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I noticed that Grooming Dept uses the Parkway tub, so I researched it a bit. The only way you can order them is to buy a minimum of one case (408 tubs). It works out to be just under forty cents per tub. Then there's the lid. Same deal with them. Aggravatingly, the lids come 360 per case. Just under thirty one cents each. So around seventy one cents per tub with lid.
These are very nice tubs. They are larger in diameter than the thick walled green tubs that Stirling sells, and are a lot cheaper.
I wonder if we could organize a group buy on the Parkway tubs somehow? It sure would be nice to have a dozen or so of these for when the pass around box comes by. A guy could just get his samples from the box on the day he receives it, put the samples in his empty Parkway tubs, and send the box off to the next guy on the list the same or following day.
Maybe the guys that participate in the group buy could even donate tubs/lids to be placed in the pass around box for guys to take as needed? I don't mean to make this harder or more complicated than it needs to be, just thought I'd throw that out as a suggestion to reduce the time that guys will have the pass around boxes before they're shipped to the next participant, and as an effort to keep the pass around box tubs in better shape.
I'm currently on a medical leave of absence from work, and most likely will be until this fall. If we can get the moderators to approve a group buy of the Parkway tubs, I'd be more than happy to organize it and handle all the footwork for it (including shipping the tubs off to the guys that want them). And of course, I'd accurately account for all the funds so that it is easily proven that I didn't profit from the whole thing. In fact, I'll be buying/donating tubs to the pass around boxes if this whole thing gets approved.
But of course I can certainly understand if you don't want to muddy the waters with such a thing, David, so don't be afraid to just say "NO!".
Maybe handle this as two separate things? A group buy for the tubs/lids for guys that want them, and then the possibility of guys donating them if you'd like?
I bought myself about 60 of the Parkway Plastics tubs a while back. At the time you could buy them in smaller lots, without buying hundreds at once. I'm sure I paid quite a bit more for them and the shipping was expensive if I remember. I moved most of my soaps into them and pretty much used them all up. I do have a couple empty ones and I do free a container every now and then for something else when I finish a soap. Plus most of the soaps that I buy now (Grooming Dept, Tallow & Steel) come in these containers. So personally I'm set. I use a Brother PTouch label maker to make waterproof labels for the tubs. The tubs are about as close to perfect for this as I've found. I wish all soap makers would use them.
As far as organizing a purchase of these containers goes it you want to get a few friends involved I'm sure you could make it happen. Not anything really associated with this passaround though as I wouldn't want to have to oversee the purchase.
So some other options for you...you could front the money buying the large lot and sell some on the BST at a large enough profit to cover the shipping and maybe even a few bucks for your trouble. Maybe sell them in lots of twenty for $30 as this would cover the tub cost and likely the shipping to you. Probably not far off from what I paid for mine.
Another option might be to reach out to a vendor that uses these containers and offer to purchase several from them at a slightly higher price for their troubles. They might take you up on your offer, especially if then need to order some but don't need several hundred. They get a better deal for buying in bulk so maybe they'd agree to help you out.
As far as adding these containers to the pass around boxes that's very kind of you but I can assure you that this isn't going to happen. Not because I'm not trying to be open to your idea but for the sole reason that these boxes are jammed packed with soaps. There's barely room for me to squeeze one plastic salsa bowl that I try to include in the boxes in there. This will keep others from adding them as well. Participants are permitted to add soap samples but that's about it. You'll see what I mean when you get the boxes.
The other problem I see with this is I try to have users take only enough soap from the sample containers for their shave. This is to insure that the box makes it through the list of people and everyone gets to try anything that they'd like to. I don't want to restrict anyone but people taking soap from multiple samples and quickly sending the box on sort of encourages them to pilfer the box. The last thing I want this to become is a soap grab. I'd rather people go through the box slower and post reviews daily. I used to include extra soap sample containers in the boxes for the purpose of adding new soaps, but at the end of the pass the sample containers were mostly just taken and not much new was added. I suspect they were using the containers to take samples instead of adding them. So I don't include extra sample containers anymore.
So thanks for thinking of us here. I would encourage you to get a hold of some Parkway plastics tubs and use them for your own soaps. For me they've improved my lathering experience. Also, everything stacks so much neater when I have all of my soaps in the same containers. It was well worth it for me to shell out the cash to buy them a couple years back. When you buy them do buy more than you think you'll need as you'll find that they fill up quickly.