Quote:
Originally Posted by 363
Adam,
The case is made by SKB cases (more so known for their music cases, but this model is part of their industrial line) who is a competitor with Pelican. I have access to both lines and having dealt with both this case is much better IMHO. In terms of being bulky it is a little large in comparison to the 15ct cigar caddies etc but they are fairly close to Halliburton size if memory suits me right (I may be wrong) the inside dims of this case are 9x7x4 & outside dims are slightly smaller than 11x10x5. These cases are made in the USA in Cali within 30+- miles of Pelican and are made of the same if not higher quality than Pelican. I may be slightly bias because Pelican as a company from where I sit is a sh!tty company who is only interested in the $$ and not taking care of their dealers/customers..
I am curious where you could get the foam trays from too. I know I bought some from you awhile ago that were purchased from cigar solutions but they do not carry them any more.
I have access to get both tray types made however due to $$ I am only thinking of starting with the longer trays to again accommodate more cigar variety. I figured offer more (cigar) size options over quantity at 1st and if that does well invest in getting the other trays more to offer the quantity side.  |
Thanks for the info Brendon.
I think I might have used the SKB cases before, or at least seen them up close. From what I remember, they're solid cases, no complaints there. Even though I own a number of them, I have no particular dedication or love of Pelican, it just happened to be the first brand I could think of which would work for the example I was trying to make.
It also looks like the SKB is a bit more expensive than the Pelican. I don't know if it's feasible for you to do it or not, but I think you might have an easier time selling the case if you can get closer to the Amazon price of $49.99 for one with cube foam, as an empty case (no foam) is $39.99 on Amazon. I think a lot of people are willing to pay a bit more for the convenience of having a complete product delivered to them vs putting it together themselves, so I don't know if you necessarily need to match the price, maybe just get close enough so that people don't shop your case vs Amazon and go "Dude! He's charging me $30 for custom foam?" Because, let's face it, you can just put the cigars in single or 5-finger baggies in a case with no foam.
Letting people know that these are US made cases along with all the MIL-spec standards and waterproof tests that they meet will probably also help sell the cases or at least justify the prices vs the foreign made crap.
Also, what if you were to offer them in such a way that people could pick any combination of three inserts that they wanted? Churchill, robusto or ridge foam for starters, maybe even a lancero or corona tray. Allowing this kind of personalization will help set your case apart and likely worth the slightly higher price you might charge. Plus, it puts you in the foam business as some people will order extra trays so they can kit out their traveldor appropriately to suit what they are bringing at any given time rather than being locked in to certain size trays.
I was unaware that Ron stopped selling the custom trays and I didn't look around to see if anyone else has them. So if no one else does or they are hard to locate, I guess that pretty much nixes that comment for the most part. Although, it does open up a possible market for you.
On the dimensions, the most common Halliburton used for cigars is the Cigar Ambassador case / 100C. The Cigar Ambassador is just a 100C with a liner, closed cell trays and specially cut top foam to accommodate the included humidifier and hygrometer. The Cigar Ambassador is also no longer in production (although the 100C still is). These cases are 12 x 9 x 5, almost all of which is useable space, unlike the heavy duty polycarbonate cases where you lose an inch or two on each dimension. All this being said, I don't really think the halli and your case are in competition. First off, they're not even in the same price range, a new halli 100C is about $350. Even used they tend to fetch around $150 on eBay. Looks, style, storage, all different. I switched because I got tired of the unnecessary bulk of the Pelican case I was using. It's unlikely that I would switch back to something like you are offering unless I had a very specific need for it, like boating or something like that.
I think that, ultimately, you need to offer something that sets your case apart from the rest. A virtually indestructible box is great, but realistically, how often does anyone beat up their traveldor to the point where that's an issue? Customizable options or service are where I think you might score better.