Author Topic: Coop Rules Updated 1/9/2009  (Read 10426 times)

Offline RJ

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Coop Rules Updated 1/9/2009
« on: February 16, 2008, »
We invite members to be active in our community and to help the community by doing what they can. One thing members can do is run coops for items members want but are to costly in low numbers.

A primary goal of DIYLightAnimation.com is to make computer-controlled hobbyist lighting easily accessible to everyone. One way to achieve that is through coops -- cooperative purchases -- for electrical and electronic components members want. Frequently, these items  are costly in low numbers but become less expensive when larger quantities are purchased. We invite members to be active in our community and to help the community by doing what they can; one way is to manage a coop.

The following are the rules to follow in running and participating in a coop. We ask that you follow both the rules and their intent. There are also our forum rules on selling, which are in additional to these and listed elsewhere.

You cannot purchase or create items to sell on our forums. For a reasonable price, you may sell items that you purchased or built but are now surplus for you. You may not purchase items with the intent to resell them to our forum members. Following the rules outlined below, you may gather a group of members together and order the items they would like in a quantity they want and share the savings. The managers may not order extra items for the intent of reselling outside the coop. Any units left over for any reason must be priced to match the coop cost. The rules are for the benefit of the everyone.

COOP RULES

All coops and their managers must be approved by an administrator of DLA prior to the posting being made. All coops must be operated by a legal adult and may not be managed by a minor. Contact RJ, or in his absence the listed adminstrator, to get approval.

A bill of materials (BOM) will be posted when the coop is started and will include projected totals for price break-points (10, 25, 50, etc.), as well as the date and time when the coop's sign-up ends. No additional orders beyond that cut-off date will be allowed, unless a minimum quantity has not been reached and the coop manager decides it is in the best interest of the coop to extend it. If an order grows beyond largest listed price break-point, the costs should be recalculated and re-posted to insure the users get the cheapest price. The goal is to get the parts as cheap as possible for members.

All shipping assumes that a flat-rate USPS Priority Mail box will be used, unless otherwise stated, rates to be published.

All coop fees are paid through PayPal. Coops are capped at $5000, which includes a three-percent (3%) coop fee and the PayPal payment fees included in the cost. (A coop fee is provided so the manager has a contingency fund to deal with last-minute price increases.) The fee is hard-capped, while the coop is soft-capped and can be extended only under the agreement of the staff of DLA, Since PayPal fees are different between same-country transfers and foreign transfers, the prices should reflect the difference to show correct amount for each instance.

The coop manager keeps any remaining coop fees after all orders have been delivered. This should be the only excess in a coop. If the coop comes out cheaper than charged, the difference per unit should be refunded to the users.

The coop manager must have a PayPal premier account in order to accept credit card transactions.

There are no modifications to the coop for individuals -- what is offered is only what the coop manager lists in the start of the coop. Managers should limit the variety of choices to prevent confusion as to what the members are ordering.

Coop members are required to send via PayPal the amount of their order before managers place supplier orders and no manager will be allowed to order coop kits for anyone who has not paid in advance of the order cutoff date.

As part of all coop payments, members must make certain the shipping address listed in PayPal is accurate and that in the PayPal payments notes section they include their DLA user name and details about the order. Any payments without the user name or details will require the manager to refund the payment with a note of the issue and request for it to be resent.

Managers are not responsible for items shipped to an inaccurately provided shipping address; members who provide an inaccurate shipping address will be responsible for the loss of the items or any secondary shipping fees.

The managers are required to post the status of the coop at least weekly, even when there is no change to status. This is to insure everyone feels comfortable and well informed.

Once the coop order has been placed with suppliers, all member orders are final -- orders cannot be canceled. This is to protect the manager from being stuck with canceled orders.

All coop orders are an agreement between the manager and the member. The forum staff, owner, or other representatives have no responsibility or liability in the process. By entering into a coop order you agree that you understand this and agree to accept any risk.

There will be no excess ordering on coops for stock. As requested by the members at large, the only exception to this rule is that, at his choosing, RJ may order excess printed circuit boards for future resale. These will be used to help insure new members can build DLA items between coops.

These rules are not the limit, but just an outline. Anyone not abiding by the rules or their intent in the operation of a coop can and will be dealt with in an appropriate manner.

RJ
« Last Edit: January 31, 2010, by RJ »
Innovation beats imitation - and it's more satisfying