Hi All, I don’t spend as much time on the forum as I probably should. I am very active in the Facebook groups though. I don’t use proofgrade material very often but went straight to - ALL THE THINGS!
Back in the fall I started ordering direct from factories for my inventory needs and I also collected a pile of samples to test in the Glowforge. I posted one of the items I’d sourced on the Glowforge materials FB group and within 24 hours had shared the excess inventory from my bulk order with requests for more. Holidays hit and that delayed the rest of my testing and plans. Now we are back at it. I created a formalized business to run the buy-ins through called Making Blank. It has become quite apparent that many people are using the Glowforge for their small business needs (myself included) and it’s sometimes hard to find materials that fit within the glowforge and have good prices.
My goal is to cut out the retail chains and brands, and work directly with factories, mills, and reclamation companies. The items will not have logos or watermarks on them. It works somewhat like Kickstarter - except everything is posted through the FB business page for the time being. I’m releasing items for buy-in as I source them and slowly making my way through the pile for testing items. I’ll post interest gathering items and when there is enough interest, we’ll start the buy-in process. I am doing my best to calculate with the factory all of the costs to source the items for us, including shipping to US (if applicable), import tax, bank transfer fees, etc. All of this factors into the cost for the item. If the cost for the item can’t beat what I’ve been able to find online through online retailers or wholesalers, then we won’t do a buy-in for that item. You may find one-offs of some things through TJ Maxx, Ross, Marshall’s, etc. that are cheaper.
I will also calculate shipping costs in the US. For the buy-in, you say how much you want and I invoice you for the items plus the US shipping. This is your contribution to the bulk buy-in from the factory. I post updates on shipping as I have them and then we they are available to us, our family packages and gets them sent out to you. If there is available inventory after shipping out to you, then the items will be available as RTS (ready to ship).
If you contribute to a buy-in and there is delays in the product, then I communicate those delays and offer you a chance for a refund of your money. It’s all up to you. Once we have the items on the way to us, it’s harder to give you a refund from the pool of money contributed, but my number 1 priority is you. If US shipping estimate was off and I charged you more for it then what it costs to actually ship to you when the items arrive, then I’ll process a refund for the difference.
The goal of Making Blank is to help you Make Bank with blanks that are tested in the Glowforge. I’ll post pictures and settings used for the items. If you have questions, let me know! We do have a few buy-ins going right now with acacia cutting boards and bamboo utensils.
