A mean lawyer and propene stove

[mikelinmon]

The problem is as a dealer, the installation of propane or butane is just like an oversized motor. It is a time bomb. Any incident down the line will be the dealers liability. MacGregor said up to 50hp and until just now with the 60E-Tec being OK'd, I did not like installing 60 or 70hp. We did it for many boats, even using the much overweight Suzy 70 ( you know customer is always right and all ) but it is a risk. I am very happy he decided to OK the same weight 60hp E-Tec, now lets just find a safe stove. Who knows a manufacturer of small metal parts, copy the old Origo, invent anew. Many boat builders are in same BOAT as us, big market.
Mike Inmon

[TAW02]

Who knows a manufacturer of small metal parts, copy the old Origo, invent anew. Many boat builders are in same BOAT as us, big market.
Mike Inmon

Just the idea of a product going into overpriceville, tells me it's because it has patent protection to make that endeavor a reality. Yeah, it gives a corp the balls to charge along their 'wildest dreams'. It's the free market system.

I am a certified welder and sheetmetal fabricator, and I agree to copy this rinky-dink stove (I own a single burner Origo myself), would be a 'no brainer'. Because there is no fancy jetting sytem, the burner is a simple vapor burner which is controlled by a simple plate/cover system that orfices the size and thus the volume of alcahol vapor that is put to the burn. A plasma cutter and sheet brake or stamping press operated by a drunk monkey plus the 17 dollars worth of stainless that goes into it (never mind the plating job on the grate that burns off the first time you use it), should cover the cost of making a suitable model.

But then there is that patent thingy that gets in the way.

Big T

[richandlori]

But then there is that patent thingy that gets in the way.

Big T

Na...you could get around any patent they may/might have as easy as falling off a log. Stoves have been around for so long, there is plenty of public/free technology out there to base a new unit around. The question is...who wants to put their capital at risk to start up a new oven company? You could mass build the unit for about $50/ea here in the good old US of A. But...getting a UL listing...well there goes about $50K to $100K. I have went through the UL process and it will suck you dry.

[dennisneal]

Mike,

Let's face it. The Dollar has gone into the toilet, or Porta-Potty. That's why the price of Origo stoves, or any other imported product has skyrocketed.

It seems to me, that if you exceed the manufacturer's limits, you do it at your own peril. Please don't do it! The customer is not always right. Whenever you exceed the limits and something goes wrong, you will be blamed, not the customer, or the manufacturer. You are an expert.

Your customers should be charged a fair price for your products and services, which means that you are handsomely rewarded for your risk, expertise, and costs. If your costs have increased, you should pass them on. I have only the highest regards for your integrity.

If this means that you sell a few less Origo stoves, so be it. You my wish to sell alternatives that are equally safe.

[Divecoz]

Can You beat the price ?
Can you get the word out that your is better cheaper and available Nation Wide World Wide?
Find dealers or better yet Build a dealer network?
Often The Competion says fine you want their product you no longer have mine. . .
Yours wont be on the shelf 10 minutes and a Chineze made, cheaper copy of your copy will be sitting at wally world.
On Edit: and after reading more slowly
Limited market . 90+% Direct sales to boat builders. . do a few shows
nice write off and a few short vacations. Lots of small boat chat boards out there.

[richandlori]

Can You beat the price ?
Can you get the word out that your is better cheaper and available Nation Wide World Wide?
Find dealers or better yet Build a dealer network?
Often The Competion says fine you want their product you no longer have mine. . .
Yours wont be on the shelf 10 minutes and a Chineze made, cheaper copy of your copy will be sitting at wally world.

