geekhack Marketplace > Group Buys and Preorders

Group Buy Rules and Guidelines (Updated 2023-09-11)

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HoffmanMyster:
Group Buy Rules and Guidelines

Hey everyone. As you may have noticed, the Group Buy rules are a little unclear on some topics, and could generally use an update. We have rewritten the Group Buy rules accordingly. Review the rules below before organizing or participating in a Group Buy, and please let myself or another moderator know if any items need further clarification.

Topics

* What is “Group Buys and Preorders"?
* Who can create a Group Buy thread?
* What are my responsibilities as a Group Buy organizer after creating the thread?
* Group Buy Thread Requirements

What is “Group Buys and Preorders”?

The Group Buys and Preorders subforum is a marketplace for the purpose of bringing new products to the community that would otherwise not be feasible or possible. This typically consists of a Group Buy organizer (or a set of regional vendors, coordinated by the Group Buy organizer) collecting funds from forum members to reach a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) with a manufacturer in order to obtain a product at a lower price tier through volume discounts, or to create multiple custom products to lower cost per unit. The product in question would typically not yet be produced (see update below); if the product exists in a vendor’s inventory, it shall be sold in the Vendor subforum of the marketplace. If, on the other hand, the product is to be produced in limited quantities by the organizer, that sale belongs in the Artisan subforum.

Update 2022-11-22: As of today, the requirement that a product not be in stock is being relaxed. This requirement has unintentionally discouraged the development of in-stock products, something that this hobby would benefit greatly from. As such, in-stock products are now being allowed in the Group Buy and Preorder subforum (please use an '[In-Stock]' tag to denote an in-stock buy). The thread count limit will remain in order to limit the number of posts from vendors. Please stay tuned for more updates to come, both on this particular topic and overall restructuring of the Marketplace section overall. This is the first step in a broader revamp that will take a little more time to complete - we wanted to get this change live sooner than later.

Please see ”What is a group buy? Should I join one? Group Buy FAQ / Buying Guidelines” for more information from the participant’s perspective.


Who can create a Group Buy thread?

Forum members, Artisans, and Vendors may start threads in this section. Reminder to Vendors, please check the Vendor Terms of Service.

A Minimum forum membership duration of 2 months + post count of 25 are required to create new threads. If you do not meet this requirement, the "New Topic" button will not be visible to draft a new thread. (Note: This minimum post count includes both Threads that are created and Post replies to other threads made in subforums which count posts; if your official Post Count listed below your username is lower than expected, it's due to posts being made in subforums that do not count posts)

Update 2023-09-11: Please note—we do verify that users are not spamming to meet the 25 post requirement. If you make an excessive number of low-effort/spam posts immediately before posting a GB thread, expect the posts to be deleted and the GB thread to remain unapproved.

When a Group Buy organizer is personally responsible for ordering/sorting/shipping (when applicable) items from a Group Buy, that organizer is limited to creating 2 concurrent (from starting and until finished delivery) Group Buy / Preorder threads if they are a Member/Artisan and 4 concurrent threads if they are a Vendor. Note that this rule does not apply if an organizer is acting only as a designer, and group buys are then fulfilled by a third-party vendor. Such third-party vendors are in no way vetted by geekhack; please do your research before placing an order, as you would with any independent website.

Only those who are directly involved in running a group buy are allowed to start threads here (i.e. please do not post a thread on behalf of someone else).

If you would like to advertise products entirely in your possession, please use the Classifieds, or, if applicable, you may use the Artisan Services or Vendor Forums sections.


What are my responsibilities as a Group Buy organizer after creating the thread?

geekhack.org is a community of keyboard enthusiasts and not simply an advertising platform for keyboard-related sales. Thus we require that any group buy organizers who post their group buy threads in this section also provide updates in the thread they have started until the conclusion of the group buy, even if updates are also posted somewhere else. It is requested to post an update at least monthly, even if there is no progress in manufacturing.

Group buy threads made here are for group buy progress discussion as well as open discussion of any quality control issues. If a group buy organizer decides to provide an off-site instant message chat option for faster order support (for example Discord), any such communication needs to be optional when it comes to non-sensitive order information (individual support involving personal information is not required to, and should not, be posted in the public thread).


Group Buy Thread Requirements

Please follow the posting requirements detailed here when creating your GB thread. Failure to do so may result in your post not being approved. If you believe that a particular portion of these requirements do not apply to your Group Buy for any reason, please feel free to contact the moderation team to explain the situation.

Group Buy Thread Title

The “[GB]” prefix must be used in your thread title in order to make thread titles in this subforum more distinctive for those browsing using Spy or Unread Topics. Please include manufacturer/material information when applicable, and avoid all-caps or other click-baity writing styles.

Group Buy Thread Contents

There are a few items which are required within a Group Buy thread, while others are sometimes included to enhance the thread or only if applicable. A non-exhaustive list of potential items to include is detailed below. All required items are in Orange with an asterisk.


