tentative rules and goals

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

we need to get a core of completely trustworthy guys, first and foremost. we will use this completely private forum to plan monthly purchases, discuss them, and whatever someone might feel like bringing up. this is a completely private forum...so anything goes. if you didn't know, only those invited and approved will be able to see it, and vipe.

now this is how this "buying club" will work:

- our monthly budget is going to be around a grand.

this way we'll build enough leverage to get access to the good stuff, be able to purchase sticks before they are offered to the general public, etc.

- we are going to have "active" players and "idle" ones.

since 25 isn't an easily divisible number, I want to try to limit it to 12-13 guys actively participating at a time.

- initial committment is of 3 or 4 months at a time.

for now I'm going to ask everyone that wants to actively participate to either pay upfront or commit to staying in for 3 or 4 months at a time. this will help me plan ahead, gather shipping materials, print labels, and save time collecting money. as we build our membership we will be more flexible, and allow guys to drop out if something comes up.

- most cigars will be rebanded.

because I don't want to bring unnecessary attention to myself most of the cigars ordered will be rebanded. you will still get the bands, however. just that the cigars will not reach me in their original packaging. if the price is right and we have enough time I will try to order intact every so often.

- there is going to be a "kitty"

since we'll have some odd cigars every month, I'll just set those aside and come up with a creative contest. the winner will receive an extra heavy package that month. and whatever money is left over will be thrown into a kitty to be used for the last buy of that period. whatever money is left over at the end of the 3 or 4 months will either carry over into your next one if you chose to reup, or you can cash out.

that's all I can think of now. anyone else have any input?

 

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

few more things:

- pricing is going to be around $70 a month

like I said, our goal is to shoot for about a grand a month. ideally I'd like to keep it in the $50 range, but to do that we would have to increase numbers which will dilute the number of cigars each person gets. you have to remember that each cigar box comes with 25 which isn't easily divisible. we try the 12-13 number thing for the first few months. if it's not working well we'll increase the active buyers to drop down the price.

- purchasing aims

first one of every cycle will be geared more towards "quantity" and progressively work up to "quality" near the end. for example: first one or two purchases will consists of 4-5 boxes of ramon allones specially selected for the quantity aspect and another boxes of different cigars to approach our total to a grand. the next to last one will be geared towards "quality" and we might make it all cohiba robustos. finally, the last one will be more of a sampler of getting just one box of cigars we pick.

- "fight club"

this is a private club, so "you don't talk about fight club". if you have a person in mind that might fit put his name up for nomination, but don't be too specific about how we do things until that person is approved. you may say "hey I'm in this monthly buying club, we have a private forum, and dues are $xx a month". they'll get specifics once they join.