Joining a Buying Club might be right up your alley!
Who?
Anyone looking for:
quality meats that you can trust have been produced according to the highest standards.
meats that are hormone-free, antibiotic-free, sustainably-raised, locally-produced, no feedlot confinement, 100% grass-fed, pasture finished on a certified organic family farm, raised naturally and sustainably, vacuum packed, processed one carcass at a time in a small, family-owned USDA meat shop.
a more convenient, affordable and personal way to buy your meats directly from the farmer who raised them.
a connection with farmer who raised the food you are buying.
Where?
Just about anywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Seattle? Olympia? Wenatchee? Portland? Richland? Spokane? We’ll be there. Your home? Your church? Your workplace? Just let us know and we’ll be there.
When?
We will work out delivery dates and times together. Deliveries can be bi-weekly, monthly, annually, or just one time. You name it.
How much?
The minimum purchase for clubs in most delivery locations is $1,000 per delivery. There is no minimum order requirement for individual club members.
Fees?
Just one. To help defray our fuel costs, there is a 7% delivery fee added on to each order, with a $5 minimum and a $30 cap. For example, the delivery fee would be around $5 for a $70 order, and $30 for a $1,000 order – a fraction of the cost of having your order shipped.
How Do I start?
Each club will need a “host” or “hostess” who facilitates the logistics of the delivery with Thundering Hooves. Just contact us, and we’ll work out a schedule together and set up a free and easy-to-use account for your group on our web site. Club members will simply place their orders at ThunderingHooves.net and we’ll deliver it.
Bonuses for the “Hostess”:
For her efforts in starting the club and serving as a coordinator, the club “hostess” will receive bonus meats equaling 5% of the other club members’ order total for each delivery. For example, if the other members of the club place $1,500 worth of orders, the hostess gets $75 in bonus meats added to her next order.
Anyone can start their own Thundering Hooves Buying Club and become the “host” or “hostess”. Just put together a start-up group of your friends, neighbors, family, or co-workers, and contact us when you think you are ready. We will answer any questions you might have and set up a delivery schedule together.
I don't know how to explain this to my club members.
We would be happy to meet with your friends, family or co-workers to explain how this would work and to answer their questions. Sometimes it is easier to have one of us from the farm explain to your friends what it is that we do, why we do it, and why it makes a difference. If you would like to assemble a group of people for us to meet and answer their questions, just call us and we’ll schedule it with you.
I already belong to a vegetable CSA.
We can most likely make deliveries to a pre-existing, “non-Thundering Hooves” buying club, such as a Vegetable CSA. If you are in a group that is currently already buying other types of products together, we would be happy to try to integrate our meat products into your club. You would just need to contact us so we could coordinate the details together and make sure that our delivery/pick-up systems can be made compatible.
As Hostess, you become a part of our Thundering Hooves Marketing Team. Welcome aboard! But don't worry, we will make this as simple as we can.
Hostess Responsibilities:
The hostess’ main responsibilities are:
to initiate the buying club by contacting friends, family or co-workers using this web site or us personally as a resource for information.
to offer her driveway or some other site as a delivery location (site locations should be able to accommodate our truck and trailer easy access, plus additional traffic from club members).
to give directions to new club members who contact her.
to coordinate with any members who wish to leave an ice chest because they are unable to make the delivery time (optional).
to remain at the delivery site for the duration of the delivery.
to communicate with Thundering Hooves, as needed.
to call each club member ahead of time to remind them of the pick up day, time and location.
Hostess Benefits:
But all of this comes with amazing "perks"!
First ~ you get to be the ultimate decider of when and where the orders are delivered. Most hostesses use their own home as the delivery site.
Second ~ it can be rewarding to create your own Buying Club, whereby you help introduce people to healthier, great tasting, and more environmentally-friendly foods.
Third ~ as a “thank you” for absorbing more traffic in her driveway the hostess receives meat bonuses equaling 5% of the total order amount placed by other members of the club. So, for example, a hostess may ‘host’ $2,000 worth of sales for an additional $100 worth of bonus meats (5% of $2,000). The 5% bonus is given out for each and every delivery during her reign as the hostess. The bonus is calculated based on other members’ orders, because it is their membership and their orders that create the extra work for the hostess.