* Teaser photo
* GB name*
* General description of GB*, including inspiration/history if desired
* Start and end date*
* Estimated fulfillment date* (to give an idea to prospective buyers - for example, Q2 2022)
* Detailed kitting information (for keycaps GBs) with photos, if applicable*
* Detailed configuration options (for keyboard/accesory GBs) with photos, if applicable*
* Vendor information, or link to purchase form, etc*
* Pricing information*, which may be vendor-specific and can therefore be communicated in the best manner as determined by the organizer
* Information about additional accesories and/or collaborations that may be available
* Feel free to include a link to a Discord page where buyers can discuss the product amongst themselves and ask real-time questions of the organizer/vendors; please bear in mind that important and regular updates must be posted to the geekhack GB thread even if that information is posted elsewhere - no geekhack user shall be expected to visit an external site in order to gain information that should otherwise be available here
* Additional renders/photos, signature promotional code, and thank yous as desired
Group Buy Thread Approval

The Group Buy subforum, along with most other sections of the Marketplace, operates on a thread approval system. Submitted posts must be reviewed by a moderator, after which they will be approved if they follow the rules detailed in this post. If they do not meet all requirements, a moderator will reach out to you to inform you of which details are missing and how to achieve compliance with your post.

It is recommended to report your new and unapproved thread to the moderator team in order to bring it to our attention quicker and gain approval in a more timely manner. This can be done by clicking the "Report to moderator" link at the bottom of your new post. Don't worry about bugging us or intruding by doing so - we much prefer to handle approvals as threads are submitted rather than discovering a thread that was missed, and this is the easiest way to ensure that a new thread is approved quickly after submission.


Since these rules are recently revamped and completely rewritten, there may be some additional clarifications required. If you have any questions or notice any errors, please message myself or another moderator to address the issue.



PS: As always, CAVEAT EMPTOR



Updates

* 2021-11-17 - Updated verbiage of "Who can create a Group Buy thread?" section to specify that users are only limited in the number of concurrent threads "when a Group Buy organizer is personally responsible for ordering/sorting/shipping (when applicable) items from a Group Buy"
* 2022-05-09 - Updated verbiage of "Who can create a Group Buy thread?" section to include information regarding which posts are counted and will contribute to total Post Count needed to create a GB thread
* 2022-10-06 - Added topic list
* 2022-11-22 - Updated 'What is “Group Buys and Preorders”?' section to allow in-stock products in the subforum
* 2022-11-28 - Clarified in-stock section, "please use an '[In-Stock]' tag to denote an in-stock buy"
* 2023-09-11 - Added note about spamming to meet minimum post requirements; such comments will be deleted and the GB thread will not be approved

dededecline:

--- Quote ---There is a limit of 2 concurrent (from starting and until finished delivery) Group Buy / Preorder threads per Member/Artisan and 4 concurrent threads per Vendor.

--- End quote ---

Has this always been the case? This seems pretty restrictive, especially considering the reality of lead times right now. Wouldn't "start of GB to end of GB purchase period" make more sense?

Lil:

--- Quote from: dededecline on Wed, 03 November 2021, 10:22:39 ---
--- Quote ---There is a limit of 2 concurrent (from starting and until finished delivery) Group Buy / Preorder threads per Member/Artisan and 4 concurrent threads per Vendor.

--- End quote ---

Has this always been the case? This seems pretty restrictive, especially considering the reality of lead times right now. Wouldn't "start of GB to end of GB purchase period" make more sense?

--- End quote ---

I sense a de-decline in the number of GB posts you will be able to make   ;)

HoffmanMyster:

--- Quote from: dededecline on Wed, 03 November 2021, 10:22:39 ---
--- Quote ---There is a limit of 2 concurrent (from starting and until finished delivery) Group Buy / Preorder threads per Member/Artisan and 4 concurrent threads per Vendor.

--- End quote ---

Has this always been the case? This seems pretty restrictive, especially considering the reality of lead times right now. Wouldn't "start of GB to end of GB purchase period" make more sense?

--- End quote ---

The intent of that rule is to minimize the chances of a runner taking on more than they can handle, becoming overwhelmed, and not being able to complete the buys. Given how most GBs are run these days (logistics handled through vendors, overall buy organized by a designer), there's definitely a case to be made that those runners could handle more threads. We'll talk this over and update here. :thumb: Thanks for the feedback. :)

dededecline:

--- Quote from: HoffmanMyster on Wed, 03 November 2021, 10:50:19 ---
--- Quote from: dededecline on Wed, 03 November 2021, 10:22:39 ---
--- Quote ---There is a limit of 2 concurrent (from starting and until finished delivery) Group Buy / Preorder threads per Member/Artisan and 4 concurrent threads per Vendor.

--- End quote ---

Has this always been the case? This seems pretty restrictive, especially considering the reality of lead times right now. Wouldn't "start of GB to end of GB purchase period" make more sense?

--- End quote ---

The intent of that rule is to minimize the chances of a runner taking on more than they can handle, becoming overwhelmed, and not being able to complete the buys. Given how most GBs are run these days (logistics handled through vendors, overall buy organized by a designer), there's definitely a case to be made that those runners could handle more threads. We'll talk this over and update here. :thumb: Thanks for the feedback. :)

--- End quote ---

Thanks for the quick response! I think another relevant point on top of what you said is that after the sale period, the work required on the designer side is fairly minimal.

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