How It Works & FAQ
We won’t lie, buying clubs are quirky and take a bit of planning on the part of the members. Please read on to learn if PanPan is right for you.
RECEIVING THE WEEKLY ORDER FORM
On Monday evening you will receive a newsletter with product notes and a link to the Google order form. If you’re placing an order, please read the notes to see what products are in- and out-of-stock that week. An informed member is a happy member!
PLACING AN ORDER
You can pick and choose which items to order, and order items in any amount - there are no minimum or maximum requirements.
The order form is divided into sections: Produce, Dairy & Eggs, Bread, etc. Each section contains the products available that week, and the unit in which the item is being sold. As an example: Apples are sold by the pound; Salad Green are sold by the ¼ LB; Scallions are sold by the bunch; Cabbage is sold by the head; Eggs are sold by the dozen.
You must order in the unit available. Since Apples are sold in units of 1 pound, the smallest amount you can buy is 1 pound (which is 2-4 apples, depending upon their size). Because Salad Greens are sold by the ¼ pound, if you want a ½ pound of salad greens, order 2 units.
When you’re done choosing all your items, hit the submit button, and Google will email you a confirmation, which is your assurance that the order went through. Please look for your confirmation, and contact us if you don’t receive it.
ORDER DEADLINES:
The order deadline is Wednesday at 10AM.
The order deadline for gluten-free bread and baked goods is Tuesday at 12PM.
LOCATION
PanPan is located in the Third Wheel Cheese warehouse at 705 S. 50th Street, just south of Baltimore Ave.
PICK UP TIMES
Friday from 3pm-7pm
Saturday 11am-2pm
PICK UP DETAILS
When you arrive at the warehouse you’ll see 3 tables set up outside. Walk up to an empty table, tell us your last name, and we will retrieve your PanPan share.
A PanPan staffer will drop a bag on your table with any/all of the following: produce, bread, pastry, ground coffee, and tea. They will then walk away to gather the rest of your share, and return with a milk crate containing all your perishable and pantry items.
Stapled to your bag will be a “pick sheet” - this is your receipt. The pick sheet will list all the items you ordered and the total amount you owe.
When the PanPan staffer returns, we strongly encourage you to check the contents of your bag against the pick sheet. If something is missing, tell us and we’ll fetch it for you. If we don’t have the missing item, we will remove it from your total.
We also encourage you to bring your own bags and repack your share, so that we can reuse the paper bags. But we have plenty of paper bags and boxes in case you forget. (No judgment.)
PAYMENT
We prefer payments be made with cash, credit card, or Apple Pay. In a pinch, we can accept Venmo.
PRICING
PanPan operates on a “cost plus” basis, meaning that we take the wholesale cost of the product and add a percentage to arrive at the price. PanPan adds 30-40% to all its products with a couple of exceptions:
When a CPG (consumer packaged goods) vendor asks us not to price items below their retail price. This is especially important for small-scale producers who sell at farmers markets and don’t want us to undercut them on price.
We add a $.40 charge on all bulk items (coffee beans, nuts, olives, etc.) to cover the labor costs of washing and sanitizing returned containers and re-packing.
Each PanPan order includes a $4 service fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know how much is in a unit?
If you’ve never worked in a grocery store, you may not know how many apples are in a pound, or what a ¼ pound of salad green looks like. We know this can be frustrating for new members, and we’re often asked to mimic the grocery store experience - for instance, offering apples by the piece. Unfortunately that’s not possible. We choose the units based on logistical considerations that help keep PanPan running smoothly. In our experience, everyone gets used to shopping this way and we trust you will, too!
Will you accept late orders?
The short answer is yes.
The long answer is that we start placing orders from our vendors at around 11am on Wednesday based on our members’ orders.
If you miss the deadline - go for it! You may not get everything you want but we’ll do our best.
What happens if something I ordered becomes unavailable?
We sell fresh food, not widgets, and therefore things can change at the last minute and things can change at the last minute and sometimes an item you ordered becomes unavailable. It could be because we miscalculated (like the number of cabbages in a case), or it could be that one of our suppliers sends us a less-than-awesome product (think, slimy lettuce). When these incidents arise, we simply adjust the total amount on your pick sheet.
Why can’t I pay ahead of time?
As explained in the last FAQ, sometimes things change at the last minute and we need to adjust your total amount due. For this reason, we don't ask for payment ahead of time.
What happens if I get home and my share is missing something that I already paid for?
Human error is a thing. This is why we ask that you check the contents of your share before leaving PanPan. However, if you get home and realize that it is missing an item that you paid for, we have a couple choices:
Come back and pick it up. Even though PanPan has limited hours, we have staff working in the retail shop or warehouse every day of the week and they can retrieve your missing item(s).
Send us an email and we’ll refund you.
What happens if I forget to pick up my share?
Did we mention that human error is a thing? If you forget to pick up your share during PanPan’s open hours, please email us to arrange for a late pick up.
What happens if I abandon my share?
On Monday morning we contact anyone who didn’t pick up their share to make arrangements for a late pick up. You also have the option to abandon your share and pay for the items can not be returned to our inventory.
It’s important to remember that we purchase products from our vendors based on our members’ orders. We reserve these products for you, and consider them pre-sold. In order for us to keep our margins low and not lose money, we can’t absorb unclaimed shares.
If you choose to abandon your share and don’t pay us for the items that can not be resold, you will be removed as a member.
What is the service fee for?
The $4.00 service fee is added to cover overhead costs.
If you need to cover overhead, why not just raise your prices? (should I remove this and just add the paragraph to the above section?)
We choose a service fee over higher prices to acknowledge the reality that every order requires the same amount of work on the back end. Whether you order 2 items or 22 items, our team has to perform all the tasks related to fulfilling your order. We would rather keep our prices low, and encourage folks to place bigger orders to offset the percentage of the service fee.
What are PanPan’s purchasing criteria?
When choosing which products to offer, our team applies a combination of values, logistical considerations, and member preferences. Go here to see our purchasing rubric. [INSERT PDF]
Still have questions? Email us at pandemicpantryphilly@gmail.com