I'm going to go against my better judgment and add to this thread with some more personal input.
Ok. I think I will too.
Jesse - you should have discussed this with us first rather than making a public post. This strikes me as an attempt to force our hand, and I can't speak for the rest of the MC, but it rubs me the wrong way, badly. It struck me as tactless, abrasive (at least, your PM to me was), and lacked diplomacy and salesmanship.
This is a group--we all put towards it. I don't see
anything wrong with asking people what they are willing to pay. I doubt they do either. I never said I was going to sell to anyone unless I established an agreement with the management council.
The idea of PoA Gear for sale is a nice one, I agree, and the sale of such, if handled properly, could be of great benefit. However, personally, it isn't all that important to me either way.
It is for some of us. SOME of us actually fly and plan events. Some of us go to events. We do all of this in the name of Pilots of America. This group that we think so highly of. But yet if we make a shirt we get threatended. I think that is very uncalled for. This is not a business and this never will be a business. This community was built with the idea being this will be a community. If you don't care about the shirts I think you need to either find somone that does care and let us do it. It has been two years. The fact that you say that you don't care but yet say we can't do it is nothing but offensive.
If handled the wrong way it could be a BIG headache. Nobody on the MC is interested in being a storefront - we don't have the time or inclination or funds to deal with inventory, production, shipping, etc. I've been down that road once on a small scale for a volunteer project - NEVER again.
It has been handeled the wrong way. It has been a big headache. It's been one for those of us that care. For those that don't care--I guess it doesn't matter. We don't want you to worry about it which is why we want to do it.
Remember, this site is not a business, its a loosely organized non-profit organization. An arrangement to produce gear will *have* to be 0 foot print on our end - with us earning a commission on sales - with an established internet vendor with a proven track record - for it to get my own endorsement.
It's not even that. This site is a community that we all built. This is a community we will all leave just as fast. You are asking for an established vendor with a proven track record to just give you money. That isn't going to happen. I would think I am respected enough in the POA community to make a few shirts. I've had at least 18 people now tell me they would buy it from me. This was with significant money going into your pocket. The members of this forum are big boys. They do not need you to protect them from a simple purchase of a polo shirt from a friend.
No offense Jesse, but what guarantee do you offer that 2 years and 3 months from now, when a new buyer wants 3 shirts, that you'll still be interested in maintaining your rather impulsively presented arrangement?
Chuck, we are talking polo shirts. If some day I crash into the side of mountain no one is going to cry that they can't buy the same shirt anymore. These are shirts. These are not million dollar computer systems that must have a 24x7 support contract for the next 37 years. These are shirts, sold to friends, Are you being serious with that statement?
The internet is riddled with horror stories from popular sites that set up hasty vendor arrangements that ended up not working out well - especially for the buyers of the product. (Giant in the Playground is one such horror story that leaps immediately to my mind.) Frankly, if it came down to a choice between personally funding the site and being in a bad merchandising deal that caused loads of headache, I'll take paying for the site (and have). Fortunately we have been blessed with tremendous support from our members in that regard and funding hasn't been a concern for some time. (THANK YOU)
We all know each other. We are talking the sale of a few polo shirts. You are really over reacting.
We have, in the past, investigated possibilities of doing something like this. We were discussing making such an arrangement with one vendor, and while not all of us were fully satisfied with the level of response we were getting, we were going to move forward with it, but unfortunately real life got in my way and by the time I could return my attention to it, the vendor had apparently lost interest. My fault for letting communication falter, but on the other hand, the venture was becoming more work than I personally wanted and there were serious questions on our end about being able to verify sales and payments due that weren't fully answered in my view, so perhaps it was for the best.
You think I'm going to sell a few shirts and not pay you the comission for them? Seriously--I offered you guys quite a deal. You were going to get $10 per shirt in profit TOWARDS PILOTS OF AMERICA.
As I said earlier, Adam is looking into options. If you can prove to our satisfaction that you're the best vendor for the job, have the best quality for the best price, etc, great, but making a public issue of it and trying to force our hand on this issue in this manner is not making this MC member look too favorably upon your offer right now.
I've posted here for years. I've met almost everyone here that matters. I've helped people with numerous problems. I came up with a plan to get people polo shirts right now (not two years from now) and give POA some money. You need a member willing to put some time towards it, you do not need a damn vendor. We are talking a few polo shirts for a small community.
I did not make this a public issue, I made this something that the members of this community could look at. Do not make more of this then it is.
The POA management council wasted two years on this. I come up with a pretty sweet deal for everyone. I checked to see if people were willing to buy them and I wrote you saying I'd give POA $10 per polo shirt.
How dare I try to expand the community by getting some friends a few polo shirts. How dare I try to give money to POA. How dare I put my time into this place.
Your response was uncalled for and about all I can say is:
sigh.
