A buyers club or buying club is a club organized to pool members' collective buying power, enabling them to make purchases at lower prices than are generally available, or to purchase goods that might be difficult to obtain independently. Some key examples of buyers clubs include medical purchases of rare medications for treating HIV or

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

sooner, at reduced cost for patients.

Community bulk purchases

In many parts of the United States, Canada, and Europe, families and individuals combine their purchasing power to buy items, typically bulk-type food, in a volume that generates a discounted price from the seller. The seller saves by having only one purchase order to manage and, possibly, less packaging and delivery to deal with. The buyers benefit from a lower per-unit cost and, incidentally, from an increased sense of community and sharing. Bulk-food sellers often provide tools so their customers can set up community buyers' clubs, for example:. The trend for buyers' clubs, or local coops, accelerated starting in the 1970s. However, these groups are organic in structure, locally governed, and can come into being and go out of existence without much publicity, so there is no precise figure for how many buyers' clubs of this sort exist or have existed.

AIDS epidemic

In the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, AIDS buyers clubs became important as a means of obtaining medications not yet approved by the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

that members thought might be useful in treating HIV and

opportunistic infection An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites or viruses) that take advantage of an opportunity not normally available. These opportunities can stem from a variety of sources, such as a weakened immune ...

s. The first and largest of these was the People With AIDS Health Group (PWA Health Group), founded in 1986 by Thomas Hannan,

Joseph Sonnabend Joseph Adolph Sonnabend (6 January 1933 – 24 January 2021) was a South African physician, scientist and HIV/AIDS researcher, notable for pioneering community-based research, the propagation of safe sex to prevent infection, and an early multif ...

, and Michael Callen. AIDS buyers clubs distributed such unapproved drugs as ribavirin,

dextran Dextran is a complex branched glucan (polysaccharide derived from the condensation of glucose), originally derived from wine. IUPAC defines dextrans as "Branched poly-α-d-glucosides of microbial origin having glycosidic bonds predominantly C-1 ...

sulfate, and DCNB (dinitrochlorobenzene), as well as cheaper pirated versions of zidovudine (AZT), which was the first antiretroviral drug that was FDA-approved for the treatment of HIV and AIDS in 1987. AIDS buyers clubs also distributed information about the disease and drug developments, and became an important source of AIDS treatment education and advocacy. An example of an AIDS buyers club was drawn to wider prominence with the 2013 film release '' Dallas Buyers Club''.

Hepatitis C

In response to the high price of modern direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for

, the FixHepC buyers club was set up by James Freeman and his father John Freeman in Australia in 2015 in order to help individual patients obtain legal access to generic versions of

sofosbuvir Sofosbuvir, sold under the brand name Sovaldi among others, is a medication used to treat hepatitis C. It is taken Oral administration, by mouth. Common side effects include fatigue, headache, nausea, and trouble sleeping. Side effects are gen ...

, daclatasvir, and ledipasvir. At EASL International Liver Congress, Dr. Freeman presented data showing how generic versions are as effective as branded products.

Scams

In the United States, the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(FTC) found that fraudulent or misleading buyers clubs were one of the top three types of consumer fraud in 2011, affecting about 0.6% of the US population every year. These memberships are typically sold in the course of selling another product, either with a free trial membership being a condition of making the purchase at the offered price or with a free trial membership being included as a "thank you" gift along with the initial purchase. The customer may not understand what was purchased or may believe that they have not authorized payment for the membership, and yet the credit card used for the initial purchase is billed for the buyer's club membership at the end of the free trial. According to Iowa Attorney General

Tom Miller Tom Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Tom Miller (broadcaster) (1940–1993), American radio personality and emcee * Tom Miller (artist) (1945–2000), American artist *Tom Miller (travel writer) (born 1947), travel writer from Tucson * ...

, "Consumers often tell us they don't recall ever having spoken to the companies, and they don't understand how they can be charged when they have not given the company their credit card number." Sometimes, a wide variety of products are promised at a discount, and then once the fee is paid the products are unavailable or not as advertised. This is particularly true for travel-related buying clubs.National Consumers League
"Time for Vacation – Avoid Travel Scams"
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Community bulk purchases

AIDS epidemic

Hepatitis C

Scams

References

Further reading