Return to Tools Club. Use a Club Deal to start a Make & Sell Venture. Click on Quinte West (top left) to return to the main index. Search for the tool you're looking for.
CNC Routers: After much research, found 3 top entry-level machines giving great quality for the price: 1) Bobs E4 CNC router $1198 new, CNC Club price $264; 2) Red CNC 1419 new $485, Club price $107; 3) Carbide Shapeoco 3 CNC router, new $1873, Club price $412.
Sewing and embroidery: Singer SE300 $1699 new, on sale $999, Sewing Club price $220.
Lawn and Garden: Rototillers, chippers
Trailers and Tractors, boats, ATVs, farm equipment, industrial, car jacks:
Plumbing Kits: electrical kits, carpentry kits, car repair kits, welding kits
Materials: Bulk purchases proposed by a Makers group, with extra bought for anyone interested. Lithium batteries, screws, motors, ebike kits ...
Club prices are based on five buyers. You might have more or less. We take the sticker price, add 10% for Climate Kids programs, saving this generation of Canadian kids from the coming crisis, and divide by the number of buyers. To buy, add your name to the list, find friends and talk with others interested in it. If it's a go, you chip in and buy. One of you can handle the funds, or you can run it securely through the Trenton News by e-transfer to [email protected]. Chat by email or phone, meet in person or on Facetime, Skype or whatever works.
How it works. Some things you need, but only use once in a while. A pickup truck or trailer. A table saw or welder. A wood chipper or sewing machine. You could borrow one from a friend, chip in for expenses, return the favour. You could rent, if it's available, but there's that time pressure. If the rental price is too high, you might as well buy it. Or buy, use and sell. What if you just want to try something, like welding? You might not have enough money for the high quality one with the best features.
The alternative is to find five friends who also want one, then chip in to get one at one-fifth the cost. Now you can share tips and techniques, get how-too advice, and that trailer, toolkit or tall ladder is always there when you need it. You've formed a loose 'tools club' with friends.
Consider something else. You have a tool or piece of equipment that you need but only use once a year. Maybe a ladder worth $200. Three friends give you $50 each and now you have money to pay bills. You use it when you need it. They use it when they need it. If you move out of the area, they can buy you out. It's a way of selling in steps, or buying in installments. This might also help if you have a problem with storage space.
It's not hard to think through how this could work well between friends. But why think it through from scratch, when you can just read the best ideas and use what suits you? Yes, sometimes things go wrong. Not everyone is good with tools. Some tools look intuitive and easy to use, but some aspects always require finesse. When things go wrong, it's best to have a general agreement worked out in advance. For example, you might want to build a repair and replace fund instead of buying insurance. See Clubs Intro 1 for this. Additional topics covering more complex arrangements are in Clubs Intro 2.
More possibilities. You might use a Club Deal simply to saving money. A ladder falls into that category. You might want some kind of tool for personal use only, just because sometimes you need to sew, saw or weld. That's saving money. But you might also want to Make & Sell with a few friends - now you've formed a loose Venture Club. Join as a Club, grow into a business. You have ideas, but you need a team and tools. A team to tend to the many facets of a business and operations, and tools intended to make and produce things. CNC routers are a clear example of the enhanced productivity you get by using computers to run machines. It's the same for a programmable sewing embroidery machine. You could use it to make logos on hats and T-shirts. In a Venture Club, you're gathering people around the idea of making and selling rather than around the idea of the cool things you can do with a CNC router or some kind of tool. If you plan to open a Make & Sell Store (or whatever you'll call it), you and your group will have to buy, build and make all sorts of things. It's smart to start a venture at the Clubs level, because it takes time to know people and work out all the details of how things will run later.
