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What is the deal with MSR Groundhog pricing


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Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) What is the deal with MSR Groundhog pricing

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 29 total)
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  • #3636096
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    A couple of questions on MSR Groundhog stakes

     

    1) Did they redesign it or something?  The price on a set of 6 went up significantly, from $20 to $25.

    2) What’s up with the pack pricing?  You can buy them individually for $2.50.  Packs of 6 sell anywhere from $20 to $25.  Do they really think we are that bad at math?  And even if we are… “Hey Google, how much is six times two fifty”.

    Am I missing something?  Or am I just a plain idiot?

    #3636106
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    Do you have some examples of those prices ?

     

    #3636114
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    https://www.msrgear.com/tents/tent-accessories/groundhog-tent-stakes/05807.html

    https://www.backcountry.com/msr-groundhog-tent-stake-kit?s=a

    Turns out that the predominant price for the fulls-size groundhog is $2.95, $2.50 was the mini, but that still gives you a kit of 6 for under $18, or $7 less than what MSR is charging for the kit

    https://www.rei.com/product/682543/msr-ground-hog-stake

     

    #3636119
    Bill in Roswell
    BPL Member

    @roadscrape88-2

    Locale: Roswell, GA, USA

    In all honesty, I haven’t noticed any significant difference between Groundhogs the past 15 years and some Taiwan knockoffs the past few years. I’m happy with Groundhogs, no doubt. But I have many stake sets depending on conditions for that trip. Typically for southern Appalachians, 2-3 Groundhogs and 4-5 Ti skewers. That Easton gold long peg that Tarptent uses is really good in soft soil and thick forest duff.

    #3636121
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    OK.

    I see that MSR now only list them in kits of 6 at $24.95 RRP.

    I haven’t found a shop that has both the single and the pack on offer.

    My guess is that the singles are from non packaged bulk buy.

    #3636124
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    This has been going on for quite some time, but when the 6-Pack was $20 it was not that glaring of a mismatch. But now you can get 8 singles for the price of a 6 pack. The singles seem to be getting phased out because fewer and fewer stores carry them.

    #3636264
    Kevin R
    BPL Member

    @kevinr

    At least they flip flopped the prices for the minis and the regulars. I remember several years ago trying to help an REI employee understand how absurd it was that the minis were more expensive than the regulars ($2.95 minis vs 2.50 regs). Yes, it follows the principle of “less weight, more money”, but there’s nothing about them to justify the upcharge. Exact same design, same material, just shrunk down (less material cost). REI didn’t seem too concerned about the discrepancy though

    #3636311
    Todd T
    BPL Member

    @texasbb

    Locale: Pacific Northwest

    how absurd it was that the minis were more expensive than the regulars

    Years ago the Red Robin menu had both a cheeseburger and a bacon burger.  The price was different depending on whether you ordered a cheeseburger with bacon, or a bacon burger with cheese.  I would always grill the waiter as to why…nobody ever had an answer.  I would always insist on the cheaper option.  They eventually fixed the problem.  Corporate no doubt heard about me.

    #3636335
    JCH
    BPL Member

    @pastyj-2-2

    “Corporate no doubt heard about me.”

    Maybe they hoovered up all of your personal data from the Red Robin app you were using…

    #3637186
    NoCO-Jim
    BPL Member

    @noco-jim

    Locale: NoCO
    #3637241
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    Yes, the price has been dropping.  It was $17 a few days ago, I ordered a set of six.  Now that it is down to $13 I ordered another set of six.  There was also a used set for $10 for those that want to save a few bucks.

    Also note that Amazon has upped their digital credit to $3 for not using 2-day prime.  I have stopped using 2-day quite some time ago for most of my orderes and collecting the $1 digital credit.  My wife uses them pretty much as soon as they are available.  Helps offset a significant fraction of the cost of the prime membership.

    #3637297
    Gary Dunckel
    BPL Member

    @zia-grill-guy

    Locale: Boulder

    Boyan, another thing you should know about the MSR Groundhogs is that the pre-2014 versions were the original ones. After that, they did a slight design change, which had a slight change wherein the shafts were a bit different, with a somewhat rotated configuration which might have increased holding power a wee bit. Also, when people talk about Asian knockoffs, be careful. A lot of the Groundhog look-alikes are made from an inferior aluminum alloy, whereas MSR uses the good stuff. There’s a difference in strength.

