Hi we're setting up a Horsham Eco-product Co-Op. Planning to buy the Eco-products in bulk at wholesale prices and then sell it on through the co-op at more affordable prices than the shops! Anyone interested?

Yes! How will it work?

E.g. Ecover non-bio laundry liquid in a 15 litre "bag in a box" has a tap which can re-fill old containers so saves a lot of packaging and is 20% cheaper.
Eco bulbs can be bought by case load and are 37% cheaper. Could buy Ecover washing up liquid in 5 litre bottles which would make it 86p for 500mls compared to £1.19.
We would all look out for any genuine bargains and club together when we can get discounts and free delivery for buying in bulk. Could try and arrange joint orders with local food producers e.g. Cane and Abel.

A very long time ago when I was a student there was a food co-operative run by the student union which supplied wholefoods - which were much less widely available. The way it worked was as follows:

Co-op members - there was a membership - would place individual orders for (say) 500g of brown rice and when enough small orders had built up to be able to buy (say) 10kg of brown rice (and other stuff as well) the co-op would order from the wholesaler and then go off in the union minibus and collect the order. The 10kg bag of rice was divided up between all the co-op members whose orders added up to the 10kg. The system worked pretty well as far as I can recall

I can't remember if payment was required at the time of ordering (to ensure the co-op had the money to pay for the bulk order) or on delivery. Of course, Transition doesn't have the cash reserves of the SU, then we'd probably want to use the cash-with-order approach.

I think we could do the same thing for food as well as eco products here in Horsham - either set up a buying group with Suma - see http://www.suma.coop/order/food-groups/ or maybe look at sustainweb.org and use their foodcoops.org http://www.sustainweb.org/foodcoops/website to set one up.

I do think we should be sure there is some demand before buying stock, I think that the Oxfam shop is finding it hard to shift some of the ethical cleaning materials they stock

Ah i didn't know Oxfam sold eco cleaning products. I've been using cheap vinegar instead. The recession has had a major effect on my shopping habits. I can no longer afford eco products, and it is with great guilt that i'm forced to buy Sainsbury's white label brand. I'm sure there must be other people in the same position.
A few of us are meeting up tommorrow morning and we will discuss where the initial money is coming from

Going off at a tangent - Is there such a thing as odourless vinegar?

I added ylang-ylang, sweet!

Thanks Will give it a try

Infinity Foods deliver to this area for orders over a certain size - I think it's £100.

I've got a spare catalogue from Infinity - Will bring it to this evening.