Thread: A marketing question -

I store my measuring gear in wooden drawers I made from pine and ply, I prefer wood for this because I impregnate the wood inside with oil and then lay carpet on the bottom also oiled up. The remainder of my tools are mostly stored in metal toolboxes with oily carpet as a base. I think it would very much be a niche market, not so much for people who hang out on this forum as they, or at least I, enjoy making stuff, wood, steel, plastic, doesn't matter. I think the niche would be more for the part time shedder rather than forumites. Selling is directly linked to advertising, advertise and there will always be some part of the market that simply cannot live without it.

Storage options are like tools, you can never have too many to choose from!

Patents are a waste of time and more importantly money unless you have got very deep pockets to defend them with, big companies use them because they have the resources to defend them legally. I have some experience and been at the wrong end of patent infringement so take that for what it is worth. Apart from that the pricing you are looking at is way too high and won't fly IMO. A drawer 600mm square will require 1.2 metres of material at $30/metre which is clearly not economic. Look at the cost price to you and add enough margin to sell it at the price you would be happy to pay. With most products there is a psychological barrier that most people object to going over and you have to assess and decide where it is. Put yourself in the position of having to watch the pennies and look very hard at the price that way. Best of luck with it, I am in the middle of a similar project.

I would think selling online would be the way to go, you just need a good way make people aware the product is out there. From the description given. I think it is a product i would consider. I can pretty definatly say this isnt something my friends would buy. My circle of friends and i are in our mid 20's and I'm the only one who spends spare time fixing and making stuff. hope that helps.

I would not buy it but then I am a cabinet maker and making draws is second nature to me, I think the cost would have to come down
most people these days wan't something for nothing, just look at the rubbish IKEA manage to sell

Would the extrusion section profile be the same for the sides as for the fronts & backs? How would they be cut and joined? Is it saving time or money or is it physically/functionally superior in some way? Is it saving enough time (or do I need/care enough about its superior properties/function) to pay more for it than the alternative option(s). These days if I have to think too hard about a convenience product I tend to just move on. It may be that I don't understand what you are really offering and that you just need to present your idea in a way I can understand. I am a disorganised person who needs more drawers. I couldn't see myself making a drawer less than about 40mm in height and at that height I would probably use BB runners or plain wood in a routed channel so you would have to interrupt me buying the runners with your idea which would have to be clearly cheaper or faster or better. Hope it's helpful, good luck.