Normally I would not just do a post to plug a specific company, unless they had done something really outstanding (or perhaps done something really poorly), which Bose has done now, at least twice. Way back on November 26th 2008 I bought a pair of Bose TriPort In-Ear Headphones from Best Buy for around $100 including tax. At the time, they were probably the most expensive ear-bud type headphones I had purchased but looking back, it was the best money ever spent for that type of thing.
Not only do these headphones have the best sound quality of any ear bud headphones (see my product review on CNET) but Bose backs them up with a total and complete one year warranty. Big deal right, well, except for when you wear them every day in all different conditions and they don’t make it that one year.
In July 2009 the wires fried and my nice expensive headphones had lasted about 8 months. I contacted Bose and they replaced the damaged pair, for free, and in about a week I had a brand new pair of headphones. Those Bose sent me in 2009 lasted until last week with photo below, about another 8-9 months. So I emailed Bose again, thinking this time I was out of luck, and once again they offered to replace them for free. Not only that, but they even offered to upgrade the set to the mobile version with the inline mic for $29.
It seems that once you pay for something from Bose, if you use them like I do, you have a perpetual warranty.
Bose told me again that this new pair, being shipped around June 1 2010 will carry the same full one year warranty. Wow, just love when a company stands by their products. Our culture is fully immersed in the generic, low quality, disposable, product lines that flood our discount box stores, but there are still a few companies that make a high quality product, and usually the higher price is well worth paying. Of course, they also get my business beyond these headphones.
My wife has a pair of these headphones, and I also own a pair of their QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones (probably the best pair of headphones on the market for the price, see my CNET review), and their Bose On-Ear Headphones (an in-between model). Some audiophile will argue my point on sound quality, but for the price, and some are far far more expensive, Bose has found a great medium between price and quality
In this case, my high price of $100 for a pair of high quality in-ear headphones from Bose cost me about $0.08 per day if I include the new pair that are on their way. There are a couple of caveats with this of course. If your headphones last longer than a year, you are pretty much out of luck. I am probably not the most typical user of these headphones. I wear them, and have worn them, on a tractor cutting 40 acres of grass through the entire summer, in the woods, on a bike, a motorcycle, in the car, in the rain, snow, and every other imaginable condition.
Of course the negative you can take from this is that obviously, under heavy and daily use, these headphones lack a bit of durability, but as long as Bose continues to stand behind them, I’m ok with that at this point. Products today, even high quality products, anything that is mass produced, are really made for the “averages”. If you are an under-average user, you pay more and get less, and if you are an over-average user, you pay less and get more, simple as that.
Good customer service and high quality products are a hard combination to find today so I like to point it out when it comes across path. I can think of only a handful, like Apple, maybe Honda? What are some of the companies and products you have found today that have similar customer service?
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This is a followup from my previous post, Are You a Linchpin, Assignment, see also Linchpin and the Art of Photography. The easy answer to this question is, yes, of course I am a Linchpin. It’s about like asking someone if they think they have any value in this world at all. Well if they didn’t think so, they probably wouldn’t be here. The hard part about the answer is not the yes or no, but the why.
Explaining to someone why you have value is not as easy to quantify. I have value to my family because I cut the grass and hopefully bring joy to their lives, I have value to God for a variety of reasons, but can you quantify your value at work? The value we have at work is the value we create. It isn’t given to us by our boss, or written in a manual, or presented to us on a nice easy to follow map. Value is what we make of it, and how we use this creativity of ours to add value above what we are paid, because we want to, not because we are paid to do so.
I add a created value to my team, not for the tasks that are easily documented, but for the unique perspective I bring that only I have because only I have lived my life. I am a technology troubleshooter, teacher, trainer, arbitrator, writer, photographer, problem solver, and all around idea negotiator, who generally doesn’t like hard and fast rules but concepts and ideas to work with. If it can be easily explained and easily written down, anyone could do it, anyone could easily replace my value. It is the unquantifiable that makes me a Linchpin.
To me being a good editor is an art, the art of a Linchpin. I know how to edit content and copy, but I am lousy at it. No matter how many times I read something I still miss obvious grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors that leap out to a good editor, or even a fair one. We have a great editor on our team (@farrowj on Twitter) but even if you could write down exactly what she does, and if I tried to follow it, I would still be a lousy editor. I doubt she has ever written it down either.