    #3637300
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    Any reliable way of telling a knockoff from the real stuff?

    #3637303
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    On a different forum someone got very upset with me when I pointed out that his “MSR” branded stakes were a copy. (sent me a nasty PM full of insults…)

    Neither the  font nor the colour  corresponded  but because it was written MSR he was adamant they were.

    (yes made with soft metal and that is why they broke and was complaining about it)

     

     

    #3637310
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    So it is a matter of comparing labels and fonts carefully to those on the MSR site? Would be the first time Amazon sold fakes on their website.

    #3637313
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

    I don’t think that anyone stated that Amazon is selling fake MSR stakes. The one I mentioned , according to the OP in that thread, were bought at REI , however when I questioned that ( as in :what REI store ?) I got back some insults and those comments were later remouved.

    For anyone interested this was the thread, so you can have a look at what fake MSRs look like :https://www.trailspace.com/forums/gear-selection/topics/132289.html

     

    #3637315
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    Thanks for that. Appreciate you being super careful with the wording, I should be more disciplined about it too. I would not use color as an indication, since a cheap cell phone camera will distort color tremendously, especially under artificial light. However the shape of the head is a giveaway as is the signage and the fact that it does not engrave down to a clean white baseline. I think that the cheap ones listed on Amazon now are sold by third parties so a careful inspection is definitely called for. The $13 price is almost too good to be true.

    #3637462
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    First order of groundhogs arrived today.  They look exactly as in Franco’s pic in post 5 above.  However, both the “MSR” and “Groundhog” insignia appear screen-printed with block letters not engraved as in the thread Franco linked above.  I have compared these against the dozen groundhogs I have from previous orders (~12 months ago) and they look identical.  My previous order was from EMS.

    #3637464
    Franco Darioli
    Spectator

    @franco

    Locale: Gauche, CU.

     

    screen grab from the official MSR video.

    As you can see , the name is engraved , enough to be seen trough the back.

    #3637468
    Roger Caffin
    BPL Member

    @rcaffin

    Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

    I really doubt that what you are seeing indicates ‘engraving’. That means cutting the metal, and it would not ‘print through’ the metal. I would be happy to accept stamped or punched, as these do ‘print through’. And they can be done about 100x faster too.

    Nit pick, nit pick, nit pick.

    Cheers

    #3637471
    Brad Rogers
    BPL Member

    @mocs123

    Locale: Southeast Tennessee

    #3637472
    Brad Rogers
    BPL Member

    @mocs123

    Locale: Southeast Tennessee

    As you can see above, I have two distinct styles of Ground Hogs.  The bottom, with the stamped name are probably a decade old and purchased from a local outdoor store, are much more substantial than the top ones, which came with a shelter I purchased off gear swap.  They are thinner and have a much smaller head, which seems to be the weak point in this style of stake.  Has MSR changed the classic Groundhog design?

    #3637494
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    Mine look like the top one, including the the red cordage. It is possible that they have changed the design yet again to something more substantial which would explain the significant price increase. However the official image on the MSR website clearly shows screen printed signage. The video may be a “historical artefact”

    #3637539
    Brad W
    BPL Member

    @rocko99

    Wouldn’t a simple email containing pictures to MSR solve this?

    #3637541
    Boyan B
    BPL Member

    @groovygeek

    Locale: San Diego, CA

    Wouldn’t a simple email containing pictures to MSR solve this?

    Last time I sent them an email requesting product support for a Windpro stove they took 3 months to respond (July-Oct)  and 1 month to ship the replacement part (Oct-Nov).   No, this is not an exaggeration, I have the date/time stamps from the emails to prove it.  I will still send the email, I just don’t expect an answer on a timescale that allows me to return my existing orders if indeed they have redesigned the product.  I may give them a call, though with the C19 situation their call centers may be very lightly staffed, if at all.

     

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