Topic: Kings Seeds?

[Trevor_D]

Our Society has just affiliated to NSALG (mainly, but not entirely, to get the insurance cover that they have). One of the "perks" for members seems to be seeds from Kings, which are much cheaper than most of the companies.

I know that some of you use this scheme, but how exactly does it work and how much hassle is it for the idiot volunteer who coordinates it? It seems to me that each member gets a Kings catalogue, fills in the order form, then hands that & a cheque to the Seed Secretary. He/she then fills in the master form, sends it to Kings with a Society cheque for the total; Kings then post the seeds direct to the members. Is that correct?

They give a 10% discount, which seems to be the Society's profit for running the scheme, or is that passed on to the individual members? Basically, I want to know what the advantages are to: a) members; and b) the Society. We've got our AGM coming up in a few weeks and someone is bound to ask what they are getting for their affiliation fee. I've also got to find the Idiot Volunteer, and I'd like to know how much work I'm letting them in for!

[Fork]

Our society use this method with Kings but the seeds are sent to the secretary who then distributes them.

Everything I grow this year,apart from potatoes,will be grown using Kings seeds.

The discount goes into our funds and not given to the members directly.

[Tin Shed]

King's seeds are sold in our lottie shop at a discount. I think we could ask for certain varieties, but it has to be before the shop manager puts the order in ;D

[manicscousers]

we've been using this method for the last 5 years r so, I'm the 'idiot volunteer', the main thing is remembering to order everything.
we only get 1 catalogue but there are only 15 members and some don't bother  :)
I put a big pad in the shed with the catalogue, people put their names and which seeds they would like on it, I collate them, taking each person'd money as I go, send it off and the seeds etc come to me and I distribute them  :)

[gardentg44]

we get our seeds from dobies seeds
we get 30% off for bulk orders,for the allotment society
that's sum saving.
they send all the order forms ,you fill um in hand them to
your  garden sec and thats it.
best ive come across yet.
or does someone know different??? ???

[theothermarg]

our Lotty has always done this !! we each get a list of seeds which is several pages long , fill in a order form , send it to our (seems very willing)"idiot"with a small charge for postage, it is sent to him and sorted then hand delivered to us
don,t know how the money works but they are cheaper then the catalog and the Lotty gets some money as well.
It must be worthwhile they have been doing it forever
marg

[kt.]

Our lottie shop sells Kings Seeds.  I found out last week that the committee all sit round the table one meeting and decide what seeds to buy for the following year.  We have a book behind the counter that we note varieties of seeds people would like us to sell.  These are considered when it comes to ordering time.  All lottie holders and public who pay membership can buy the seeds from our shop with 20p off the reccommended selling price. 

For seed varieties that we do not sell in the lottie shop, I still buy from my own order from Kings.  They are a very reliable company.

[Trevor_D]

Thanks all. It looks worth going for. And I didn't know that Dobies, or any others, did a similar scheme, although I can't think why I should be surprised.

I'll pass your opinions on to our committee. Great place, A4A....

[manicscousers]

forgot to tell you, kings seeds are approx half price  :)

[shirlton]

I aked on our site and was told that it costs each individual £2 per year to get the seeds from them.This being the case I didn't bother. It costs even more if you join by yourself

[manicscousers]

our membership's included in the rent so we may as well  :)

[Trevor_D]

I think the £2 is the NASLG affiliation fee. The site as a whole has to join and they charge £2 per member. In our case, that's 80 members = £160! So we've added a surcharge to everyone's fees of £4 - £2 for NASLG & £2 for insurance, which covers them for working parties, as well as public liability.

So the cheap seeds come as a perk of affiliation.

[Dadnlad]

Our local lotty Association affiliated with NSALG three years ago - their fee is included in our annual lotty Association membership

Members pass their order forms (with cheques) to the Chairman, who collates the total order, and members pick up at the AGM (mid Jan)

The prices are about half those in Kings' retail catalogue with no postage ;D, plus our allotment associations gains around £100 per year for its coffers ;D

On top of the insurance scheme, and discounted seeds, our Association is also benefitting from free top quality legal advice in the ongoing dispute with our local incompetent Council  tw*ts !  ::)