Finding a Grocery Buying Club

One of the ways we save money on groceries is by being a member of a buying club.  We particularly like these clubs for the savings on organic groceries, but they carry a huge variety of items that aren't organic as well, so even if that isn't important to you, a buying club is worth looking into.

From time to time when I've mentioned this, I will hear somebody say how much trouble they are, too much trouble to make it worthwhile.  I think that probably depends on two things- the character of your particular club, and your current season of life.

Not all buying clubs are the same, but in general, most of them work the following way:
Somebody sets up the club and makes contact with a warehouse that delivers to your area, following any guidelines and rules that the warehouse has for minimum order sizes, a delivery location, and so forth.

A delivery location (one that can handle a semi) is chosen, and the warehouse will tell you the deadline for orders and the delivery dates.  You join the club, usually paying some sort of dues and agreeing to some form of work- this is where individual clubs vary wildly, so more on that in a moment.

You get a catalog which is incredibly confusing the first few times you look at it, or you get access to the online catalog, which is also may or may not be as user friendly as you'd like the first few times you use it. But you get used to it.
Some items in the catalog have to be purchased in bulk to get a good price- I have 12 jars of fig jam in my pantry because of this.  Some don't.  And some you have to purchase a minimum of 3 items. The catalog, once you learn to decode it, will tell you whether you have to order a dozen, six, or just one item.  This is also where the other members come in.

You place your order- I've been a member of a club where we all had to meet once a month and go over our orders together, you'd say you wanted that fig jam, but were really hoping to just get six jars, and if other members were interested, they'd split the other order with you so you could get the price without having to store 12 jars of fig jam, which, btw, tastes nothing like the fig jam that my husband's great grand-mother used to make us back when I was too dumb to get the recipe from her.

You say you want 30 pounds of oats, 2 other members say they will take 10.  With that club, we all had jobs we had to do, including meating the truck, unloading the truck, sorting the groceries, weighing out splits so people got their ten pounds, helping to tally orders and helping to check off the product list to make sure everybody got their order and only their order. It was complicated, although the pick up point was a few blocks from my house in our town of 300, so that was nice.

I've been a member of another club where all I had to do was pay 20 dollars in annual dues, place my order by computer, and then pick it up on pick up day.=)

Currently, I pay 5.00 in annual dues, meet the truck (although I am often late), help unload it (there are several young men who also unload, so this part isn't that hard), and stack groceries in the piles for the person to whom they belong.  If I have to miss, that's okay.  It's easy, and doesn't take any more time than going to the grocery store, sometimes less.

In our town, there is another club which buys from the same warehouse, charges very high fees, and also requires a more organized labor roster.

You still have to watch prices- I can get coconut oil cheaper from Amazon most of the time.  There are some things that are cheaper at Costco (organic lemon juice, Emerg-n-cee.  Some things are only a better price if you are buying organic.

The items I buy from the co-op even when I am shaving the budget to the bone:
dried legumes
wheat berries and other grains for baking
oats
rice
yeast
whole coffee beans
Bragg's raw apple cider vinegar
Bragg's amino acids, which we use instead of soy sauce because it's wheat free
Gallon sized jugs of sunflower oil which I use for making mayonnaise
Raw peanut butter in a 9 pound bucket.
Spices and herbs- even if I had to throw out half of a one pound bag, I'm still getting my money's worth.
Sometimes I buy a ten pound bag of dried pineapple, not organic, because it's a good price and a treat for the Cherub even though it has sugar. It's also good in granola.
That's just off the top of my head- I'm sure there are other things, and this also may vary by area, depending on which warehouse serves your region.



I watch for sales on frozen organic fruits and vegetables, otherwise we just eat conventionally grown frozen or fresh, organic only when we grow it or can find it pretty inexpensively.


Some natural foods grocery stores will also let you buy through them and give you a discount on store prices. It doesn't hurt to ask. When we lived in Washington, Fred Myers would also give a discount if you bought a case of things from their bulk section (a 20 pound bag of rice is a case)


Here are some websites that might help you find a buying club already established in your area:
There are some co-ops listed here.
This co-op directory service is impressive. It also has information explaining what a co-op or buying club is and how you could start one yourself.
United Warehouse will put you touch with buying clubs in your area.
More resources and information here.
Here is a website that looks like it clearly explains the process of starting a club.

I have also found local buying clubs through local homeschool groups,notices at the natural foods grocery store, and church groups.  I once helped another mother of a large family find such a group because she saw me out with all the kids and stopped me to ask if I knew of a buying club in our area.=)

Don't decide they are too much work until you've found the specifics of the clubs in your area, because they just aren't all the same.