Do you guys think we should all split big ebay lots?

[ExpAnonColin]

Like this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2559508714
I mean, it ended at 34.00.  That's about .1 cent/component.  If we all went in and bid on something like that and we split it up, we really could save and stock up on inventory.  I'd be willing to organize it, if anyone wants to do this for a similiar auction in the future.

-Colin

[Peter Snowberg]

Yikes!!!!!

For $34, somebody made out like a bandit!

I think a bulk purchase is a great idea for lots of people. At 1000 pieces, 1/4w resistors can be had for $0.003 each. That's over 65 times less expensive than RadioShack. It almost takes more effort for a supplier to sell one piece rather than 1000 so there is a serious premium added to low qualtities.

The hard part is figuring out what values to stock up on. If you selected, say, 20 common values for resistors and then bought 1000 pieces of each that would be an outlay of $60 for 20,000 resistors.

If each "kit" then contained 50 pieces per value, the cost per kit would be $3 (+shipping +something for your time and effort) for 1000 resistors of 20 values. Very nice. Too bad caps aren't that cheap.

-Peter

[ExpAnonColin]

See?  It's so enormously cheap...  It's quite worth it, in my opinion.  If we had even 9 people to go in on one of those...

-Colin

[petemoore]

They can make great Christmas gift ideas happen!!!

[ExpAnonColin]

They can make great Christmas gift ideas happen!!!

Hahahaha, oh god, that would be amazing...

If you gave someone 36000 components, they'd say, OH GOD HOW MUCH DID YOU SPEND ON THIS?!

-Colin

[Alex C]

Yeah, I'd love to get in on that.  I just got 100 super-bright LEDs and 100 electrolytic capacitors on Ebay for 4.95 including shipping, which is a sweet deal.  If you buy more at once it's even better.  So yeah, I'm definitely interested.  This can be like Aron's beginner thread, where everyone can reply and say "I'm in."  

Colin, you said you'd organize something like this- does that mean correspond with all participants and order the goods, or did you mean you'd organize 36000 components    (I'm guessing the former).  

Great idea, I'd love to participate!  

Alex

[Andy]

Yeah, I'd like a grab bag of goodies too!!  That's an idea i've been toying around with for a long time but afraid that someone would think I'm trying to compete with Steve.  I'd be glad to pitch in man!!!!

[JasonG]

I am a newbe and need to stock up so if you guys want to work together lets do it . I have a paypal acount if that would make it easyer for you.
                  Thanks
                 Jason G

[ExpAnonColin]

OK, so now that we have a few people... We'll start a list.  I'll co-ordinate it... Bid on it, pay for it, then take everyone's money, then send out the stuff to the people.  I'm NOT trying to compete with Steve.  In fact, much of the stuff that he sells (enclosures, 1/4" jacks, stomp switches, bucket brigades, ETC) you won't get in wholesale lots...  Anyways, let's see.
List of people interested:
JasonG
Andy
Alex C
and me.
I'll post on the harmony central boards too, in case there are a few guys there.  If any more auctions like this come up, I'll let you guys know, and we can decide whether or not we want to bid on it and for how much we want to pay.

-Colin

[ExpAnonColin]

Here's the first auction we should all look at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2561558986&category=31456

-Colin

[Peter Snowberg]

Count me in too please!  

That first lot looks like a winner.

-Peter

[Andy]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2560438923&category=40114

check this out.

[ExpAnonColin]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2560438923&category=40114

check this out.

Looks good, but is that maybe a bit too much of one component?

Peter Snowberg is added.

-Colin

[ExpAnonColin]

Oh, and one quick note... please don't be an asshole and bid on an item yourself to take it all for yourself if we list it... if you really ARE interested, let us know before you snipe it out at the end or unnecesarily inflate the price.

-Colin

[Andy]

ok, so how do we do this?  does one person bid or what?

[ExpAnonColin]

ok, so how do we do this?  does one person bid or what?

I plan on bidding on any item a reasonable amount of people say they're willing to go in on, and then distributing the items to those who wanted the items.  I'd really really prefer paypal.

-Colin

[ExpAnonColin]

Should we go in on these MN3005's?  Pricey at $10 apeice, but this is the real deal, 200ms of delay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2561691203&category=22669

Switches, anyone?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2560410203&category=26211

Perhaps a seperate message board, or a webpage would be good for organization.

-Colin

[Andy]

I believe I'll pass on the delay chips at that price.

[travissk]

I too am looking to stock up on parts, so count me in

Just a note - be careful of shipping costs on ebay. That cap lot looks cheap but has a $40 shipping fee tacked on, and even though you get a lot of parts I doubt it would cost that much to ship.

[Peter Snowberg]

Sorry Colin, on second thought (and after looking closer at the supersize pictures) I'm going to drop out. Right now I need to concentrate more on parts I can get a repeating supply of.

Thanks very much anyway. More parts for you guys.  I may join in on future lots.

-Peter