Audio parts coops?

[uqbar]

I was getting ready to get a bunch of new cabling and connectors for my studio. Of course the best price breaks are in bulk size orders, and as I was playing though the numbers a few things came to me.

Growing up my Mom was part of a coop that would buy bulk food and then divide it up so that everyone in the group saved money.

In college in the 80's we did the same thing with bulk cassette tapes - we'd get a bunch of us to all put in and would make a large order of nice sounding tape that really cut our costs - usually in half.

Anyone doing this with generic audio stuff like cables and connectors? Not sure if I'm up to the logistics to organize this, but I imagine it would work in cities like Chicago where we have lots of folks with their own studios.

Maybe the tapeop board is even a good organizing tool - someone posts that they are buying XLR connectors and asks who else wants to go in, etc.

Thoughts?

mark

[Professor]

I've noticed that most price breaks on connectors happen at 100 and most breaks on wire & cable happen at a full roll, or when the dealer has a partial roll that he doesn't want hanging around. Organizing a bunch of folks could be tricky and you'd probably end up with arguments over which model or color to buy.

So my suggestion first to find the local distributor of some of the products you want. Try the Neutrik website to find the Chicago distributor (who probably keeps boxes of everything in stock and sells at wholesale) and then visit their shop to see which wire, cable, connectors, etc. they keep around. Then buy the 100 piece boxes and either in-stock partial rolls or full rolls of wire. With whatever you have left over, you could either sell them here or on eBay in bulk, or you could build a few standard sized cables and sell them as completed cables. Just mark them up a bit to cover costs. Then you have shared the cost a little, and maybe even shared it in your favor.

-Jeremy

[Kyle]

I think that it is a great idea. I agree with what the Prof. said, but I think that it could still work for those things that like minded tapeop'ers want.

[uqbar]

Well deciding what to buy is part of the whole co-op model - these problems exist whether you're buying cable or salsa. It ends up being a lots of negotiation - or else someone just designates a generic selection and you're in or out.

But it is work - someone has to chunk out the quantities, deal with money collection, etc.

mark