Call to Action - Go and buy something from the TB website

[Perseffect]

Let me explain. I’m no businessman but I’ve been listening a lot recently to businesses large and small, saying that their biggest concern is the welfare of their staff, closely followed by having enough cash to keep their business afloat. And for clarity, I don’t mean physical cash, I just mean money coming in the door (credit card payments etc).

Being UK based, I usually think twice about purchasing from the website waiting for the perfect colour combination before spending my money (with shipping, taxes and a terrible exchange rate a $300 bag cost me a lot more). Or I wait until several different items I want are all in stock to combine shipping.

I read on their blog that they are ramping down production to help their staff stay safe but are still shipping orders. That's great but it means people like me are making less orders as the exact combination of items or colours is not going to be available for a while.

I’ve been a TB customer for about 7 years now and have bought a lot of items several times over trying to find the right combination of colours and recently its been a bit of a wake up call that it really doesn’t matter what colour it is. It times of abundance, we can be picky about colours, but not in times of scarcity. And in the grand scheme of things, the right colour combo is just not that important; I’ve really woken up to that fact over the past few weeks.

Back to TB. What they would really appreciate from you right now I’m sure, is continued orders. Turning already produced items in stock into cash. So if you are on the fence about a Synik or a Western Flyer (awesome bag, everyone should have one) or any other pouch or accessory. My ask is that you go and buy it now and if its not in the exact colour you want, the fact is, they all look great.

Buy what's in stock and help the company generate some cash to see them through this tough time.

I know purchasing items may not be on your mind at the moment as you think about your family and friends. I wish you all well and if you happen to be thinking about supporting small businesses, now is the time to make some orders; TB or any other company you admire.

Note: Those that know TB will know that they didn’t ask me to write this. So for clarity, this is my own opinion and I have no affiliation to TB other than being a raving fan!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KmK]

Does anyone have a sense whether it is more helpful to buy down current stock or to buy a gift certificate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kkintea]

Does anyone have a sense whether it is more helpful to buy down current stock or to buy a gift certificate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I directly asked whether to order or not because of the crew of few post and the reply was we would welcome your order. It didn’t occur to me to do a gift certificate. Normally I take heat for ordering but in this case my partner was like get something for me too, let’s support small business. I had some fun picking things out and it was a lovely distraction.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[darknova306]

Perseffect Well said! It's a tough time for all small businesses. Here in New York State all non-essential businesses are shut down, so it's gonna get ugly for a lot of people fast. I'm lucky enough to have my paycheck for the time being, as is my girlfriend, so I may finally pull the trigger on that Seapine Green HTL1 I've been eyeballing for a while.

I love supporting small companies that treat their workers fairly and produce high quality stuff. If anyone's been on the fence about any of these bags and still has a paycheck and disposable income, now would be a great time to nudge yourself over that fence

[darknova306]

Also, yes, Perseffect is right: everyone needs a Western Flyer! It's also one of the only bags left that's available in beautiful Nordic

[b1gsky]

Also, yes, Perseffect is right: everyone needs a Western Flyer! It's also one of the only bags left that's available in beautiful Nordic

I’ve been thinking about that Nordic Western Flyer... Or about trying the Parental Unit. I’m also a big Original Halcyon fan. I could still adjust my order since it’s the weekend, but I’m not sure I should. There were so many great bags in the making that I really want to buy too (MCB in Ursa, the smaller Shadow Guide and the sling bag).

[kmw]

Along similar lines -- though happy to move this if you think it too far afield, Perseffect -- I was wondering if maybe it's possible or worth considering, Darcy, to perhaps set up pre-orders for things that will be available eventually in future to help with cash flow now?

I imagine any number of regular, non-forumy folks wouldn't feel comfortable buying just anything available simply because it's there, but there could be people who might be willing to pre-order certain things of specific interest that aren't yet available but would be eventually -- such as, say, a Solaris Cubelet (which is listed online as in production -- one of my wishes!) or a Solaris Large Travel Tray (which is not, but I'd hope would happen eventually).

Doing so wouldn't be possible for every single item in every single color, of course, but perhaps it could work with certain colors or items for which interest is generally high -- such as Solaris or the eventual Sitka, for example. And it could kill two birds with one stone: increase cash flow now while also gauging interest and helping with approximate scheduling production for certain items later.

Obviously the exact timelines would be completely unknown at present, but if you're painfully upfront about the fact that you have no idea when the items would actually be made and shipped (and absolute candor has always been the TB way!), there's bound to be folks who would be happy to reserve an item of interest now without much care as to exactly when it materializes, even if it doesn't happen until (worst case) next year. That's how Kickstarters and IndieGoGos work, after all: pay now, get the thing eventually.

There's always the gift card route otherwise, but I'm not sure how many folks would think of that or realized they even exist -- and truth be told, until someone else mentioned it, I hadn't remembered them either. But I wonder whether I can't be the only person who would gladly pay you today for a hamburger whenever.

[nsh]

Yes! Great points everyone! I didn’t need anything but I love my shepherd’s wool cloth and ordered a purple one yesterday evening to show my love and support for all that the TB folks do!