Being a Linchpin or not is more about choice than destiny or fate. You aren’t just born a Linchpin and you are made one by your boss or customers. You are a Linchpin if you choose to become one, choose to share your unique art with others beyond what is written in a manual.
Are you a Linchpin, and if so, why?
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This is the final followup from my previous posts, Are You a Linchpin, Assignment and an upcoming post Are You a Linchpin, Answer. I took the above photo of Seth Godin back in 2009, see Tribes, We Need You To Lead Us by Seth Godin // Review, and shortly after I took that photo shoot, I gave up my art for dead. I had spent the better part of 15-17 years chiseling away at my art of photography and had felt like I was rarely valued for that art (monetarily speaking). In fact, in over 15 years of actively shooting, I probably made less than $1,200 total ($1,000 of that coming within the last 6 months of that 15 years), on an investment of probably close to $30,000 or more in equipment. With a degree in Accounting, schooled in the ways of business, that didn’t compute. Expenses always have to be less than revenue, but I was looking at it totally wrong.
Rarely does a book motivate me to make an actual change. Many books motivate me, but not enough to do anything about it. Linchpin on the other hand was one of those that just happen to light a fire under my feet and get me to look at my art in another way. Mainly, that an art is done for the sake of the artist, and those who receive his gift. I knew this from the moment I picked up a camera, but over time and many other circumstances, I had forgotten that.
Profit, something which I was always taught was a simple mathematical formula; “revenue minus expenses equals profit”, was totally rearranged in Linchpin. Godin explains profit, from the business side, as the value you, the artist, add or contribute minus the amount you are paid. Same thing really as the MBA version, but when you look at the work, as “value” it adds something more than just money, it changes everything.
A fast food worker at McDonald’s can add a wide range of value to the company, yet they are pretty much all paid the same thing, minimum wage, so there is no reason to create or add value above a certain level, but that doesn’t mean some don’t create and add value where it is not needed or appreciated. Brother Lawrence was one such person. A 17th century monk, and someone who had enormous value to add to all of society in his book of letters, spent much of his life doing dishes, as a cook. His conversations with God and letters to his friends make an incredible book, and it is free, you can read it right now, doesn’t cost you a dime.
My art of photography had created value for years. I gave it away to the wrong people, businesses and companies, and tried to charge those in my close circle. So thanks Seth, I am going to get back to the business of creating my own unique art. I don’t know how I am going to accomplish that, I have no equipment, no resources to buy any equipment, and at the moment, no clients to shoot for, but those are just details. I have going on 2 decades of knowledge in my own art, the equipment is just a tool.
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It’s official, we are no longer selling books on Amazon. For those of you who didn’t know, we have been selling books on Amazon in the Amazon Marketplace (those are the used and new books you see when Amazon is sold out or when you just want to buy the same book Amazon sells for $39.99 for $.01) for years. Yesterday we sold all our remaining inventory, some 4,000 used/new books in one large bulk sale to a buyer in Texas. For Deb and I, the books had become (as Andy Stanley put it last week) the old sofa that no one wants to get rid of because it has always been there.
We started selling book on Amazon at the same time we were full time eBay sellers (eBay lost out as a viable place to sell as a business long long before Amazon) back in 2005, and sold full time on Amazon in 2006-2008, and it was some of the hardest work, most laborious, and in the end least profit making work I can ever recall doing in my life. It came at a time when Deb and I needed to work from home, needed and wanted to work together, and many blessings came our way over those years of selling books online.
Over our selling life on Amazon, we sold over 9,000 books at a retail price of $65,000 (that’s not as much as it sounds when you divide by 3 years and then start thinking profit margins), kept a high feedback rating, and learned a lot about hard work and to appreciate what we were given. Not much different than what we gained and learned from our previous businesses we started and ran together, except that this particular one took over our entire house top to bottom.
After running several small businesses over the past 10-12 years I have come to understand that each business or product has a defined life cycle, especially when you are running very small self made businesses. Products come in and out, jobs, customers, and life in general, has a lifespan or timeframe where some things work well. The key is to know when it is time to move on and get rid of the old sofa. For the books, yesterday was that day, and we were both thrilled. There were many many reasons, but knowing it was indeed the right time to let it go was a good feeling.
