Group Buying for Rare Teas
Hello everyone!
I help organize group buys for rare teas, and teas that are generally out of the reach of individual buyers: gushu puerh cakes, aged oolong lots, award winning teas, that kind of stuff. Everyone who’s interested in a tea chips in, then I do the hard work of buying it, splitting it up, and mailing it out. :)
The club grew out of a personal mailing list, and we just put up a website last month to help coordinate all of our purchases. So far so good!
I’d love to get feedback from the Steepster community about what we’re doing, and (of course) drum up interest for some of the group buys we’re organizing in the next couple of weeks … but I also want to tread carefully and not spam everyone from the get go. :)
Check out our site and let me know what you think!
Cheers,
-Peat
PS. I’m not sure if this is the best category for this message — happy to move or delete as appropriate. Thanks!
That’s a really cool idea!
I signed up for the mailing list, I await news on gushu and aged oolong!
Right on! You have excellent timing — we’re hooking up with Crimson Lotus Tea for a group buy on some cakes of 2006 gushu Xigui puerh … pretty sure that’s going to kick off next Friday.
I might be interested in the Crimson Lotus, however I have some questions. Do you add to the price for your time and effort and what about shipping cost? I’m just seeing the gram price for the two recent teas.
Also, tell me about the 2014 gyokuro buy. It is kind of a red flag for me seeing a tea that is in its prime when fresh. But it is past prime nearly a year later which is now, though I grant the gram price isn’t exhorbitant.
Yes, we account for my time in the price — but it’s not a big markup, and I don’t rely on this to pay my rent. It’s a fun side project. Shipping is a flat $5 in the United States; international varies, so I just pass through the actual postage costs, usually in the range of $15 to $25.
You are correct about the age of the gyokuro. It is about a year old and out of it’s prime … but it’s still a solid tea. I expect it would have cost at least twice as much to pick up last spring. The tea is notable in that it’s an award winner and a highly regarded farm — and I think it’s a good opportunity for people who are new to gyokuro to try out the style. We saw a deal and jumped on it!
Does that answer your questions?
Edit: I should also mention the tasting notes are for the tea as it is. We taste whenever we can get a sample, but sometimes we just have to take it on faith. I can’t afford to taste test $500 puerh cakes. Yet. ;)
I have my doubts but I’ll keep them to myself as the words ‘rare oolong’ always catch my attention.
You’re welcome to share — or if you want to hit me up directly, [email protected].
In fact, I’d love to hear from you about the oolongs you enjoy. We have a few members who are in Taiwan and China right now hunting for tea, and I’m always happy to pass along requests …
Great idea! What about shipping to Canada? It know it’s hard to give a cost depending on weight but say 25g. That might give me an idea.
Looks like it’s around $10 – $20 for the US Postal Service.
If you have other tea lovers in your area, I can combine the international orders. The guy I started this with lives in New Zealand — he has several friends down there who get in on some of these offers, so I just send them a single box every month with all of their tea in it. Cuts down the cost significantly!
This is a good idea. Where do you source your teas from?
We’ll work with anyone who has great tea, but generally speaking we buy from independent importers, collectors, and specialty retailers who have the same kind of enthusiasm we have.
That said, we really don’t play favorites or make exclusive deals. If you see a tea you like on a reputable site (like Yunnan Sourcing), and you think others would be interested, send me a note and we’ll work with you to coordinate a group buy. :)
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