I PM'd Mike Kavanagh (ArseAm President) about this, but I figured I'd post here to see if there's any interest or any clarification. I remember that, when we became an official supporter's club, there was a thing where we could get a group discount for bulk orders from the club. Since the new kits are out now, I was thinking that maybe we could all put together an order and save some money, as a fully loaded Bergkamp shirt (which I know is extremely popular) would run around $140 USD. If you're interested in this, or if someone can clarify whether this is doable, then post below.
I'm interested. Do you mean the DB jersey would run $140 after the discount or before? I'm hoping before. Stupid question: Could we order stuff besides the jersery from the online store?
With shipping being so expensive, a bulk order would be great except I already ordered my shirt. I guess I just couldn't wait.
It's $140 if you order from the store on your own, including shipping. My understanding is that we can buy anything we want, but we have to put together a "bulk order". That could either mean that we need to all place an order for the same item or we could buy different items and they'd just ship it over in one shipment. It would go to one person (an ArseAm officer, I believe) and they'd ship it from there. But I'm not totally sure how it works.
I have mentioned this before, and as I am over in the USA quite a few times during the year, (MN. in July, and then roving from PA. through to ME in Aug./Sept.) I don't mind bringing stuff over and either meeting up, or posting it on, to save the mailing costs from the U.K. Again, if anyone wants something "dropped off" then send me a P.M. to discuss details. JEFF.
Don't forget, guys, that if you want access to the bulk buying, tickets, guided tours of Highbury, and group trips to London to watch the Gunners live, you need to join ArsenalAmerica, the official Arsenal FC supporters club for North America. Membership in ArsenalAmerica costs an outrageous $3.65 for one year, so for a penny a day you'll have the things mentioned above available to you (and, if you're nice AND I'm not London at the time, then Rick B might let you sleep on his couch. ) Anyway, click HERE to go to the website for ArsenalAmerica (this will open in a new browser window so you won't miss one exciting second of brilliant Arse talk here on BS). You'll be able to get any additional information about ArsenalAmerica there, plus read some great editorial commentary by our members. If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me at brad@arsenalamerica.com and I'll be glad to answer any further questions you might have. You can also e-mail the aforementioned Mike Kavanaugh, the club president, at mike@arsenalamerica.com, or our English Liaison Officer Rick Breese at breese@arsenalamerica.com. We're going to be doing two trips to Highbury this year since this will be the last year to enjoy The Home of Football before moving into Ashburton Grove. ArsenalAmerica is growing fast as more and more people in the US and Canada are beginning to really enjoy football, in general, and Arsenal, in particular. Just think: if you sign up now then next spring, after the Gunners win the Champions' League and jealous fans of other clubs start accusing you of being a glory hunter, you can honestly say "Hey, I was a member of the official supporters club long before the Gunners won the CL!"... Seriously, I hope to see plenty of new names on the roster of ArseAm for what promises to be a very exciting upcoming season! Thanks, Brad Hudson Secretary, Arsenal America.
Thanks for the info, Coach. When is the next membership drive so I can renew my membership? Also, since you're here, can you explain about the bulk buying, like how much we'll need to be, how to pay, etc? I know it's been explained before, but just for clarification, can you give us the details?
Unfortunatly the bulk buying is a little difficult. I will explain. It's not like we can go to Arsenal, say we have a huge order and then give them loads of different address's and card details. It doesn't work like that. They will ONLY take one payment and ship it to one address. Then the receiver has to forward everything on. Can you see the possibilities for a nightmare?!! The other problem is the simple matter of problems. If someone gets the wrong size shirt, the item is broken - well where did it break? In the first shipping or the second? If something is wrong it would be a nightmare to change, get a refund to the one card and then get that to the person. Ok so paypal helps, but there are still fee's with that. It is a great idea in principle, but a nighmare in reality.
Talking of which Brad, I have you down for Spurs away, are you coming to any other games while you're here and how long is my couch taken for!!!!
Any idea when those will happen? I'm being asked to pick my vacation time soon and I really want in on this.
Unfortunatly we won't be able to give more information until the first week of September due to the Champions League draw being an integral part of the decision process of Arsenal. As soon as we hear, it will be put both here and on Arsenal America's website.
Rick, I know the actual CL schedule won't be known until September but is there any earlier indication that one week will be home and the next will be away? I'm real close to finalizing my plans but was hoping that I might know one way or the other regarding CL home dates.
I am afraid not. Some people will say that because we will be the first seed etc etc etc you can tell. You can't unfortunatly, you just have to wait. But then, would going to an away CL game be the end of the world, they are great fun!!! Obviously if you are going to be asking me for tickets I would get your request in, I have had so many now.......
I went to the ArsenalAmerica site the other day, and tried to get a membership, but i couldn't find anywhere to join. I registered for the site, which was free, but i still couldn't find any membership information. Does anyone know where it is? Also do they have lifetime memberships?
We'll be reactivating the membership system shortly after we do some testing on confirmation e-mails and backend databases so we know who is who. As for bulk orders, you also have to remember Customs duty on items coming over. As anyone who has ordered from Kitbag will tell you, you can often get slammed with an 18% fee on kits (negating the discount and then some).
Rick - My tenative plan is to fly in on the 26th and fly back to the States on the 31st. I have to wait until August to confirm as I can't get my insiders deal a maximum of 60 days in advance. Cam, his wife, and Ashley are all apparently flying in on the 27th, so I won't have the joy of stumbling back into coach to tell them about all the free drinks I've been having...
Actually, the two times I ordered from Arsenal.com, I didn't pay any duty. I did pay it when I ordered from Kitbag, but I think that's because they take VAT out of what you pay to them. I'll be interested to hear if anyone has had to pay duty on the new kits.
It really depends on the shippers. Kitbag's shippers are pretty adamant about paying duty, whereas Arsenal might send individual orders through a different carrier (that doesn't mean duty is not due, just that through whatever means the carrier didn't report it to Customs).
I ordered a jersey from Kitbag about a year and half ago, and i don't remember paying any duty on it.
Over the past 2 years... I have orderd twice from Kitbag, paid duty once. I have orderd twice from Arsenal.com, never paid dutty. I have ordred from Amazon.co.uk 3 times and never duty. I could go on with other vendors but I have paid some, not paid others...just random but I don't ever recal paying duty on anything sent Royal Mail