Changes to Member Purchasing Procedures

Wednesday, 10 December 2012

The board of directors approved changes to the member purchasing procedures during the October and November board meetings.  The changes, and the rationales, are given below, and go into effect with new purchases on or after 1 January 2013.

Change #1:  It is a privilege of CRGC membership for members to be able to purchase products from the wholesalers used by CRGC. This benefit extends to purchases for the members and their immediate families (just as other privileges of membership).  However, there are an increasing number of purchases being made for non-members, and it is the procedure for these purchases that has been changed.
Effective on 1 January 2013, 10% will be added to the cost of the goods purchased for people who are non-members.  This increase in the cost is only for the products themselves, and not for any other costs, such as insurance, handling, freight, or hazardous materials (HAZMAT) charges.

Change #2:  Both the average product cost (because of increases in product cost and because members have been buying much more expensive products) and the monthly aggregate dollar value of member purchases have increased substantially over the past few years.  The club, in the past, has not required members to pre-pay for the products they purchase because this has kept the accounting simpler - the entire cost of the product and shipping, etc., are known at the time the product is received and invoices can be prepared just once from actual data.  Because of the increased buying activity, though, the club's cash flow has suffered in that more of the club's cash is reserved for payment for member purchases, and correspondingly less is available for the planned and immediate operational needs of the club.  The average of the member purchases over the past year has been more than $12,000 per month, and the club cannot afford to have that amount of cash in float each month.

It should be noted that this does not mean that members fail to pay their bills.  Members have not failed to pay in full, and we do not get checks that fail to clear.  On the other hand, sometimes members are not available when their products arrive - for instance they are on hunting or business trips, or vacation - and this means that the club has to float the cost of goods for longer than we would like.

Accordingly, when products that are ordered are in stock (meaning that we know when we will receive the product), and the total of the member's product order costs more than $500.00, the member will be required to pre-pay the cost of the product(s), not including the shipping or other costs that may be added to the purchase.  When the products are received, the member will be required to pay any additional charges that are applicable to the order.

This new pre-payment policy does not apply to products that are backordered, and we do not know the delivery date (which may be weeks or months after the product was ordered).  In this case, because we do not know the actual cost of the product at the time of delivery (product cost may have increased), or the date of delivery, the club will notify the member of the impending delivery as soon as the club receives a notice from the supplier that the product has been shipped, and full payment will be due at the time the product arrives.  If the member is not going to be able to pick up the product within a week after it arrives at CRGC, the member must make arrangements to pay for the product during that time, and the club will hold the product until the member is available to receive the order.

If you have questions or concerns about either of the new procedures, please feel free to communicate with Doug Phaneuf, CRGC Treasurer, via e-mail or telephone (503-651-3035).