[moriond]

Does anyone have a sense whether it is more helpful to buy down current stock or to buy a gift certificate?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe both, if you’re buying items that you were planning to get sometime. There are a lot of great new colors/fabrics out there, and it always helps them to get a sense of what colors and combinations are really popular. There are also always a lot of small items that don’t make it into people’s awareness before orders go out, like the Coyote Strap Keepers that were part of @pammy’s posted request in the Want to help us test a Strap Keeper design? thread. Although these were announced by Darcy in the middle of a thread that mentioned plans for new colors (like the Solaris and Coyote Halcyon, with Sitka later in the year), I’ll bet that a lot of people missed that mention — and these are great for the new Guide’s Edition Syniks and Synapses that just shipped out. New customers probably won’t be aware of these as an option, or how great these can be, or that they’re available in colors to match the Coyote webbing.

For a long time the 50% Recycled Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches were out of stock. There’s a full complement now, and for anyone who has been curious about sampling the colors (Logic Blue, Seapine, and Nebulous Grey) along with a chance to feel the lovely hand of the fabric, this is a good way to do it. Or try the Color Zipper Gost Whale Organizer Pouches.

The Swivel Double Carabiners are both colorful and useful; I really like the new small size, especially for use in my Handy Little Things.

moriond

[oncojeans]

Completely echo your sentiments Perseffect. I too am UK based, and have bought >$1000 worth of stuff from TB in the last month. I am a regular traveller, and there are still lots of additional things that I would like to add to my collection, so I will be buying more. As an aside, the UPS and customs charges are a significant consideration, so if any other Brits are interested in pooling orders to share shipping costs, I'd be happy to co-ordinate. I'm central London based so am happy to distribute using local postal service if it would help.

[Darcy]

I’ve typed four different sentences but I just can’t really find words that can explain how much this means to us. Today is already going to be a good day because I woke up, made coffee, got on my laptop and read this.

I’m personally making purchases right now from small businesses that I value. I know that not all of us are able to do that right now for various reasons (there have been many times in my life when I wouldn’t have been able to) and what I’m seeing overall is this: each of us has something important and unique to offer. It might be a kind word, an idea, a purchase, a photo — and a bunch of other things I can’t even think of right now because those are someone else’s unique contributions. Each of these contributions is important. I checked our email inbox yesterday and saw someone had sent us an email just to share a photo of their bag on a hike: I haven’t even gotten a chance to respond but that photo made a big difference in how my afternoon ended up feeling.

Ideas like putting up some new pre-orders — that’s a great way to help us. Share any and all ideas you have for us — what would be valuable, or helpful, to you that we could offer in the coming months? New designs? Pre-orders? Pouch-of-the-month? More mitten challenge videos? Blog posts? Share anything that comes to you — when we brainstorm here at work, we have a ton of ideas that don’t go anywhere, but there’s always a few ideas that turn out to be just what we needed. I will tell you there *are* new designs we’re actively finishing up that we could offer sooner rather than later.

[Skirata44]

Ideas like putting up some new pre-orders — that’s a great way to help us. Share any and all ideas you have for us — what would be valuable, or helpful, to you that we could offer in the coming months? New designs? Pre-orders? Pouch-of-the-month? More mitten challenge videos? Blog posts? Share anything that comes to you — when we brainstorm here at work, we have a ton of ideas that don’t go anywhere, but there’s always a few ideas that turn out to be just what we needed. I will tell you there *are* new designs we’re actively finishing up that we could offer sooner rather than later.

I don't know about everyone else, but I personally absolutely loved the Trinity thread where you kind of shared some details about the bag and your design process. In fact, that thread was probably the main reason why I bought a gift certificate a few days ago-it's kind of like a "down payment" on when the bag is eventually put up for sale, hopefully. Personally, I'd love to see the new designs. Doesn't even need to be the Trinity, (although pictures of that would be *awesome* ) I just really like seeing what you guys are coming up with. And if those new designs are put up for pre-order, that's even better.

[G42]

All of the above Darcy, all of the above

I think that especially since this is going to be a 'long haul', spacing things/ideas out over time would be good. Gives everyone things to look forward to and keeps our regular engagement here together on positives.
I'm going to go start my flower thread right now...

[b1gsky]

I personally would put in a pre-order for the smaller Shadow Guide if you can share a bit more information on it. I think a lot of people would pre-order if they had enough information on a bag, especially people who already own some of your bags and know about the quality. I know that it won’t be possible to get as much information as with other pre-orders in the past, so no pictures of finished bags, videos and reviews. But if you can share some bag drawings maybe, along with rough informations about size/weight/fabrics and special features and how they work? Maybe say something about which kind of other TB bags or organizers should fit so people can get an idea about bag or pocket size. With that kind of information I would totally be ready to put in a pre-order on a bag I’ve been waiting for. Even if I might only get it at the end of the year.

There was the talk about Bihn Labs - I’m not sure what exactly you had planned for that, but maybe you can bring that to life now and use it for things like those I described above while regular production is closed.

I would also be happy to receive more content about bag hacks, maybe how to create fancy zipper pulls, something people can do with the bags they already have at home. Definitely more funny videos like the one with the mittens! I think we will all need some cheering up in the coming weeks.

[autolycus]

Darcy, based on some of the responses here, I have thought of another revenue source for you: charge $5 for a sneak peek at a new bag design. After the person pays, they get a photo or two, with a digital signature that allows you to trace if someone leaks it to others.

LOL, no, not really. But I like the idea of allowing people to contribute to buying masks or other PPE for healthcare workers. And you could give a sneak peek as a reward for people who contribute a certain amount.