Save Money with a Frugal Buyers Club
Published on - October 6th, 2006 (Modified on - July 13th, 2012) (by J.D. Roth) Here’s an intriguing idea from Bankrate.com’s monthly frugal $ense contest. Douglas Jost Saint Louis suggests:
Form a group of frugal buyers in your local area, preferably from people you are willing to shop with and trust. Assign tasks to each member to find the lowest price for certain everyday products. In some cases you may be able to shop together to save money by buying in bulk or may be able to save time if certain members shop for other group members at certain stores.
I’m curious how this would work in practice. My wife and I exchange our home-grown produce with friends and neighbors. We pitch together with coworkers to buy a side of beef every year. We sometimes split the cost of a Costco-sized package with another couple. But I’ve never heard of a frugal buyers club.
[Bankrate: Frugal buyers club]
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I’ve heard people in China have a similar strategy for more high end products. Chat rooms are set up where people come together who want the same product (ie big-screen TV). They will then all meet up at a pre-determined store and go in together. They will confront the store manager and say they are all there for TV’s but will not purchase any unless they get a substantial discount. Apparently this strategy is very effective.
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Seems like it’d only be good for seasonal items, or one-off events when everyone wants something in particular at the same time. I heard about the the Chinese thing too – good idea, but again everyone has to be ready to buy the same thing at the same time, or at least buy from the same store.
I did a few things this weekend that saved money: opened an account that gave me $25 for signing up, a George Foreman grill and if all goes well in a few months I’ll get a $54 gift card. I also called my web hosting company and got a discount just by asking. Look for companies that will pay you for your business – it’s a good way to make some money without having to co-ordinate with others. BTW It was bankatlantic.com
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A group of local bloggers could form a frugal buyers ring very easily.
For example, on my blog, I list the best diaper and formula prices among several retailers in my area. I do this weekly. The same could be done for other types of products if individuals were interested in taking on the challenge. Toiletries, cleaning products, and other items people need all the time would work best.
There’s also a website that compares local prices on items: shoplocal.com. Couponmom.com does something similar.
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