Introducing New AirLight Backpacking Seat. Looking for Feedback.

Good info for us, thanks for the feedback Brian.

Thanks to everyone so far for the feedback and pricing survey data. We got over 100 survey answers!

From the data, we're deciding to introduce the seat for $35.

I've posted this throughout the thread, but we're offering 100 of these seats for sale on June 2 on Kickstarter. If you want to jump on our email list, we'll give you first dibs to snag yours. You can do that here: http://www.adventureinstincts.com/gear

Thanks again hope to keep the conversation going.

Justin

LINK to site.

No backrest is a deal breaker for me.

Price is based on the survey? Can we take it again? $35 seems a bit high. What's the markup? Whatever the market will bear? I've yet to buy from Kickstarter because everybody thinks they're selling gold. I see a nice inflatable. No gold though.How about a break for the survey takers?

Justin,

I don't know what your production costs are…$35 may actually represent a very slim margin…but have you considered selling an initial batch (exclusive to the BPL community?) at cost for the express purpose of getting feedback? I'm not angling for a deal (or steal), but would be happy to participate in an in-the-field trial. Like Terran Terran, I think $35 for a new, and untested, product may be off-putting for a lot of people, whereas that same price for a proven, tested product with good reviews/usage data might be perfectly acceptable.

If it was me, That is what I would do. Run a little contest and give a couple away. I've added stuff to my gear that I never thought I would after reading comments. I also have high quality gear sitting in the closet that I bought on a whim and hardly use.
Idealy, new products could be sent in to the staff for review, then in turn, PIF'ed to a member for further testing. If it is a good usable product, it will sell and I would think, it should be a lot cheaper than going through Kickstarter.

Good feedback!

I think it's smart to engage as many BPL'ers as possible. You guys know your stuff and your feedback/product testing would be super helpful.

This product is being made in the USA with all USA sourced material so the margins aren't the greatest right now until we can make a bunch of them. In fact, since I am buying such low volume, the price is quite close to cost. My costs are at just about $30 to make each one right now.

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Thanks everyone.

+1 on Terran Terran's last comment. I can't count the number of camping related do-hickeys I've bought thinking they were going to rock that actually just sit in the "camping bin of shame" in my garage.

And not that you haven't already thought of this, but…

If you gave away X units for the express purpose of receiving in-the-field feedback you would incur a $30 per unit investment cost.
If you sold X units for $15 per unit you would halve your testing investment for the same amount of feedback.
Or if you sold 2X units for $15 per unit you would incur the same investment cost but gain double the feedback.

I would think that more feedback is better feedback.

That said, strategic decisions such as these are why I am a computer scientist by trade and not a small businessman :)

"If it is a good usable product, it will sell"

I agree, but I don't think Justin needs to give any away or sell below cost to find this out. It's an inflatable stool, that's it. If it actually inflates and holds air, and doesn't puncture too easily, it'll sell to the folks who are looking for such a thing just from his video.

And I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one to buy one for $35 and give it a whirl, so he'll get user feedback, again without giving any away or selling them below cost.

Kickstarter makes perfect sense since he'll have a much, much larger audience than BPL, including a much larger audience who would be interested in an inexpensive, fairly lightweight camp chair that could, in a pinch, double for a 'ball' for campground volleyball. :-) I'd think that BPL would be a tertiary audience for Justin, not a primary or even secondary one.

All good points Doug. Hard to argue with your logic.
Again, that's why I'm not a small businessman.

Cuben top version coming soon. Same base material, but the pillow part is gonna be Cuben. and since the BPL crowd was so instrumental to his start-up he is gonna hold to the 35$ intro price for members. Thanks, Justin! You da man ;)

tertiary… Ha! Nobody calls ME tertiary and gets away with it! Im an American!

Looks like at least one sell.
My point is that projects on Kickstarter often fail. Kickstarter must charge for the service. I could pay them or take a loss of maybe $60 and provide a sample to the community to which I've asked support. Not very much money in the course of things. Mind you, I would exclude myself out of principle. I write poor reviews and can't spell.
It looks like a nice product and the oP sounds very legit and sincere. I don't see any other post however, other than these ads. If the sale is made, the work is done. This is not always the case and there is a lot of vaporware on the web. It's easy to create a situation where a lot of spam gets through while meeting the standards of the forum.

Taking extra stuff and calling it UL doesn't mean hauling extra stuff around is actually UL. I don't see the point, but I am probably not in your target market anyways.

Justin,

Please indulge a small diversion from your product. I complement you on your beautiful video set in my beloved Smokies. The opening aerial sweep of the Chimneys arête and the close with a rapid rise above the landscape are fantastic. Did you do your video production? If so, there is probably a market for your talent. Well done.

Mark

Have you thought about pitching the idea to Nordic people?

I never understood why some of their backpacks have a built-in chair or why some of the hikers bring a chair with them, until I visited Finland. There’s literally no fallen trees. The landowners and forestry companies clear them. And rocks? Good luck with that in the land of the swamps. To me, as someone who live in the Canadian West, it’s mind-boggling because there are potential chairs everywhere in nature.

But everyone has these kind of backpacks: http://www.halti.com/content/en/39/47735/Icefisher%20pack.html. I don’t see them very much with hikers on the trail though, but they are pretty common sight in people’s houses.

Haven’t really asked if those backpacks were gifted, or meant for moose-hunting though.

But to be honest, I used my Therm-a-Rest as a seat when I couldn’t find a log or a rock to sit on.

Justin,

Love the video and the product looks really promising. I've been wanting a stool for a while it's hard to find an option that's truly lightweight. I'm curious how much weight this will support? Thanks!

Just read all the comments since my last. Thanks everyone again for you input. It has been very helpful.

Doug: Smart advice. Thank you.

Mark: I flew the drone and worked with some friends on the video part.

Dave: I hadn't thought of Nordic people as a target market. It makes a ton of sense though and that backpack says it all.

Skip: The seat is rated for 250 lbs

I'll check back in more often but if you want to stay informed, join up our email list:

http://www.adventureinstincts.com/email-list.html

Justin

As an UL hiker I wouldn't bring this on a long trek, but most people do short distance overnight hikes and/or car camp.

It could also be handy for day hikers and kayak/canoe trips. It could even act as a backup emergency floatation device in a boat.

If I were to buy one, I'd immediately shoe-goo a tie-out with a small length of light line so I could anchor it with a small stake.

I could imagine it taking off in winds when you stand up.