Anyone here been involved in an Internet group purchase..

I have done group purchases on quite a few things but usually with people that are local..

I know people make group purchases through the internet but I don't know how it works logistically..

I would like to organize a few on some popular items but I need to know how it works..

I've been part of many group purchases mainly from other Vette forums.

They usually start with a post to get interest in a particular product. This can be done by a vendor or an individual who will then contact a vendor.

If the interest is great enough the vendor will set a price and a group purchase start and end date. Then people will place their orders.

Depending on the item and/or how many the vendor keeps in stock, it may be shipped right away... or the vendor may keep a list of orderers until the GP end date and either order them himself and then ship the out to the orderers, or he may send the order to the manufacturer who will drop ship them directly to the orderers.

Example 1: A vendor has 500 sets of floor mats. He says it he will sell them at $1 each if he can get over 100 orders. People call up, place an order, when he gets 100 orders he starts sending them out.

Example 2: A vendor works with a manufacturer on a price for headers. He says if he can get 20 order for XYZ brand headers the price will be $25. The group purchase is until Oct. 30. People call and place their order which gets held until the end date (Oct 30). If the vendor gets > 20 orders he contacts the manufacturer who then drop ships the headers to all the people that ordered them. On the other hand, if the vendor doesn't get 20 orders, the group purchase is voided (or the vendor may come back and say he will sell them for a smaller discount).

Example 3: More like a sale for a particular forum (or club). A vendor will post and say he'll give every C3VR member free shipping on a particular item.

There are certainly other variations on the theme, but basically this is how it works.