Anyone that wants to know the inner workings of selling on eBay or Amazon feel free to drop me an email. Combined I think we have about 12-15 years experience selling on both platforms and we lived and breathed eBay and Amazon, so we do know our way around. We certainly know how to get in trouble with big brother, and how to survive when the rules get changed (and they always do).
Our online selling life was great, and really is always something we think about no matter what we are working on or doing. In those years, we managed to:
- work together 24/7, netting 20,800 more hours spent together
- fought off fraud
- and copyright infringement issues
- fended off domain landsharks
- had $300,000 in sales without making a profit
- sold alongside corrupt competition
- continually fought customer theft
- avoided a few lawsuits
- didn’t sue a few times when we could have
- were falsely accused of anything and everything
- Witnessed to many (I hope)
- were praised and awarded
- ridiculed
- made some great friendships
- ate at a huge unknown number of restaurants
- filed for our own patents and trademarks
- never clocked in once
- travel to every state in the country
- live in a bus, apartment, house, tent, campground
- lived in Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Alabama (and many others)
- filled approximately 250,000 orders
- counted approximately 2 million crystals
- imported products from Austria
- invented our own products
- worked for a competitor
- took 50,000 product images
- went through about 30 computers
- used miles and miles of tape, boxes, and packaging
- cried, laughed, bled, and cherished every second
Thankfully for us, now, we have both moved on to a new chapter in our lives together and it doesn’t look like there will be much online selling involved, and that’s a good thing, because I am exahusted.
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I was sent this (the info not the cake) from Deb this morning and I just had to do a blog post about it. For any of those spouses of photographers, especially those Nikon freaks, it is time to step up to the plate and buy him or her that cherished Nikon D700 Birthday Cake. This thing is a replica of a Nikon D700 DSLR camera body with a carrot cake and vanilla buttercream (see Surprise Camera Birthday Cake and Camera Birthday Cake) insides. The attention to detail is wild but it sounds delicious too.
What was even more funny about the cake was the party was Maggiano’s restaurant in Bridgewater, NJ, one of my hometowns for more than some 4 years growing up. I would love to see some photos from the birthday party if any were uploaded to flickr. In the mean time, check out these awesome photos of the Nikon DSLR and NIkon D700 DSLR birthday cakes. I didn’t see how much these cakes cost, but I am fairly certain they won’t put you back the $3,000 that the Nikon D700 costs and it looks far more tasty.
Thanks to Pink Cake Box for the cake images. I love seeing businesses go out of their way to help their customers and the likeness of the D700 is just incredible. I am still finishing up Tribes by Seth Godin and he talks a lot about building a following like Pink Cake Box seems to have done with their masterpieces of sugar and flour. I spend a lot of time with my D700 and the likeness is great. Check them out if you are in the market for a wild looking cake.
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Some times we go through our days gripping and complaining about this and that. Even though we know it is an unproductive and “ugly” quality, sometimes the day just gets the better of us. Yesterday, I was having one of those harder days of the week, and then I got this email.
Dear islandzephyr,
Hello, i would like to send you some more money for shipping and supplies and shipping insurance if possible, I would much rather you pack it well and i dont think 10.00 would cover that, I want to paypal you an extra 20.00. thanks paul
This may not seem like a whole lot to some of you who don’t go through the daily packaging and processing of orders, but in 15 years of doing business on the Internet, this is the first time anyone has ever sent an email like that to me. I have even had people complain about shipping when it was free, but not like this. My standard customer seems to be related to one of my previous rants, called The Complaining Christian Can Leave where we tend to get nickel and dimed to death over petty issues. Not this time.
It just reminded me of how something very short, and positive, can change the whole outlook of a day, and this goes both ways. It had nothing to do with the money, it was just the caring of the other individual. Thanks Paul for showing me another side of who our customers are, a stark contrast to the buyers described in my other article.
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I really don’t like to do any sort of “non-positive” post, but sometimes it is just to much. I would love to have someone chime in below and hear their opinion after you read my rant, BUT, if you do not want to read a critical article on our faith, just skip this one and check out Blogger Small Group, James 2, for a less irritating post. My wife and I have been earning a living on the Internet for the last 15 years (current Amazon, see our Amazon store here, and our Amazon feedback here), so I can say with some confidence that we have had many thousands and thousands of customers over the years, and one group always seems to stand out to me. The Complaining Christian.
