A simple idea that helps money savers too

cdcclub

I have been thinking about this idea for a while but am unsure of what alot of other people think.

ok I see from this site alot of people miss out on bargains from places like Argos as there local stores don't have the items in stock but on looking your particular store does.

so what about setting up a network of people all over the country that would be willing to provide such a service to other money savers. you could get the payments for the items to be bought through paypal. the purchaser gives you the product cost p&p and obviously so many £ for your time, unsure what that amount should be.

No doubt could be open to abuse but there is soo many people out there looking for genuine ways of making money that i think if you live local enough to an argos and post office this would be a good way to get a little bit more spare cash.

what does everyone think?

edited to add in
the like of argos the purchaser can reserve the item giving a 2 day hold on the product to make sure that the item is kept avialable and that would give the chance of the paypal payment. i would however suggest all items would have to be recorded delivery which obviously puts the p&p up a bit but at least then both purchaser and sender have a little insurance of getting the money back should the item go astray.

another thing would be that you would need to build a ratings sytem of trusted users and to begin with only allowed low cost items till you build up your rating and feed back.

Richard019

I've actually had a similar idea, but looking at the finances of it I'm not convinced it's workable. By the time you've factored in the paypal commission, the postage (particularly with the bulkier items), and your cut, the price probably won't be that much better than you can get elsewhere.

cdcclub

Really just an idea, Just wondered what the actual demand for it would be like. But when you think about things like the must have items that end up getting whacked on ebay with highly inflated prices during the xmas season then I feel it would be worth it.

Richard019

Over a limited number of lines in the run up to Xmas it could work, I'd been considering the slightly different idea as a seperate arm of my business that I could use to fund the loss making parts of it which was making it less workable.

cdcclub

for me it would be more about saving people money or more importantly being able to get items that I can't actually get anywhere else. Iwouldn't say it was an actual business or even a way of earning alot of money. was more like a way to save money by being able to get the bargains or gain a little more money by helping out money savers.

Richard019

cdcclub wrote: »

for me it would be more about saving people money or more importantly being able to get items that I can't actually get anywhere else. Iwouldn't say it was an actual business or even a way of earning alot of money. was more like a way to save money by being able to get the bargains or gain a little more money by helping out money savers.

I appreciate that which is why I think it could work as a seasonal thing.

It was my original idea that I'd thought of before this thread existed that was a business idea. The main stumbling block was that by the time I'd added on postage there would be little room for a profit margin without going above prices available elsewhere.

The same principle would apply here for most of the year as by the time you'd added on that same postage (assuming you didn't want to send it in standard post) for a lot of things you'd be as well to pay the extra money and get it locally yourself.

Like you say though, when it comes to Xmas must haves and local specialities it's certainly an option that could work. (If anyone can work out how to get patties up to Scotland from Hull cheaply I'll cut them in when I go round the chip shops up here and get them to take up the ordering)

cdcclub

Whats a pattie?