How do I order?

Sign up for the GoogleGroup email list to stay informed. The easiest way is to e-mail ugbuyingclub@googlegroups.com to join and follow the instructions in the reply e-mail. The email list will keep you updated on what's going on with the buying club, when to turn in your order, when the order will arrive, and any exciting developments or news related to opening up a grocery co-op, meetings or field trips and more.

• Log in, or, if you don't already have an account, create an account for yourself by clicking on the sign up page.
• Search the Local and Non-Local pages to find items you want, and select your desired amount. (See specifics about browsing and ordering from the Associated Buyers catalog below).
• Orders will be due every once per month on the designated Thursday by midnight. Check the front page of the web site for more order dates.

It's my first time ordering. Do I need to do anything special?

Yes! New Members! By the Pick-up date (the Wednesday following the Thursday order) a Membership check is due. This can be dropped off in an envelop through the WBNA mail slot, paid when picking up your order, or mailed to:

Urban Greens Buying Club C/o WBNA
1560 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02909

The check will cover annual membership fees, and depending on the month you join, should be prorated from the yearly amount of $24.00. (If your first order is July, you'll pay $12.00).

How do I get my order?

Orders are picked up on the Wednesday following the order date. Pick-up is at the WBNA Building (1560 Westminster), between 5pm and 8pm. Please make every effort to pick up during those hours because the WBNA is generally locked. (If you can't make it, please try to send a friend or family member to pick up and pay for you!) If you cannot make that pickup time or miss the pickup, email or call us to make an alternate arrangement.

How do I pay for my order?

Payments are made at pick-up. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH. Please bring a checkbook, or a money order for the amount specified in your online invoice.

Are there benefits to volunteering?

Please Volunteer! We ask that all members volunteer at least one hour per month - the buying club has been volunteer run for over 10 years. Non-volunteering members pay a 10% surcharge on their total. Email ugvolunteers@gmail.com to contact the volunteer volunteer coordinator, and learn about and sign up for volunteer jobs.

How do I Order Online?

After signing in, you will see two main options on where to begin your order--the Local Catalog, where we list locally produced items, and the AB (Associated Buyers, our wholesaler) or Non-Local Catalog.

At the Associated Buyers catalog, begin searching for the items you need. Enter a keyword, Item number, or brand. You can also search or browse through a section of the catalog. IMPORTANT: if you want to limit the search to items on sale, check the 'on sale' button. (If you check this button and hit enter with the search box empty, you can browse all items on sale).

If you're having trouble finding something your looking for, you can also view the AB catalog directly.

Once you've found an Item, type the amount of the item that you want (for example, for one 9 pound tub of peanut butter, I will enter a 1 in the packs ordered column) and press the "order" button. The word "packs" may mean jars, bags, boxes, etc. It always means one full unit of stuff.

IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE BE CAREFUL TO NOTE UNITS AND SIZES BEFORE ORDERING. If you order 5 full packs of an item marked "25#," you are ordering 125 pounds, not 5 pounds. You may be able to order smaller amounts of items if repacks are available.

By pressing the order button, you are adding that item to your invoice, and it will be sent in with the group order. If you want to take the item off, just change the number you entered in the full packs ordered or split units ordered column back to 0 and press the order button again. You can make any changes by viewing your current order--click "Your Order" at any time to see the full list.

PLEASE REVIEW YOUR ORDER BEFORE YOU FINISH. Check for any quantities that you may have incorrectly ordered, and verify that the prices look reasonable. (Hint: if your oats cost $80, you may have made a mistake.) You can always view your invoice by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Please note that you will not receive an email confirmation or anything like that. Once you order items your order will actually be placed, unless you change the order before Thursday night at midnight.

Can I order smaller amounts of Bulk goods? And, what do the asterisks mean (* or **)?

Some items are available for repacking in smaller amounts, by paying an additional small fee. Items with one or two stars (* or **) can be repacked by the wholesaler into smaller quantities. One * means the item can be split into 5 lb increments, and two ** means it can be split into 10 lb increments.

EXAMPLE: If you want to order 5 pounds of an item that is marked as 25#* in the pack size column, click "start split" and enter a 5 in field for number of pounds desired, and click "request split." If you want the full 25 pounds, enter a 1 in the packs ordered column instead. DO NOT enter 5 in the 'Full' order column, or you will have to buy 125 pounds.

Please note: when bulk items (such as 25# bags) are on sale, the co-op will not receive the sale price unless we buy the entire bulk item, NOT a repacked, smaller quantity.

Wait, so what do the different asterisks mean?

One asterisks by a large amount in pounds (25#*) means that you can have Associated Buyers (our distributor) break the package down into 5-pound increments, with a repack fee of 15 cents a pound. For example- the repack fee for 5 pounds of peanut butter would be $.75.

Two asterisks (25#**) means that the amount can be broken down into 10 pound increments at a fee of 12.5 cents per pound. See above for instructions on how to order repacked amounts, just enter a multiple of 10 rather than a multiple of 5.

When will my order arrive?

The Associated Buyers order usually arrives on the Tuesday following the due date. Then volunteers (like yourself!) sort all Tuesday night and during the day on Wednesday, so that the orders are ready to pick up by 5 that afternoon. Pickup is from 5 to 8 PM.

When is my order due?

Orders are due once per month on a Thursday by midnight. Check the website's front page or the newsletter for exact dates.

Where do I pick up my order? Where are Urban Greens and the WBNA?

Pick up your order at Urban Greens. Urban Greens is located inside of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA): 1560 Westminster St. on the West Side of Providence.