The Lost are Easier to Deal With, Really
I am not talking about some garage sale, few customers a week thing. We had over 10,000 individual feedbacks on eBay (meaning we shipped over 100,000 orders), and we currently work with about 100-200 new customers a week on Amazon. With this said, the most difficult customers, most complaining, disgruntled, and overall unhappy people turn out in the end to be Christians. WHY? I don’t get it, but I can tell you, I don’t want your business.
Inevitably after dealing with an unhappy customer I find out they are fellow Brothers or Sisters, and it is always over something really petty. And I am sorry to say, you homeschool moms buying A Beka books on Amazon, you top the list. (I have my own theory on the homeschool book issue but can’t get into that now.)
One Recent Classic eBay Example
The most recent was an eBay customer that was not happy with the selection of VHS tapes we shipped to her. I am not going to try the case here, but we always try to list as accurate a description as possible, and she received exactly what we said, then filed a credit card claim against us for shipping something “materially different”.
Usually this happens when someone doesn’t take the time to actually READ what they are bidding on, but the bidder will never admit to this no matter what, and then the ensuing emails begin.
After emails back and forth, with her accusing us of running an eBay fraud scam, purposely misleading bidders, and misrepresentation of everything, this was her final email to me, and the one that finally told me what I expected all along, she was a Christian (the CAPS are hers, not mine).
I HAVEN’T FILE A CLAIM AGAINST YOU I JUST TYPE WHAT I HAD TO SAY TO U AND I’M NOT A THIEF YOU KNOW WHAT I’M NOT GOING TO FUSS WITH YOU I’M GOING TO LET GOD DEAL WITH YOU AND LIKE YOU SAY OVER SOME LOUSY TAPES I JUST SAID I WOULD NEVER BUY ANYTHING ELSE FROM YOU U HAVE A GREAT LIFE ROBBING PEOPLE BUT REMEBER GOD IS WATCHING YOU
Nice. I hope God is watching me actually, thanks. Did I mention this was over a final bid of $10.51. This is a typical response I get from a fellow Believer when they don’t like the outcome. Yet, some of the nicest and easiest people to deal with are the lost. When this conversation first started, from the very first email, I told my wife, yep, here is a fellow Believer, guarantee it, you watch.
We are NOT in Business to Rip You Off
If you think I am ranting about some isolated incident, think again. Overall, our customers are happy. We kept a 100% positive feedback rating on eBay, and Amazon goes around 99%-97% (different system), so overall, our customers are generally pleased with the transactions.
But, there are always unhappy customers in business, no matter what you do. I have many that stand out in my mind over the last 15 years, and for one reason or another, what was most irritating about it is they were Christians. Over the years (keep in mind our products are generally under about $10/order), the complaining Christian has threaten to sue me, file fraud charges, contact the police, and overall rant about how we are just in business to “rip people off”.
I am going to write a piece in my business blog about the “rip people off” syndrome, but I had to personally address the Christian aspect of the topic, simply because it shouldn’t be this way.
We Should Not Be So Quick To Judge or Condemn
I say this for myself, not just the Complaining Christian. Should we not try to follow the example given out in Mathew 7:1-3. In business, I try to deal with people exactly how I expect to be dealt with, in a fair manner, with some expectation of intelligence on the part of the buyer (it’s assumed on the sellers part, to me).
I same “some”, meaning a basic level of understand of what you are doing at its most basic level when buying something on the Internet, like how to read and how the post office ships (i.e., we are not the post office).
1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
We have not operated a business for more than 15 years just so we can steal from people. What this lady from today doesn’t realize is that most of what we sell on eBay right now goes to benefit a local missions store in town. But I shouldn’t have to explain this to her either, it shouldn’t matter, she should have the same response either way.
You Don’t Represent Me or My Faith
What I hate about the Complaining Christian is that they are examples of my faith as a whole body of Believers. We should be the happy-go-lucky people. We have the knowledge of the Truth. We should remember we are representing our faith to all those who see, and we don’t always know who those people will be. For the last 15 years this is something I have not figured out in business on the Internet. Why the Complaining Christian exists in the first place. Please, lets not be the Complaining Christian (TCC, I am going to deam it as). There are better ways to spend our days, our time, our money, our mental capacity.
There are certainly better ways for us as Believers to be effective witnesses?
PLEASE, chime in below and let me hear your comments on the subject.
