The Berkeley Vale Co-op is run from our home for our neighbours, family and friends. I love the concept of a Co-op because it’s wonderful to join together with others in the community, and save money! Welcome to the Berkeley Vale Co-op.
– Amy & Jarrod.
Wholesale companies will offer a better price for bulk orders. The minimum order is usually much more than one person or family can use. A Co-operative (“co-op”) is a group of people who join together and contribute to the bulk order.
In a co-op there is one person who receives the orders, collects the money, collates the information and puts in the order to the wholesaler, receives the delivery, and then organises the products into each individuals order, ready for people to collect.
Traditionally people who are part of a co-op would have gathered together in person to look at the order form. Then came email and Facebook and people could all look at the electronic form. I told my husband about it and said he would make a website! He used words like ‘importing’ and ‘collating.’ What a clever man! So when you choose your items and pay- the order and money come to us, then we take the order and money from everyone and put it together to make the bulk order.
We are ordering though Honest to Goodness. The wholesale order form doesn’t have product details so if I want to know more about a product I often type into Google “honest to goodness + (product name).”
Anyone is welcome to join our Co-op! People often join a Co-op near their home or work, so it’s easy to pick up their products. We are in Berkeley Vale, NSW, and you will need to pick up the products from our home. Unfortunately we cannot store your products, so if you are unable to pick them up on the delivery day, you will need to organise someone else to pick them up for you.
An order is placed every 3 months and anyone is welcome to purchase products as part of that order. You can still see the website anytime but you can’t put through an order unless it’s ordering week. We will send email and SMS notifications when an order is coming up, and you can join our Facebook page to see reminders.
When we have a delivery date from the wholesaler, we will post it on the Facebook page and email you with the date and time (3 or 4 days in advance), as well as the address. We’ll also send an SMS once your order is ready to be picked up on the day.
When you choose your items the order comes to us, and we collate all the items and put in one bulk order. The same happens when you pay. All the money comes to us and then we pay one amount to the wholesaler. You have two payment options. You can transfer the money to us (Our bank details appear when you choose the “back transfer” option). Or you can use your credit card to make a payment to us through PayPal. If you choose the PayPal options please note that PayPal charges an extra 30¢ + 2.6% per transaction. This extra charge is added to your order and the extra amount is given to PayPal.
There is a co-op fee of 10% that is included in all product prices. This is for delivery price gaps, price adjustments, zip lock bags, gloves, scales, and admin costs such as web hosting, phone calls, printing etc. You do not need to add on extra at the end, it is already included in the displayed price.
The wholesaler charges freight delivery to one location. The freight cost to be delivered to the Central Coast is $13.75 / 20kg (68¢ per kg). When you place your order the freight cost is next to the product cost. Unfortunately we cannot post products onto you, if you order you do need to be able to pick it up from our home. If you would like products delivered to your home you are best to order from an online retail store (or start your own co-op!).
When purchasing wholesale products, they can come in large quantities. Our Facebook page provides a space for people to ask things like, “anyone want to share a 2kg bag of rice puffs?” When you do this you will need to bring your own container to take the product home in. Using the “share” tab above you can pay for your half of the product.