NOTE: Newcomers may call the “hostess” for directions to the delivery site. With her permission, the hostess’ phone number or email address (her choice), plus the general area of the delivery site will be listed on the web site. The hostess may feel more comfortable limiting the club’s membership to member referrals only, or she may be willing to open the club’s membership to other people in the community who find her buying club on our web site and wish to join it. This will be her choice.
Once you are a Buying Club member or are the hostess of a club, you and your fellow club members will get your own designated delivery option on the Thundering Hooves web site. So, for example, if your group is called “The Conscientious Carnivore Club” or “Emily’s Club”, you and the other club members will simply select the products you wish to buy for your own family, and then click on your club’s name (from a list of delivery options) as the delivery site and date.
Can I cancel my order?
Since you are a member of a club whose other members are counting on you to help them reach the minimum order amount, order cancellations are highly discouraged and must be made at least one week prior to the scheduled delivery. This is because it is not fair to the other members to have someone cancel an order and put the delivery in jeopardy so close to the delivery date.
Is there a minimum order requirement?
There is no minimum order requirement for individual members. However, a group minimum order of $1,000 is required per delivery if the delivery site is located in the greater Seattle area or in the Walla Walla/Tri-Cities region. Outside of those areas, but still within the Pacific Northwest region, minimum orders will have to be established on a case by case basis depending on the distance we would need to travel.
If the set minimum order has not been reached within 7 days of the delivery, the members will be notified via email and given an additional 3 days to boost their own sales. If the minimum amount is still not reached, the delivery will be postponed and the orders will be transferred to the next scheduled delivery date.
How will I pay for my order?
We prefer payments to be made with check or cashat the time of the delivery, but club members are still asked to enter their credit card information when they place their orders on Thundering Hooves’ secure web site. We would charge your card only if you chose not to pay with cash or check at the delivery site. Also, in the rare instance that someone does not show up to pick up their meat order, their credit card will be charged for the order (which will be delivered to them at a later date), and a $10 restocking fee will also be assessed.
Is there a delivery fee?
Fuel prices aren’t what they used to be, and our meat products are already competitively priced with no margin added in for delivery costs. Therefore, 7% delivery fee (with a minimum of $5 and a cap of $30) will be added to each order to help us defray our extra fuel and labor costs. A $1,000 half beef order would only be charged the $30 cap fee for the delivery.
The hostess of each club will work out a delivery schedule with Thundering Hooves and communicate this to the members. Typically, this will occur monthly at the hostess’ home – but there is a great deal of flexibility. It could be bi-weekly or bi-monthly or semi-annually, or just one time, and the delivery site could be a church or a business or other location, so long as the hostess has made the proper arrangements with the property owner. The club members could even decide to rotate the delivery site among the members’ homes. We are happy to work with you to set up the mutually acceptable scheduling details.
When are the delivery dates?
Buying Club members will receive an email reminder with product info and sales updates one week prior to each delivery date. Plus, you will receive a phone call or message from your hostess prior to the delivery date. Furthermore, you can go to our website and look up the schedule for your club in Find A Club In Your Area. If your club wishes to create your own system for additional reminders amongst yourselves, you are encouraged to do that, as well.
What if I can't get there at the scheduled time, or worse, I forget?
Because we will have other scheduled deliveries to make, we will not be able to wait for you if you show up late to a delivery. You are, therefore, strongly encouraged to mark your calendar and to come on time for deliveries.
If you can’t make it, you could ask a friend to come in your place with your payment. In some cases, it may be possible for individuals to make arrangements with the hostess to leave an ice chest with the hostess in order to pick it up later. (Make sure you make arrangements for payment as well.) This is done purely at the discretion of the hostess, who may or may not wish to take on this responsibility for you.
Because we are dealing with meat, it is important that your order be held at the proper temperature until you pick it up. Therefore, in the unlikely event that a member does not show up, doesn’t answer his/her phone, and has not made prior arrangements, we will not leave the meat there; rather, that member’s order will be returned to Walla Walla, restocked in our large freezers, and the member’s credit card will be charged for the order, plus the $10 restocking fee. The order would then be re-delivered at a later date.
