Group Buys: 2014Mid-Atlantic fall bulb & amaryllis buy, local pick-up , 1 by critterologist

critterologist wrote:
Pick-up Party!
Saturday Oct. 24, 1 pm
I'll make chili for lunch. Plan to hang out & visit if you can. We can go out somewhere (Chef Lin or ?) for dinner. Bulb pickup should be quick, so it'll be more party than anything -- Feel free to join us even if you didn't order any amaryllis or lily bulbs! Let me know if you need directions.

***

2015 that is!

We've been chatting on and off about it, and (finally), here is the official order thread! Please read this post, even if you have participated in past group buys.

I'll keep track of the numbers, but I'll be asking for help with invoices, packing, etc. This year, we're going to see if ADR will send the truck up the mountain to Aspen Hill. Thanks, Terri, for volunteering your garage!

This group buy is intended for LOCAL PICK-UP ONLY. I will not ship bulbs! If you want to participate in great deals like this, check out the DG articles I've written on group buys. I'm sharing all my "secrets" about organization, bulb sorting, etc. Let's spread savings from coast to coast!

Our vendor is ADR bulbs: http://www.adrbulbs.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/home.home/index

ORDER DEADLINE: Everything on their website will be available until at least the end of June, usually a week or two into July. After they send in those numbers to the growers, availability depends on what they will have in their stateside warehouse. I want to get our initial order in by the end of June. After that, we may place an additional order or two with a $150 minimum, depending on interest and availability.

SHIPPING COST: I'm hoping Chris will let us have free shipping on our entire order as in the past. However, ADR seems to have stopped doing free ship promos in general, perhaps because of the unpredictable final cost of shipping, so we will see.

WHAT CAN I ORDER?
I'll post an initial list, going by what I've heard people asking for already as well as by my own interests. You can order anything in their lists of fall bulbs.

ADR is a wholesale supplier, which means we buy bulbs from them in boxes and bags, anywhere from 10 amaryllis bulbs to 500 crocuses. When you post an order, tell me how many bulbs you want, and also let me know if you could take a few extras, since we always end up juggling numbers a bit at the end.

If you want to add a bulb to the list, you can post the name along with the maximum number you are willing to purchase or just say "Who wants to split a bag of Tahiti daffs with me?" If you want a whole box/bag, no problem, but otherwise you need to recruit others to share with you... so be sure to "talk up" something you really want! If you want less than half a box/bag, I will wait for a couple other people to chime in before adding the variety to the spreadsheet.

HOW DO I ORDER?
Post on this thread. Please do not go back and edit your post; make a new post for changes or additions. Chat about your choices all you want, but please post orders as a list:

50 Tulip Darwin 'Impression Mix' (whole box)
100 Crocus 'Cream Beauty' (would take up to 250)
20 Daffodil 'Blushing Lady'
2 Amaryllis 'Vera'
1 Amaryllis 'Bolero' (or 2 Bolero & 1 Vera)
1 Amaryllis 'Dancing Queen'

you get the idea

PRICES & PAYMENT

First thing to know for newcomers is that you can't see prices on the ADR website. I can see the prices since I'm registered with them as a retailer. I will look up prices on request, and I'll post prices on our list at the top as we add varieties to this group buy.

New participants need to pay via PayPal or check, so that I have their $ in hand when I am billed in September. Previous participants in my group buys may pay me at pickup. Your initial invoice will include a 10% margin to cover my costs (including unsold items, which enables me to order a bag of amaryllises even when we've only pre-sold 9). In past group buys, this has been reduced to 2-3% by the final invoice -- I'm not trying to make a profit.

Participation is AT YOUR OWN RISK. If aliens devour this year's amaryllis crop or for any some other reason ADR takes my $ without delivering bulbs, you are still responsible for paying your share. Since I'm not a retailer, I can't absorb a loss, but I also think such a loss is extremely unlikely. ADR has been good at working out any problems in the past.

I WILL NOT SHIP BULBS. Plan to pick up your bulbs from Terri (near Lucketts, north of Leesburg) or me (in Frederick). We'll set up a "pick up party" time in mid-October, and we will try to deliver non-amaryllis bulbs at the fall swap if timing permits. You can also make arrangements with another participant to pick up your bulbs and get them to you.



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