Buy household necessities, help footbag (US/CA)

This is for footbag related items only.
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rjadamson
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Buy household necessities, help footbag (US/CA)

Post by rjadamson » 25 Jul 2013 00:32

Please read this entire post before purchasing anything for the first time! Email me any questions.



Short version:

1. Make a shopping list for household items you'd get at Target, Walmart, or Costco (US/CA players only right now, sorry).
2. Find and buy equivalent items at my website instead and have everything shipped to your doorstep.
I've made it so nutrition products come up by default because footbag players might use them, but look around!
3. I take half the retail margin on everything purchased by footbag players, report it monthly in this thread, and let it accumulate:
$50 retail price - $30 wholesale cost = $10 goes straight to footbag fund.*
4. I donate that sum to a footbag event or project (default is the 2014 U.S. Freestyle Footbag Open, but I'm open to ideas) at the onset of 2014!
(Red's top secret shoe project? IFPA? Canadian purchases funding a Canadian event? Sending Penske/Landes to tournaments? Talk to me.)


* Some products have more or less margin between wholesale and retail. The Nutrilite (health), Artistry (makeup), and Legacy of Clean (household cleaning) lines have the best margin. If you want to know exactly how much money a purchase will make simply contact me before buying. I will create a list of some of the best items to buy if you want to raise funds efficienctly very soon... I wanted to get this posted as soon as possible though.



Introduction



I have talked on the phone with several of you over the past week about a fundraising idea of mine, and based on the collective response of overwhelming support I thought I'd try making a public post rather than singling people out to gauge interest.

Helping Justin Dale plan the 2013 U.S. Freestyle Footbag Open was my first experience in event administration. It was a great learning experience for me. Justin Dale did a fantastic job. I hope we were able to provide our attendees with a great time. However when many players end up as no-shows at the last second we lose money due to fewer registration fees and fewer shirt sales (if anyone wants an awesome 2013 shirt contact Justin Dale). The stark reality today is that running a freestyle footbag event is very likely a financial loss. This is not a sustainable model for growing our sport. I don't want my favorite pastime to die because event organizers know they will just lose money by trying to help maintain the community.

In light of this I have a way for citizens of the United States and/or Canada to help passively fund footbag projects and events.

Many online retailers such as Amazon.com are willing to donate a small percentage of profits to charity if it means overcompensating in sales volume. A great example of this process can be found here: http://browseforacause.com/

As you may have noticed the IFPA is not an available option on the above website. I want to keep this very simple. I technically have the capacity to do what the above website does through my own side business powered by a distributor called Amway. Amway is a multi-level marketing company with varying levels of repute depending on who you ask because of the recruiting practices of some business owners representing the company. However the bottom line is that they sell basically everything Costco would. Because I am personally repping the products I can choose the price point when people buy through me. Buy through me and I keep the retail profit instead of Costco.

Hopefully you can see where I am going with this. I am willing to donate half of the retail profit from all purchases made by footbag players to the 2014 U.S. Freestyle Footbag Open. The other half is going to me because I'm putting in the effort to do this, and I've never owned a car.

I am not looking to try and coerce anyone into suddenly buying a bunch of junk they don't need. But if you already take vitamins or already use body wash in the shower, why not buy them through my website so the profit goes to something footbag-related instead of helping buy Target's CEO another jet? The whole point is just changing where you buy things. Do you poop? Your toilet paper could help fund footbag stuff.

If you are planning on running some sort of jam or tournament of your own I will happily sell products to you at wholesale. Be advised that choosing a lower price point for yourself means I cannot donate profit to footbag (or myself).

I hope that makes sense. I have set up a separate bank account I will partition the retail profit generated by footbag players into. Each month I will happily report the total money generated by players, and if community consensus dictates it itemize the purchases for all to see. If you don't trust I am legit then you do not have to buy from me. To be frank this is my second job, and I don’t want my philanthropic efforts to turn into a headache for me. :P



FAQ's

I live outside the United States/Canada but want to help. What can I do?
Email me or call me.

Can I have a discount? / I'm running an event, can I have wholesale pricing?
Yes, but the less profit I make the less goes to footbag (and me). It's your call -- I absolutely want your business either way. If you're running an event I will gladly sell to you at wholesale.

You're a dick for keeping some of the money. Will you donate all of the profit from my order?
If you absolutely can't stomach the idea of me getting anything out of my fundraising efforts I will donate all of the profit instead of half. I want your business no matter the price point or how much of it goes to me. But now you're the dick. I don't even own a desk for my computer! :lol:

What items have the best margin so footbag gets the most money?
I am in the process of creating a detailed list of lucrative items. Until then buy vitamins for your grandma because the nutrition products have the greatest margin.

How do you keep track of footbag-driven purchases versus general purchases from other people?
Manually. So far I've really only advertised my stuff here. This is literally the first place I posted my website. If I am going through my records at the end of the month and find purchases by people I don't recognize and can't identify I will just assume they are a footbag player and donate half of their retail proceeds.

If I refer my friends and family to your program will you donate half of that profit too?
Please contact me before referring anyone -- but yes. I have to manually go through my sales once a month to figure out what amount to donate so if I'm suddenly getting sales from people I don't recognize it might throw me for a loop. On the other hand if I'm getting too many sales and making too much money I'll just cut my monthly revenue in half and donate that amount to footbag instead of pinching pennies.

I don't want the proceeds to support the IFPA/player travel/whatever. Will you direct my sale proceeds to this other footbag project instead?
I am not going to spend all of my time micromanaging where I send money every month. I am not dead set on donating this lump of money to any one thing, but you guys will collectively have to decide where this money goes. I might be able to allocate one month's earnings to one place and the next month's earning to another, but we'd have to have community consensus beforehand.

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