Hi Nathan, I suggest you wait and see.

"I guess being a member of BPL for 4 years with over 1000 posts doesnt count anything."

I think it's just that people are skeptical about small businesses early in their life.

People are concerned they'll pay you and not get a good quality product.

I can think of small businesses mentioned on this site that have made good products, but then people started complaining that their orders weren't being delivered as promised.

Something that you have to overcome as a new business.

Hi Jerry, I know. I am not going to give up.

I am just in a bad fix. Instead of ordering few yards of insulation to make more prototypes, I spent a lot of money on ordering a 50m roll. At the time of payment I was told that it will ship by air and will reach me 10 - 15 days. But then they said that PO couldnt ship a package of this size (63X24X24 inches) by Air. So they shipped it by ocean. It been 5 weeks and can take another 2-3 weeks.

This is only my opinion. Which has been wrong plenty. But here goes.

Americans want to support American cottage industries. This will hurt you. Americans have seen so many jobs going oversees. If we can find a quality product made here it will often trump similar products made elsewhere in the same price range. You have to offer what nobody else in the world is.

People here want to say, "Check out this great quilt. Made by this guy in (insert state) right here in the USA." Saying check out this quilt that some guy in India makes will be a hard sell IMO.

Since you majority audience here is from the States, you will need to work out some marketing spin on why we should buy from you instead of ????.

And you will have to do better than those 2 photos on this thread. I am sorry but they don't look like anything special to me. A waterproof inner sounds awfully clammy to me too. How does this actually feel in the field?

Edited by kthompson on 05/06/2012 08:28:21 MDT.

>You have to offer what nobody else in the world is.

I am. If you want to find out more, just send me a email.

"I am. If you want to find out more, just send me a email."

Any particular reason you don't want to share publicly what makes your quilts better than anyone else's? To me this comes off as a bit shady.

I dont want my ideas to leak before I launch my products. I share more details on condition that it is kept confidential.

Scepticism is good, but you must also keep a open mind.

In that case I will take your earlier advice you gave me and wait. Good luck.

Send one to the BPL staff for a review.

Huzefa,

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you or your efforts in any way. My comemnt on shipping was based on my recent personal experience with shipping prices. If you really can ship something like a quilt half way around the world for $18.00 USD, that's really great.

Best of luck.

Susan

I too suspect the shipping price for a quilt internationally is going to be a bit more than $18.

We have shipped 10-15 bivys internationally now, and even though they only weigh ~6oz, they cost $18 to ship across seas. That is in a small flat rate priority box though. If you used First Class (which I choose not to anymore, as it takes up to 4-5 weeks in some cases), the bivys were still costing $13 to ship in a small 6x6x6 box.
For a larger item like a quilt, I would suspect you'll be looking at at least $30.

Good luck with it all though, looks like you have the ambition to be successful, just need to build a reputation to get this off the ground.

Prices for shipping out of the States are actually very expensive compared to other countries, especially with the recent price hikes. I just sent a 400 g (14 oz) package to Huzefa from here in Japan to India, via 1 day express (EMS) and it only cost ¥1,100 (about $13.77 at the exchange rate, but in terms of value within the States, about $9.00)... much cheaper than what you can get in the States. So I think this evaluation of shipping costs through the US lens is distorted. Besides, most people in other countries nearly always pay more for things than in the States, so the "outrageous" prices you are seeing are considered normal elsewhere.

A 750g Air Mail parcel with signature required at the other end from Australia to the US via Australia Post will cost you $36.50 plus $9 security charge (required) so a tot of $45.50 (about $46 USD)
But of course Aussie customers think that US postal charges are high (that is the ones that don't send parcels to the US...)
Franco
http://auspost.com.au/apps/international-parcel.html

It sounds like the price differs between the same two locations depending on which one is the origin. I can't remember what I used to pay to send boxes from China and SE Asia, which I'm sure has changed in the past few years anyway.

I recently sent a sleeping bag from Honolulu to US mainland and it cost me almost $40.00 due to the size of the box. The weight listed on my receipt was over 10 lbs, which was obviusly not the actual weight of the item. The postal clerk pointed out that they bill by the size of the box as well and estimate the max weight it should hold, and that's how the rate is calculated.

Moral: Size matters. Go figure.

Indian post doesn't use dimensional weight, fortunately!

Is the website down currently? I'm not able to view it.

I just checked and its fine. Its need a lot of work, but you can preview it here:
LESSGearWorks.com

Now 4 day worldwide DHL shipping available for only $25 thanks to WorldNet Express.

I am planning to order M50 and SevenDs this weekend. Please let me know if interested so I can confirm June delivery. Orders received later will ship in July/ August.

Huzefa, I think this enterprise of yours is great, and I am excited about seeing reviews of your gear. You've been a contributor to the forums at BPL for quite a while and you have demonstrated that you have interesting and unorthodox ideas and a lot of dedication.

I also have an observation that I hope you won't misinterpret.

Some BPL members (like myself) might be a bit cautious about your products at first due to some uncertainty about your cuben down pad project in 2009. Some might remember that you introduced that project (like your current project) with great fanfare and a lot of colorful salesmanship. But, in that case, you promised a ground-breaking product before you had worked the kinks out in the design, when you had made only one untested prototype. You even "took orders" (although not payment, I think).

Then, in 2009, you disappeared. Nobody knew (until now, since your recent comment to Steve Evans), that your prototype had failed. For a year people who had been promised a pad posted to that forum, saying "where did he go?" and "I hope Huzefa is alright". You could have posted saying "Sorry everyone, it turns out that there is a design problem that I won't be able to fix right away." There may have been other reasons for your hiatus, too. But you never explained anything to them.

I think your current project is cool and promising, and I would consider ordering from you in the future. But I might wait a bit until I see that you are open and forthright with your customers and your promises are not unrealistic.

Edited by ckrusor on 05/10/2012 22:18:34 MDT.