Club goods

[David]

I'm guessing that I'm going to strike a nerve here somewhere so I apologise in advance if I do!

I just went onto the club goods page to buy;

- bar badge to replace the tacky plastic one I have)
- leather key ring fob, to replace the unrelated (helicopter lease firm!)
- baseball cap, it is summer!

to be disappointed that I need to write on paper and send a cheque.

a) I have paper, but will have to re-cycle an old envelope
b) I will have to go out to a post office and buy a stamp, if there even is one close to me!
c) I haven't had a cheque book for 5 ages now!

That's only £25 but it all helps the club

So my question is, if I cant pay online can I just phone Mr Mulvaney to order and pay by card?

Also, in the spirit of helping rather than winging, how about just setting up a Marlin Owners Club 'shop' on eBay, most people can use that now.

David.

[dcunn]

Re: Club goods

How about "You could have called Mr Mulvaney to find out the story before going public with whinge ?"
DC

[John_Mulvaney]

Re: Club goods

David,
I am sorry you are frustrated that Club Goods is currently unable to provide the range of payment facilities that commercial concerns offer, though we hope to set up sales through paypal in due course.
This is only a small-scale operation - two suitcases act as the warehouse - and unfortunately the free business banking account provided locally does not qualify for the full range of services.
Kindly email me with your requirements and I will forward the details you need to make a direct bank payment.
John

[stevejgreen]

Re: Club goods

Debated 5 years ago on the forum, here or there and elsewhere.

Progress is slow in the MOC for many undisclosed reasons.

'In due course' seems to mean something other than I understand.

How about a real time scale, because looking at the recent Committee meeting minutes, it does not feature highly.

[lil_red_roadster]

Re: Club goods

Debated 5 years ago on the forum, here or there and elsewhere.

Progress is slow in the MOC for many undisclosed reasons.

'In due course' seems to mean something other than I understand.

How about a real time scale, because looking at the recent Committee meeting minutes, it does not feature highly.

If Club Goods was a major money-spinner I'm sure we'd have done this by now.
Doesn't the fact we haven't tell you anything..?
The volunteer committee have limited time to devote to the club (we have lives, jobs, families too) and we try to do what we can but have to prioritise accordingly.
Please try to remember we are a small, niche club...run by volunteers. Try scaling your lofty expectations accordingly and cut us some slack. Snide comments really don't help anyone.


Rant over.

[fouter]

Re: Club goods

Well said that man..

[h_m_cumming]

Re: Club goods

Hear hear!

[stevejgreen]

Re: Club goods

I'm guessing that I'm going to strike a nerve here somewhere so I apologise in advance if I do!

I just went onto the club goods page to buy;

- bar badge to replace the tacky plastic one I have)
- leather key ring fob, to replace the unrelated (helicopter lease firm!)
- baseball cap, it is summer!

to be disappointed that I need to write on paper and send a cheque.

a) I have paper, but will have to re-cycle an old envelope
b) I will have to go out to a post office and buy a stamp, if there even is one close to me!
c) I haven't had a cheque book for 5 ages now!

That's only £25 but it all helps the club

So my question is, if I cant pay online can I just phone Mr Mulvaney to order and pay by card?

Also, in the spirit of helping rather than winging, how about just setting up a Marlin Owners Club 'shop' on eBay, most people can use that now.

David.

This is just one member who has gone into print, there could be many others who are silent.

The market is not just for established members, but I guess they alone could double calendar sales overnight and certainly Christmas sales if only the convenience of PayPal were available.

For the new members, it could easily promote sales, they are often keen to buy, but they are immediately deterred from what would otherwise be an impulse purchase.

Yes it may only be a restricted market, 100 new members every year, but if 10 of them wanted to spend £25, that's not an insignificant sum for the club.

The fact that most of us do not possess cheque books, let alone send letters, actually serves to limit the market to those who attend the AGM, maybe that's why sales are so low.

[David]

Re: Club goods

How about "You could have called Mr Mulvaney to find out the story before going public with whinge ?"
DC

That's a fair point, apology to all... I too volunteer (Kop Hill Climb) so I know it's hard to find time.

It only takes an hour to setup an eBay shop with Paypal, another to add the goods.

Do you want me to do it?

David.

[jon_wilkinson]

Re: Club goods

The problem with eBay is that it takes its cut. I would have thought it better to add the functionality to the website. Wordpress, for instance, allows plugins for ecommerce so I assume the people that manage the site for the club should be able to add something fairly simply?

[David]

Re: Club goods

Yes if the club is using Wordpress then a shopping cart with Paypal is possible. Iv'e done it before. But it's a pain to keep up to date and you still have to provision the goods, and these things get hacked etc etc.

I know eBay takes a cut, but that's because they provide some great tools to make selling goods really easy, bump the prices up bit to cover it

Do we have credit card facilities over the phone? Would be just as easy to call the 'holder of the goods' with my card as do an online purchase.

David
PS - Slightly regretting posting this thread!

[jon_wilkinson]

Re: Club goods

AFAIK the club isn't using Wordpress; I was only using it as an example, but based on your experience it looks like it's less straightforward than I thought. All the same, I understand some quite large businesses use Wordpress front end for online sales so it must be reasonably secure.

I don't think you should regret posting the thread - it's a valid point and perhaps an online order and payment facility could boost sales and bring in more income to the club.

From what I have seen on here you and Steve seem to have real world experience of IT so it would be useful to have your combined views of a suitable solution. I had read that Cameron was stepping down as webmaster; do we know who is taking his place?

[John_Mulvaney]

Re: Club goods

For information:-
Records show 117 purchase transactions for Club Goods and Calendars in the year to April 2016.
Many members still use their cheque books, 45 payments having being made by cheque.
Direct bank transfer is available to those who no longer have cheque book accounts or who wish to make payments from abroad, a total of 18 direct payments having been received by this means.
The balance of the transactions was by cash at shows and club meets.
John

[David]

Re: Club goods

Thanks John, Could you DM me the banks details then and I'll buy that way.

What would be the total payment required for thos goods I listed, inc P&P.

David

[John_Mulvaney]

Re: Club goods

David, the bank (and Club Treasurer) are understandably very wary when it comes to disclosing account details.
As only your first name is currently displayed kindly email me as requested in an earlier posting and I will be pleased to progress your Club Goods order.
Many thanks,
John