[dorkbotpdx-announce] dorkbot group parts orders

[Mr.T]

Fellow pdx dorks:

I volunteered at the last meeting to begin coordinating a batch style 
group order to the various component distributors. Starting this week I 
will be accepting parts lists to go into a group order to Digikey. 
Depending on how well this goes and the general interest level, I will 
begin doing mouser and either Newark, Arrow or Jameco (or all three in a 
rotating fashion). Initially I will be doing this by hand and accepting 
orders via this email address ( drtwist at aracnet.com). If interest remains 
high I will be putting up some sort of web order aggregation tool. 

Why would you want to do this? Two reasons:
1. Saves money (should eliminate handling fees on small orders, shipping 
cost is spread across all people in the order, possible volume discount)

2. Saves resources (less packing used, less fuel used)


How this works (this is new and subject to change):

On the Monday of the week before a meeting I will aggregate and place 
orders. I will send out via email the order totals plus their share of the 
shipping. People can either bring cash to the meeting or pay pal their 
share to me (adding 2.9% + $0.30 for the fee that paypal charges me).  The 
orders should arrive that week and I will break out components into 
individual orders. On the day of the meeting I will bring the orders for 
distribution. 
If you are the only person that orders that week I will contact you to see 
if you want me to wait until the next order cycle to put in with others, 
or forget it altogether .

How to place an order:

Initially orders can be placed by sending me an email ( 
drtwist at aracnet.com ) with the following information: quantity, vendor, 
exact distributor part number, part description.

Looking like this:

Qty 1 , Digikey, ATMEGA168-20AU-ND, Atmel ATMega 168 MCU
   

First order goes out on Feb 25, 2008 and every 2 weeks there after. If you 
have questions please drop me a line.

Have fun,

-Eric


_____________________________
Drtwist:
drtwist at aracnet.com