'aloo, Craig -Originally Posted by craigsmith
The Manson price Ebb posted was a good deal cheaper than the Rocna or Bulwagga in a size I feel appropriate for my boat. Your comment probably does have merit.
RE: money back guarantee and "trial-ing" anchors - A few questions/thoughts: Where are your anchors shipped from stateside? We the consumers would be paying the galvy charge + shipping x 2 in order to test a Rocna, assuming that the decision was made not to keep it, so it would be nice to have an idea ahead of time what such charges may be. This info may be on your website, I forget.
What I had in mind for end-user testing was more going to say West, giving them a credit card, taking their "trial" anchor out and playing with it for a day or two, then returning it after having used it, armed now with actual experience with an anchor to make a decision about buying.
If the anchor wasn't returned, the CC gets charged for the amount of purchase. This would be a good way for you to get your product into the hands of consumers so that they could evaluate it in real life. It would probably result in more sales for your company. I am unaware of what it would take to swing a deal like this with West or other boating stores, but if it could be done it sure seems like a good idea to promote the product.
If your supply chain would be too stretched to put multiple anchors in every West store, perhaps you could set up a drop-shipping arrangement with them, where each store would have perhaps 2 or 3 Trial Rocnas of different sizes (for use with different sized vessels). Once an evaluation was done by the consumer using an appropriately sized Rocna, then they would order through West upon returning the trial anchor (the store making a commision on the sale), and your company would ship the new anchor directly to the purchaser from your distribution point.
I write the following not at all intending to tweak you, but only to give you a viewpoint from a consumer half a world away who only knows you and your product as electrons whizzing around the internet. I hope you will take it simply for what it is - my own opinion and input.
Noteco Bulwagga anchors have a 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed policy, no galvy charge, and the consumer is given an entire year in which to decide whether or not to keep the anchor. I consider this to be a *strong* statement that the product will perform in excess of my expectations. Knowing that I had a year to use and evaluate the anchor showed me that the manufacturer had full confidence in the product and my eventual satisfaction with it. This is important to me when buying something unseen and untested, and at that time, relatively unused and so with very few real-life experiences of others to draw upon when making a decision.
It so happened that I was sold on the anchor after the first few times I used it; it *far* outperformed the Danforth that I had at the time, to the point that I never even considered returning the Bulwagga. I would not hesitate to buy for trial any product which has such a guarantee in place. The Bulwagga guarantee is simple, direct, applied across the board without specific request, and is in full view on their website. It reads as follows:
"Full refund of purchase price for any reason within one year of purchase date by
original individual purchaser. Excludes shipping and handling costs."
Based on my own common sense, and the information you provide via your website and comments on boards such as this, I'd think that your anchor works exceedingly well and is indeed an improvement over "old generation" solutions. I felt the same way about the Bulwagga back then, but what *really* induced me to buy before trying their anchor was that it was a no-lose proposition for me - other than shipping charges, there was no risk or cost to me to experiment with the anchor to my satisfaction before deciding to keep it. That is one hell of a marketing tool.
This should be said: I do not nor have I ever received any compensation from Noteco Bulwagga (regrettably). I am just an extremely satisfied customer - their product worked exceedingly well for me, and the guarantee was reassuring enough to me that I had no qualms about sending them some boat bux before ever actually even seeing the product in person, much less being able to handle or try it.
Craig - Thanks! I appreciate your taking the time to talk to us about your product and others.
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