Yixing teapot group buy?

[olivierco]

odarwin pm'ed me last night to claim the #2 pot, so we're all set on who's getting what. Since Jing sounded against multiple payments from separate users, I'll e-mail her again now that we have all 12 pots spoken for, and try to work out different pricing, shipping locations, etc. If we end up doing one large lump sum, paypal makes the most sense to me, and we could get a moderator involved in case anyone's worried about the safety of their money going towards the pot. I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks a lot!

[thanks]

I think it's "romantic." Maybe one day we'll all reunite them?

thanks -- any chance of getting to add tea to my order...? Or should I just make a separate order so as not to complicate things.

Jing and Seb are slow at responding lately, so it might be a few days until I have an answer for you. The short answer, and to be on the safe side is let's try not to complicate this further haha.

[thejamus]

I think it's "romantic." Maybe one day we'll all reunite them?

I like the idea of that. Everyone should get a list of who has which pot and maybe we can all find a central point to have a meet up in the future.

[edkrueger]

What about prices? I think the small ones should cost less.

[Drax]

Here's a proposal:

price = 59 + (N * 2)

Where N = the # of your pot.

Thus pot #1 = $61, up to #12 = $83.

Basically each pot goes up by $2.

The total sum is $864.

Another option is

price = 65 + N

Prices range from 66 to 77, each going up by $1. This total is $858, so maybe everybody getting a sample of tea can pitch in $0.50.

Lots of options beyond this, too.

[olivierco]

For both options I obtain the same total for my teapot...

[Ms Kita B]

Someone can have dibs on #1 I got my pot from an ebay vendor and it was way better than expected and I'm satisfied. Sorry guys

[olivierco]

Someone can have dibs on #1 I got my pot from an ebay vendor and it was way better than expected and I'm satisfied. Sorry guys

Well I hope that it won't compromise the whole deal.

If we can't find somebody to buy it, perhaps we could add all 5$ and organize a drawing of lots (not sure if it is the right expression) for it

[thanks]

This is getting slightly frustrating as it seems impossible to get any information out of Jing. She's not really answering any of my questions, takes a while to respond, gives only one response a day, and keeps eluding to someone else by first name asking similar questions to mine. If anybody here is getting answers to questions I might be asking her, by all means please post the information you have here.

[pb2q]

If we can't find somebody to buy it, perhaps we could add all 5$ and organize a drawing of lots (not sure if it is the right expression) for it

There should a third-party online lot drawing/die roll service. We would split the funds as if there were only 11 pots, then create a session, and each of the 11 parties rolls for the #1 pot. I looked around but I couldn't find such a service.

I would be willing to subsidize smaller pot sizes with the cost of the larger pots. I don't think that the price should increase with the size. I believe that the middle sizes are generally more desirable, however in this case the largest pot is only 180ml which is still a good pot size for many. If we were dealing with 10oz pots on the larger end then those might also be less desirable. With this deal only the smallest 3-4 should be subsidized. Perhaps only the #1 given the response.

A simple suggestion: #s 1-3 priced at $61, all the others for $75 + change. That extra $4 shouldn't tax anyone's wallet, and that's a $14+ discount for 1-3

[Goose]

Bryan,
I know how frustrating putting a group buy together can be, Thanks for the effort and time.

Jim

[odarwin]

hi bryan,

try seb, i never got any response from jing ever,
in my previous purchase, seb replies only once a day, you are lucky if you catch him on line and get a few exchanges in 30 min. and he doesnt come on line everyday.

i think, lets sort out everything on our end first before contacting him.
its probably a good idea to start collecting everyones shipping address and arranging for the payment.

if anyone want to back out on a pot around the 100 ml capacity, id be happy to add that to my #2 pot, but #1 is just too small.

thanks for the effort bryan
-darwin

[Drax]

A simple suggestion: #s 1-3 priced at $61, all the others for $75 + change. That extra $4 shouldn't tax anyone's wallet, and that's a $14+ discount for 1-3

Well, this is certainly much easier to figure out, so it's fine by me

So we need to officially open up #1 for grab to anybody who wants to jump in on the group buy.

I will also say give it a day or two more. If nobody is interested, (or wants to shift to #1 so odarwin can pick up a diff pot), then I think I can be persuaded to pick up #1. I just think it'd be neat to have 12 different people. Of course, the 'harmony' of buying the largest and the smallest of the set works, too.

[thanks]

It's no problem guys, and your thanks are greatly appreciated.

Well the funniest part is I have been trying to contact Sebastien as I've had best luck with him in the past, but he never answers his own e-mail account- just Jing. She also almost acts offended I'm trying to contact Sebastien specifically, . Normally this wouldn't be a problem if we could get some answers... .

Well I guess I like pb2q's system. Pots 1-3 will be 61 dollars, and all the rest will be 75 and some change, most likely 10 cents.


Feel free to pm me your address when you're sure you still want to go through with the group buy.

P.s. this group buy is not going through anytime soon from the looks of it, so if we're still at this situation two weeks from now, it's because I'm trying to make sure everything is set before we go through with anything.

[teaguy]

Actually, krueger, I discussed this thread with a teapot expert here in Taipei, and his opinion is that smaller pots are more expensive because it is more difficult to make high-quality ones.

He also reviewed the information on the set, and wasn't impressed with the quality or price, based on the photos. He pointed out that the only value is in the set, and if you're splitting up the pots, you can separately buy better pots for less money. It may even be possible to get the same set cheaper if you can find the right dealer. He doesn't think it's really that rare of a set. I've asked him to see if he can find one in Taiwan, and will update if I hear anything quickly.

Naturally, it is a neat idea to 'share' a set with friends, and it's cool that you're working out all the details here in the forum for everyone to see. I'm not trying to be a 'spoiler' or suggest not making the purchase, but just wanted to share what I heard from a professional.