Shopsmith Forums

I emailed Customer Service a suggestion to reintroduce the belt buckle the other day. I received a strange response below. I wonder what's going on?

"Did you see what the latest Shopsmith belt buckle sold for on Ebay? $46 It might be time to consider selling some- either the old design or perhaps a new Mark 7. 100 buckles would cost only $17.50 a piece…"

It's just a thought/suggestion.
p.s. Here is a company if you don't have one:
http://www.northwestbrassworks.com"

"No Tony we did not, sorry we do not have the time to watch ebay.
Thanks"

I'm not sure where they got the idea I was suggesting they watch Ebay & missed the point to perhaps make some easy money. Who has time to watch Ebay? C'est la vie.

Fortunately,technical support is alive & well & responsive. I live a life of "balance" like that old TV character Seinfeld use to…"

I'd probably e-mail them back and clarify the point of your message...they may still choose to blow off the suggestion but I personally think it's a good one, along with the notion of other SS merchandise...t-shirts, hats, tape measures. key chains, bumper stickers etc... Lots of SS fans out there who would be proud to display the logo. I'm guessing they don't want to have to tangent into another merchandise category but there's a reason many entities do this - it's fairly lucrative with minimal overhead.

Ask any touring musician (not the huge arena playing stars but the musicians performing in your local community or college theatre) why they lug boxes of shirts, CDs, etc. on the road with them - they often make more on this stuff then they do on the actual show booking. The latest trend is the meet & greet, where musicians come out and shake hands, say hi, and sign autographs...take a look at the line at the merchandise table after the show when that happens...sheer genius on their part - minimal overhead, large profit margin, and rapid sales for spending a extra hour in the lobby saying hi to everyone. I realize this model won't translate to SS selling such items but point is lots of folks out there would likely grab a t-shirt, belt buckle etc. if they were done well.

backhertz wrote: I live a life of "balance" like that old TV character Seinfeld use to…"

Do you mean "Even Steven"? I loved that episode

I vote to bring back the coffee mugs!!!
Bill V

dgale wrote:I'd probably e-mail them back and clarify the point of your message...they may still choose to blow off the suggestion but I personally think it's a good one, along with the notion of other SS merchandise...t-shirts, hats, tape measures. key chains, bumper stickers etc... Lots of SS fans out there who would be proud to display the logo. I'm guessing they don't want to have to tangent into another merchandise category but there's a reason many entities do this - it's fairly lucrative with minimal overhead.

Ask any touring musician (not the huge arena playing stars but the musicians performing in your local community or college theatre) why they lug boxes of shirts, CDs, etc. on the road with them - they often make more on this stuff then they do on the actual show booking. The latest trend is the meet & greet, where musicians come out and shake hands, say hi, and sign autographs...take a look at the line at the merchandise table after the show when that happens...sheer genius on their part - minimal overhead, large profit margin, and rapid sales for spending a extra hour in the lobby saying hi to everyone. I realize this model won't translate to SS selling such items but point is lots of folks out there would likely grab a t-shirt, belt buckle etc. if they were done well.

If Shopsmith is no longer struggling to stay afloat, I agree with your entire suggestion. However, I have always thought that Shopsmith was trying to keep their fingers in too many pies. Remember, selling coffee mugs requires that first you have a contract to acquire coffee mugs and then you have to market coffee mugs. To make a profit you will probably have to charge twice the reasonable price for a coffee mug. I think you can look through the catalog and see where this is already the norm. Shopsmith's prices keep them from becoming a real strong competitor.

Even Steven….YES!

I don't have any idea of the issue(s) on Poe Ave, so there's no sense in beating a dead/tired horse. Someone told me they operation is totally in what was the old retail store/Saw Dust Session set.

It surprised me to see the belt buckles selling, so I looked up a manufacturer & it's not that much to set up & sell. But the key word is sell. There are many members on the forum, but how many would buy? That would be a risk. So I won't ruffle my feathers.

Oh, the good olde days when there were Shopsmith retail stores, much larger catalogs, and financing. The success was fleeting, but the company still plays on. I don't believe they read what I wrote, but that's okay as I tend to often write too much. Life goes on.

Gee I wonder 'who' in CS answered yer e-mail?:D














Three guesses and the last two do not count!;)







No the ladies are NOT suspect!

backhertz wrote:I emailed Customer Service a suggestion to reintroduce the belt buckle the other day. I received a strange response below. I wonder what's going on?

"Did you see what the latest Shopsmith belt buckle sold for on Ebay? $46 It might be time to consider selling some- either the old design or perhaps a new Mark 7. 100 buckles would cost only $17.50 a piece…"

It's just a thought/suggestion.
p.s. Here is a company if you don't have one:
http://www.northwestbrassworks.com"

"No Tony we did not, sorry we do not have the time to watch ebay.
Thanks"

I'm not sure where they got the idea I was suggesting they watch Ebay & missed the point to perhaps make some easy money. Who has time to watch Ebay? C'est la vie.

Fortunately,technical support is alive & well & responsive. I live a life of "balance" like that old TV character Seinfeld use to…"

You did ask "Did you see.....". Reminds me of a Bones episode where she was asked "Didn't I see you on TV this morning?" She answered, "How could I possible know what you were watching on TV?"

Well, there is no sense in beating anyone up, casting aspersions, or jumping to conclusions. I think it's in all of our interests for the company to succeed. Shopsmith has been good to me.

It would be nice to have a coffee cup or something to have in the shop. I imagine the Shopsmith name/logo is protected by copyright, so that would someone like myself from ordering/selling belt buckles, coffee cups, hats, whatever.

I would think the idea would be embraced as it is free advertising for them paid for by us. But there I go thinning again…

Interesting thread. Two points seem to occur frequently. Health of Shopsmith marketing and fun non productive items. Okay three, email customer service.

When one calls (toll free which suggests at Shopsmith expense) and speaks with the ladies in customer service one receives spectacular service and information. Email or online support appear to be questionable at best. Do you suppose this suggests they are people people and that works best with them?

I for one prefer a company that focuses on the product line I desire and ability to get what keeps my shop running. Truth be known I don't drink coffee and have more cups on hand than we will ever use or can put away. Belt buckles, I have a drawer full of collector belt buckles that will seldom if ever be worn.

In addition during the last few years I have been faced with greatly increasing prices of those fun items to give or sell to business clients. Two years prior to closing my business I discontinued wasting effort and dollars where the return was unwarranted. This Shopsmith diehard says "Keep up keeping up Shopsmith." Jim