Seeking advice on group buy organization

[LunarisDream]

Hey all, not sure where else to put this.

I've been running into payment issues with my first large-scale buy for the ZZ96. After two weeks of dealing with Paypal freezing my account, I had to refund all orders and use Dwolla for US orders. This leaves international buyers out, and there were approximately 15 of them.

I've asked some folks for advice, and it seems that apart from Paypal, Skrill and Stripe are two international payment processor alternatives. But Skrill has a bad rep online for hidden fees and holding withdrawals, and while Stripe seems to be legitimate, I would need a website verified by Stripe to use it for accepting payments, and I don't have the slightest clue on how to go about creating a website, the legality and wording of the ToS and all.

My current plan is to just accept international orders through Paypal and hope that it doesn't trigger the hold again, but this leaves me with no backup plan for international buyers if it fails, and I really don't want to leave out so many people. I've looked into accepting credit cards and such, but there seems to be so many fees associated with it, and I would need to get verified as a merchant (and register a company?), which is far beyond me.

I may be able to run the international orders though a vendor's storefront if the vendor has a system set up to accommodate group buys, but that's a pretty big risk to the vendor for little gain considering they'll be assuming liability while giving me the money and hope that I come through with the products. So that's pretty much impossible.

Can anyone offer me advice on how to proceed? I would be incredibly grateful to hear what you have to say.

[berserkfan]

My advice?

Don't run a group buy.

I know it sounds dumb, but I looked into things and decided it wasn't worth it.

If you're just doing something limited-edition, such as getting a keyboard plate cut, the best way is an interest check. Then just buy the thing or pay for it up front.

If 40 people post interest for a plate, assume no more than 20 will ever pay.

Make 10.

Sell it when you have the merchandise. Sell at a modest profit which should cover your various expenses and risk. Don't bother about the people who couldn't get plates. I know it sounds selfish, but after being screwed many times for being nice to people I can say with 100% confidence that it is not worth it. Do you want people to change their minds and just file paypal complaint and screw up your rep? Not worth it. Make less than enough so that you can easily sell at a price fair to you.

it is much easier that way.

And if you want to GB keycaps, no more need for that. Contact SP and they will do it for you.

[LunarisDream]

It's been stressful and moderately time-consuming so far, but I'm not burnt out yet.

I have other stuff from China lined up as well so I would really like to stick with it for now.

And I'm a college student (read: broke), so I don't even have the money to reach MOQ by myself. Combine that with the numerous color options available, and it becomes difficult for me to use the model you said. If I were operating an actual business with enough money to fulfill production and enough time to operate, it could work for me, but I'm not prepared like that.

I just didn't expect it to be so hard to receive and use the money that people are willing to send to me, you know? Sigh.

[SpAmRaY]

Just make a good pitch to massdrop, get them to sell it, then you profit.

[Dernubenfrieken]

And if you want to GB keycaps, no more need for that. Contact SP and they will do it for you.

PMK is non functional at this point. Not sure what you're talking about.