Re: Communal buying...
From: Sharon Villines (sharonsharonvillines.com)
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 20:48:01 -0700 (MST)


On Sunday, March 16, 2003, at 10:50  AM, manya [at] shaw.ca wrote:

issue of affordability. Does communal buying work?
What do you buy together? How do you work out the
reimbursement issues from purchaser to recipient?
(e.g. If I buy 40 litres  of milk, and give 30 away
to fellow unit holders, and someone else purchased
laundry soap, how do we balance the books relatively
balanced?)

Money was invented for this purpose. Just keep track. it is the easiest way to figure out how much soap is worth relative to milk. The person who spends the money initially is the best person to report what was spent and to whom the goods went. Records can be kept centrally and balanced at the end of the month or each buyer can collect.

One thing we have done is negotiate group sales so we get a discount but people do the actual purchasing themselves. We all did this with window blinds and with washers and dryers when we first moved in. One person did the research for each item, we chose a vendor, and in the case of the washer and dryer, a brand, and then each person contacted the same sales person to actually make the purchase and arrange delivery and installation. (No vendor seemed to be able to deliver and install all units at one time.) We saved from 10-20% by purchasing this way.

We once purchased food from a health food vendor that is more tricky. It certainly can work but requires learning how to purchase in bulk, how each vendor charges, and someone to keep all the records.

We had 5 babies last year and the maternity dresses, nursing blouses, baby clothes, and baby gear have moved from one house to another. Most of it came from Thrift Shops and consignment stores and will go back there at some point -- what's left of it.

Sharon
-----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org

_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.