sophie the Giraffe & Lunchskins, if anyone is interested in those.  I'd be happy to host, fill out the app & all - it helps me out b/c as a small business owner, I can't always afford the minimum order!

Lunchskins are awesome!  If you haven't seen them, I'm extremely happy with the way the run through the dishwasher, which is the big deal, really.

[HeatherB]

I encourage anyone who is interested in hosting to go ahead and look over the requirements and fill out an organizer application. Co-op applications can be submitted up to 3 months before the co-op will take place, but need to be submitted by the 10th of the month preceding the co-op, at a minimum. So, start planning!

[Lauren82]

I'd love to see Enwrapture Vintage por favor.

[Lauren82]

Originally Posted by riomidwife 

I'm still not quite getting the "coop" thing.....So you buy directly from a manufacturer? Or a distributor? Or either? And do you pay the wholesale price, or some other price?

Here's how it works:
You will place your order with the mama that is running the coop. Sometimes it is wholesale price, other times it is a discounted group buy price.

You send payment via Paypal to the coop organizer. When the items come in, the organizer ships them to you.

It's easy and fun!

[samstress]

oh, i want to host one.  better get my post count up.