You nailed it Dive. As an inventor and someone who has taken a few products from R&D to end comsumer, it is extreamly difficult and hoards more fail than make it...I know...I have more failures on "sure thing products" than wins. The momentum often keeps customers form going to the "new guy" on the block and people will often pay more money for something simpley because "everyone else has one". I've used that logic (if you can call it that) many time while refitting THIRD DAY. You don't have time to research it to death, so you just go with the product that "everyone has" even if it costs a bit more. And when it comes to something that spits out FIRE....well do you want to try the "New Guys" product? Has the new guys product been reviewed by Practical Sailor?Will he be around after the sell when you need a replacement part? Will he replace the unit if you are not happy with it? Does he have insurance (like the large company) for when his unit malfuncations and burns your boat to the water lines?

Starting any new business/product line is an expensive and risky thing to do and when it works out, to be able to charge the customer as much as you can....well....that's the reward for taking the risk in the first place.

[Mac Ziggy]

My little home town is the former manufacturing center for a major brand of grills. Actually, they were an exclusive brand of grills. The company stood behind their product and their dealers and fought the sale of their product in mass numbers and discount markets. Few people in my area could afford the grills and there was no local dealer. If you wanted to buy one, you had to go to a dealer 60 miles away. A few employees got grills as incentives each year.

Exclusive brands don’t hold up well in today’s market. The company started losing sales to imported units that sold for less than it cost them for material to build a grill. The company finally moved (contracted) all manufacturing overseas and closed the brand new 60,000 sq ft. facility my little town helped them build. Once they had employed about 350 people, now a little town of 5,000 is stuck with a mortgage, an empty building and high unemployment. Maybe a few people in China are no longer starving, but I doubt they are really prospering.

The new grill isn’t really as good as the old one, I didn’t think stainless would rust, but it sure looked good when I bought it and it had a GREAT price.

[Divecoz]

Mac Ziggy I am one who is truly sorry to hear this story. Its happening everywhere in America , if that adds any consolation .
I agree with what your saying and seeing and now living. I have seen and lived it too. Our little town is coming back very very slowly and if it wasn't for those who stuck to their guns and chose to support this town we would have died . They had a chance to invest elsewhere and make more money sooner but didn't they stayed here invested in AMERICA.
Cheap Import competition shut down your factory. A Factory paying a living wage, and In America for an Americans. Well I hope that it wasn't just another factory full of illegal Mexicans. I have seen that take place as well. Factories that forced Americans out for cheaper illegal labor .
You know that guy in China from all we are reading, is not making a living wage either and there are no safety standards and the environment......
The product is often made with inferior base material as well and little to no quality control, and then its brought here and to be sold at walmart. Walmart where again few to any, make a living wage and they continue to shut down every other store around them under the disguise of fare trade and free market.
WE find them walmart just outside the town where there now sits a fellow with no job. A fellow who will now work for $8 an hour and n o benefits at all. He will do this you see because he has no more unemployment left. So to feed his family and make some of his bills he folds gives up and is now counted as among the employed.
The town holds a Mortgage they cannot afford and continues to sink further and further into debt, and has yet another empty building to watch fall into disrepair, along with those caused to become empty by walmart. So who really gained from this?

[Trouts Dream]

The fortune lies not with the man that invents a better mouse trap, but with the man that convinces the world that its a good idea.

[Moe]

The fortune lies not with the man that invents a better mouse trap, but with the man that convinces the world that its a good idea.

The Master

[richandlori]

The fortune lies not with the man that invents a better mouse trap, but with the man that convinces the world that its a good idea.

Amen....Amen.....and Amen! I have one of his Pasta Maker and Food dehydrator Myself, just packed them up in storage....ya I really needed them...Gota Love Mr Ronco...Ha ha ah

[Boblee]

The exodus of jobs etc is not just happening in America and nor is the influx of illegal workers despite us being surrounded by by seas the illegal worker problem grows daily.
As for brand name preference, we truly are a strange lot, I am currently selling a camper trailer that is tougher, more compact and has more features than all but a few of the more expensive "brand names" selling for three to five times the price but because it doesn't have an established name, no-one is prepared to back their own judgment.
Could lie and make up a story or hype like the tv ads do?