astrodav
03-21-2010, 04:14 AM
Just stumbled across this interesting oppurtunity which is out there. CacheAdvance is a nice, well-stocked, caching supply store which I have done business with more than once & can personally vouch for. (No, I ain't getting paid nuthin from them for doing this. :lol: ) They have a group/club discount program thingy going on. You can read about it over here:
http://www.cache-advance.com/groups.htm
There seems to be some type of acceptance review, which it's sorta vague about the specifics. I assume that is to prevent individuals from starting up a fake group, in order to get the discount. The exact discount, whether it applies to all products, just certain ones, or if the discount varies by prouct, isn't real clear either. They say "usually about 15% for many group and bulk purchases".
I've ordered dozens of different caching supplies, from at least a half-dozen different suppliers, so am fairly aware of good deals, average deals, & too-expensive deals. As with all companies, you'll find some of each here. Following is an example list of what I think their best deals are, along with the standard price, followed by what the price would be with a 15% discount:
Small Lock-N-Lock = $1.99/1.69
Small Bison Tube = $1.95/1.66
3.25X4.75 RITR LogBook = $1.95/1.66
1.75X4 Official Geocache Sticker = 94 cents/80 cents
Vehicle Travel Bugs
if you already have a set of TB's = $3.50/2.98
including a set of TB's = $9.95/8.46
Trackable T-Shirt = $23.99/20.39 -- Any size up to 3XL, choice of 8 colors
Camo Paint Kit = $18.59/15.80 -- I just bought the same thing for 20 bucks
Lastly, here is a neat little thing. The price looks like a steal & piecing it out individually would cost at least $15, maybe more. It's a "Cache Repair Kit Refill" (the actual kit includes a $10 bag to put it all in, this just has the guts included) It's available in Woodland Green, Desert Tan, & Urban Grey, which is the colors that the tape, tube, & logs will be. It costs $8.95/7.61. The contents include:
3 strips camo tape
1 small bison tube
1 film can micro-cache
5 waterproof stash notes
3 strips Velcro
1 tube Super-Glue
3 golf pencils
2 magnets
10 RITR log-sheets in 2 sizes
1 3X5 log-book
3 First-To-FIX wooden nickles
Several high-quality 2X3 & 4X6 Ziplocks
I'm only passing this info on to the association & not recommending or implying anything. But this could possibly be something to look into. Once per month, or something like that, members could send in their orders & money, then the association could make a mass-buy of equipment at one time ... getting a discount & saving considerably on shipping.
If this were done, I believe it would need to be understood by the members who ordered supplies, that they would receive them at an event. Trying to ship them out would involve too much work for somebody & the cost for postage would erase any savings generated.
Some of those prices can't be beat however, most especially the vehicle TB's, small L&L's, small Bisons, stickers, & the paint kit. That last one would be heavy however, so you would most likely have to order several before the price after shipping would beat what you can buy it for in a sporting goods store.
If the association chose to do something like this, & the president/treasurer/secretary/whomever didn't want the distribution job, I wouldn't mind doing that, as long as everyone realized that I don't attend EVERY event in ALL areas of the state .... just the western & central ones most usually.
http://www.cache-advance.com/groups.htm
There seems to be some type of acceptance review, which it's sorta vague about the specifics. I assume that is to prevent individuals from starting up a fake group, in order to get the discount. The exact discount, whether it applies to all products, just certain ones, or if the discount varies by prouct, isn't real clear either. They say "usually about 15% for many group and bulk purchases".
I've ordered dozens of different caching supplies, from at least a half-dozen different suppliers, so am fairly aware of good deals, average deals, & too-expensive deals. As with all companies, you'll find some of each here. Following is an example list of what I think their best deals are, along with the standard price, followed by what the price would be with a 15% discount:
Small Lock-N-Lock = $1.99/1.69
Small Bison Tube = $1.95/1.66
3.25X4.75 RITR LogBook = $1.95/1.66
1.75X4 Official Geocache Sticker = 94 cents/80 cents
Vehicle Travel Bugs
if you already have a set of TB's = $3.50/2.98
including a set of TB's = $9.95/8.46
Trackable T-Shirt = $23.99/20.39 -- Any size up to 3XL, choice of 8 colors
Camo Paint Kit = $18.59/15.80 -- I just bought the same thing for 20 bucks
Lastly, here is a neat little thing. The price looks like a steal & piecing it out individually would cost at least $15, maybe more. It's a "Cache Repair Kit Refill" (the actual kit includes a $10 bag to put it all in, this just has the guts included) It's available in Woodland Green, Desert Tan, & Urban Grey, which is the colors that the tape, tube, & logs will be. It costs $8.95/7.61. The contents include:
3 strips camo tape
1 small bison tube
1 film can micro-cache
5 waterproof stash notes
3 strips Velcro
1 tube Super-Glue
3 golf pencils
2 magnets
10 RITR log-sheets in 2 sizes
1 3X5 log-book
3 First-To-FIX wooden nickles
Several high-quality 2X3 & 4X6 Ziplocks
I'm only passing this info on to the association & not recommending or implying anything. But this could possibly be something to look into. Once per month, or something like that, members could send in their orders & money, then the association could make a mass-buy of equipment at one time ... getting a discount & saving considerably on shipping.
If this were done, I believe it would need to be understood by the members who ordered supplies, that they would receive them at an event. Trying to ship them out would involve too much work for somebody & the cost for postage would erase any savings generated.
Some of those prices can't be beat however, most especially the vehicle TB's, small L&L's, small Bisons, stickers, & the paint kit. That last one would be heavy however, so you would most likely have to order several before the price after shipping would beat what you can buy it for in a sporting goods store.
If the association chose to do something like this, & the president/treasurer/secretary/whomever didn't want the distribution job, I wouldn't mind doing that, as long as everyone realized that I don't attend EVERY event in ALL areas of the state .... just the western & central ones most usually.