Over the time I have been retailing the Mark audio drivers here in the UK I have sold hundreds of pairs of drivers to enthusiastic builders all over the EU and sometimes further afield. Thos builders are normally so happy they share photos and reviews with me or on here, other forums and face book pages. During lock down the amount of builders has gone through the roof, I'm having trouble keeping up with demand and the factory are having trouble keeping up with production to us busy distributors.
It struck me last night, while musing the current economic situation, some people are able to use the extra time constructively to build speakers, others find themselves unable to afford to buy the parts as they are on lower furlough wages paid by the government or are now on benefits. I started to wonder how I could help people who would love to get involved in the hobby to get the parts they need. Two ideas sprang to mind - run some sort of fundraiser where some of you donate in conjunction with some sort of giveaway where you decided who should get the gifts. I think this would be difficult to get right though. The other idea is to run a sort of group buy where I collect a list of drivers you all want (from this forum only) and I add this to a factory order (i'm about to place one). That way I could get everyone discounts in the region of 10-15%, maybe 20% if I can get enough of you on board. Some of the better off can maybe finally do the line array they wanted, others will be able to afford the budget project they otherwise couldn't scrape the money together for.
I think I would have to limit this to the UK/EU as by the time shipping is added to the USA/canada etc it may cost more than just going to madsound. On the other hand it may be an opportunity to get drivers the don't stock.
Of course, drivers don't arrive over night, it normally takes a couple of weeks to get through the order process with the factory, a week to pack the pallets, 6 weeks on the sea to the UK and a further week to get to me. You would all have to pay for your drivers up front and be happy with the wait. I would then pass on the shipping cost to you all at cost in a separate invoice.
If any of you are interested in taking part I can give some more thought to how best to run this, if not no worries.
Stefan
It struck me last night, while musing the current economic situation, some people are able to use the extra time constructively to build speakers, others find themselves unable to afford to buy the parts as they are on lower furlough wages paid by the government or are now on benefits. I started to wonder how I could help people who would love to get involved in the hobby to get the parts they need. Two ideas sprang to mind - run some sort of fundraiser where some of you donate in conjunction with some sort of giveaway where you decided who should get the gifts. I think this would be difficult to get right though. The other idea is to run a sort of group buy where I collect a list of drivers you all want (from this forum only) and I add this to a factory order (i'm about to place one). That way I could get everyone discounts in the region of 10-15%, maybe 20% if I can get enough of you on board. Some of the better off can maybe finally do the line array they wanted, others will be able to afford the budget project they otherwise couldn't scrape the money together for.
I think I would have to limit this to the UK/EU as by the time shipping is added to the USA/canada etc it may cost more than just going to madsound. On the other hand it may be an opportunity to get drivers the don't stock.
Of course, drivers don't arrive over night, it normally takes a couple of weeks to get through the order process with the factory, a week to pack the pallets, 6 weeks on the sea to the UK and a further week to get to me. You would all have to pay for your drivers up front and be happy with the wait. I would then pass on the shipping cost to you all at cost in a separate invoice.
If any of you are interested in taking part I can give some more thought to how best to run this, if not no worries.
Stefan
Thanks for coming up with a nice idea. I'd be interested in taking part in the second idea if that was to happen. I feel like the first one would be really difficult to select people, but maybe it could work as a raffle of some sort if enough people would get involved?