I apologize in advance if this is the wrong way to go about doing this, I asked/looked around and didn't get much information. The "Let's Make a Deal" section didn't feel right for trying to get together a group order. If there's something better, feel free to move/edit this post.

There have been a number of posts about the Luohanqian Chinese coins:
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=202
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......&forum=3
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=202

Just to name a few. People talk about them highly, and say the DVD (in the set) is great. You can find the coins+sh**l set on ebay, but they also have other gaffed coins that are trickier to find. I've been looking for a while.

After a lot of searching/emailing, I finally managed to find a seller (in China) that has them, and I'm going to order myself some. Prices are better the more you buy, and I figured there are others here that might like them, too. So I'm willing to set up a group order.

For context, pricing would be something like:
~25 for a set (2 sh***s, matching 5 coins, DVD)
~6 for the rest of the gaffs (jumbo, slippery, bite, fl****r).

to start, And again, the more that get ordered, the cheaper they become.

They have them in both half-dollar and full-dollar sizes.

If you're interested, reply here with what you'd like or send me a PM. I'd like to gauge interest to start, before I place an order or take any money. So right now this is non-binding. That said, don't say you want 10 sets if you won't take them!

No offense but you didn't explain this very well.
Here are the questions I have after reading your post.

Is that $25.00 US for the set? (Not sure which country you might be in)
Is that $6.00 for EACH of the additional gaffs you listed?
How much is shipping? I assume they would all have to be shipped to you and then shipped by you individually to each participating buyer.
What's the turnaround time?
What is the minimum order?
How much is the price reduced and what quantity must be ordered?
Approximately how many need to be purchased in order to see a significant price reduction?

Typically the price reduction is very slight unless you are purchasing huge quantities and I can't imagine there being that much interest here for it. Honestly, if it only means a savings of a dollar or two then it isn't worth the trouble.

No offense taken.

I haven't factored in shipping to buyers, since I don't think it will be large. I rounded prices to the nearest dollar for simplicity, and if a few items are ordered, I suspect it will come out in the wash. Exact details can be figured out later; as I've said this is to gauge interest, given a rough sense of prices.

But you're right that a country would be useful for reference. I'm in the US, and prices are in USD (My mistake for forgetting a $.) I'm not certain about turnaround time, probably a few weeks shipping from China, but again I'm not asking for a hard commitment yet.

The "set" as mentioned, is 5 coins and 2 matching sh***s. $25 for each set.
The others gaffs are $6 each, (actually $5 for the jumbo, if you want to be precise).

The minimum order is 3, and prices drop at 6, 12, and 36 pieces. The gaffs drop $0.50 cents each tier, the set a couple of dollars.

However, again, the primary benefit here is that I found the other gaffed coins are difficult to purchase. It's less about saving money, and more that I could only find a couple of sellers for the bite/slippery coin (one of whom didn't respond), and this was the only source of the fl****r - and it was out of stock for a while before that.

If I was really desperate, I'm capable of ordering the minimum or each myself, and selling the extras on ebay or in the forums. But instead I thought I'd open it up here, because (a) it seemed like a nice thing to do and (b) I if there was enough interest, everyone who wants ends up with some, rather than only a couple from the leftovers.

I hope that's clearer.

Yes, that is helpful. Thanks for the info and thanks for reaching out to Café members for a group order.
Another quick question, you mentioned they are available in both half and dollar coin sizes. Can you mix and match these to receive a discount? Or is it a minimum order of 3 of each.
Still not sure if I want/need a set of these coins but if enough people jumped in I'd probably just go for it. But I would only be interested in the dollar size.

Thanks again!

You bet. Ask as many questions as you need. It would certainly be fair given the number of questions I've asked over the years.... tons of them!

I wondered that myself on Friday and actually just heard back from the seller. It is possible to mix/match the two sizes to get a discount. So savings are even easier.

It might also be worth mentioning that you can get extra ungaffed coins by themselves - those start at $3.50 (and go down ~$0.33 per tier). Though that price I'd almost rather just get an extra set, personally.

As far as shipping, typically (I've been in group buys elsewhere) the guy who collects the money should be charging for shipping as he will receive the entire order and then have to ship the sets to the other purchasers...

When I ordered my set for $26.00 I added enough other tricks/gimmicks to bring it to $100 for the discount,
and there is little difference between shipping cost of 1 to 10 packets. I sold one extra packet for enough to cover the shipping.

I appreciate what tons is trying to do here, but doubt the reshipping cost will justify the theoretical savings.

Funsway,

While I understand you had an easy time of it, that was a while ago. If my memory serves, you ordered from http://www.yunmagic.com, which if you check is now "down for maintenance." It's been that way for more than a month, and they haven't responded to my emails.

When it was up, they had the sets, but none of the flippers. So you were lucky, but I'm not so fortunate anymore. I've searched long and hard to find the flippers, specifically, and none of the other sources for the sets are as low as $26. Though if you know of another site, I'm happy to take a look and/or refer people there.

Yes, shipping might add up to a little bit. But my goal is not to make a profit. I've included a little for shipping, and these are approximate numbers. And if it costs me a little bit out of pocket, so that I can get the gaffs I've been searching for, and help out a few other magicians in the process, then I'm fine with that.

Sounds like you want these pretty badly so maybe you just ought to nab them while you can.

Yes, I've been communicating with the seller who know's I'm reaching out to some people for a few more orders.
I've heard back from a few people, but not too many.

I'm planning on placing this order this towards the end of this week, so if you want some, it's not too late to let me know.

We reached the a minimum order for everything, and are probably in the 6-12 tier for the sets, but in the 3-5 for everything else.

Last call!

I got an "out of office" reply when I sent a message earlier today, so people will still have the weekend to message me if they want to join in. After, say, Sunday at 9 PM, it'll be too late.