I just hatched an idea. A new way of conducting business in a not-for-profit way. I don't know if it'll work out, but it's worth a try anyways.
I'm going to be ordering parts from Mouser, Digi-Key, and AMB, but instead of ordering stuff by myself, I thought about helping others. If there are any local Chicagoans who want to order something from those vendors (even if it's just little), please state part ID and quantity. You can pick them up at my house. I'll eat the shipping costs from all three vendors for the first price-weight. I'll need the funds to buy the parts hence why I posted this in Group Buy. Just think of me as a retailer, but instead I'm not making any profit out of it. We can save more if we buy stuff in bulk rather than individual purchases.
I am also ordering a 20 pack GLS Audio 1/4" panel mount locking jacks from Amazon
If there is demand outside of Chicago from other states, then I'll ship it out to the manager (someone reputable from head-fi) of your area where you will pick it up at his/her house. However, there'll be extra shipping costs*. CONUS only; for now at least.
*Shipping costs: If the manager is generous to eat the shipping costs, then the locals will get free shipping! If the manager can't, then the final price of the item will be calculated as “item price/quantity" + “shipping cost/quantity demanded". "item price/quantity" only applies when a single item comes prepackaged in bulk sizes; if not, quantity is 1. "Shipping cost/quantity demanded" will be applied again to cover the shipping cost should I ship outside my area. I'll be using USPS (priority mail) to ship them out.
The period is one month. At the end of the period, I buy all the parts. When the new month begins, the process starts over, but instead we'll assign someone else to be leader for that month, and so on.
It works like this. The lead manager for a month will order parts for everyone in CONUS. The lead manager will ship the parts to all other parts of the US where each local manager will be responsible for the inventory they receive. From there local buyers will simply pick up their stuff. Why buy from ratshack when you can find almost everything online, order, and have it ready for pick-up at a pricing discount and very low or free shipping cost? The only disadvantage to this though is the long wait (and people who can't travel to the pick-up location), but if you're patient or not in a rush, then it's a great way to buy stuff online at lower prices.
Right now it seems impractical because there won't be that much demand in the beginning. The network is non-existent. But I'm hoping in the future, if this becomes popular enough beyond head-fi, we'll have a larger DIY consumer base and a larger network, thus larger demand for items. It would benefit all DIY and online consumers imo as well as the vendors.
So for now... any Chicagoans needing something from Mouser, Digikey, AMB? I'm planning on building an M^3 and σ11. I'll post my BOM.xls if anyone is interested.
