I don't understand why...

[Shavely Manden]

...Vulfix doesn't get the hint. I mean, we're all quite disappointed by their decision not to make any more custom Simpson's brushes. But the custom brushes they have made seem to have done pretty well, at least in our community. Everyone seems to love their Eagles, we're looking forward to the Douglas, and I haven't heard complaints about the Ehsan. You'd think they'd take the hint--shavers like X, shavers ask for X, we should give them X.

Semogue, for instance, took its '09LE, modified the things that were causing complaints, and rolled it out into regular production in the SOC. And people love the SOC.

I'm just not sure what kind of business sense dictates that you should ignore your core market. If I were a Vulfix exec, I'd be seeing this as a test market, not as, evidently, something to be stopped.

 

[Ignatius]

I'm just not sure what kind of business sense dictates that you should ignore your core market.

The British one; work is something to do before you have your tea. Profits are sort of vulgar, you know?

 

[RCC]

The British one; work is something to do before you have your tea. Profits are sort of vulgar, you know?

good point

 

[SliceOfLife]

I love you like I do. Nobody in the World can get along with you.



Sorry... couldn't help myself.


This is a niche market. We're a Niche inside that Niche. A Niche cubed. Not much money in catering to us. I think the SOC brush got made mostly because Leon asked them really, really nicely and not as a big profit seeking venture.


edit: Also, wasn't the Eagle G3 the only group custom Simpson had done? (Or do others predate me? I thought Kent was the maker of all previous Custom brushes.) I doubt that there's enough instances of it being done for an exec to draw the pattern and realize B&B as a source for R&D.

 

[mcandre]

+1

I'm sure if you placed an order for 500 brushes they'd be happy to do it.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

The shaving brush has not quite gone the way of the buggy whip but there is not a huge demand. It would be interesting to find out the number of units/pieces sold among the higher end shaving brush makers on an annual basis.

 

[Shavely Manden]

The shaving brush has not quite gone the way of the buggy whip but there is not a huge demand. It would be interesting to find out the number of units/pieces sold among the higher end shaving brush makers on an annual basis.

That's why I'd suspect that our little community would be a reasonable test market...surely it's not that high-volume an industry in the first place, especially if they can afford to hand-turn the handles and hand-tie the knots in a first-world country.

edit: Also, wasn't the Eagle G3 the only group custom Simpson had done? (Or do others predate me? I thought Kent was the maker of all previous Custom brushes.) I doubt that there's enough instances of it being done for an exec to draw the pattern and realize B&B as a source for R&D.

I think the Eagle was the only custom for a B&B group buy, but Simpson's has done other custom brushes for Bullgoose that were pretty clearly aimed at B&B (and people like us). It seems like if there's enough for Vulfix to change policy to ban custom brushes, there'd be enough for them to notice the custom brushes were selling.

 

[Simpson Shaving Brushes]

Fear not gents, our website will soon be carrying limited edition custom made Simpson brushes ...

In the meantime, if anyone has a specific brush in mind, please feel free to contact either myself or Brett for a price.

We aim to please, after tea & cake of course ...

Regards,

Mark

 

[andrew98]

Are there really any "execs" in the Vulfix skyscraper? Sorry, but I'm imagining a boardroom a la Hudsucker Proxy, and it's making me laugh.

-Andy

 

[kooshman7]

Good to hear something back from Simpson on this Mark! And I guess I'll have to keep an eye on the website as well.

 

[Drubbing]

The British one; work is something to do before you have your tea. Profits are sort of vulgar, you know?

As a long lapsed Lancastrian born at 'Boundary park', the importance of tea should not be underestimated.

Got to to feed those stereotypes.

 

[BladeRunner001]

Are there really any "execs" in the Vulfix skyscraper? Sorry, but I'm imagining a boardroom a la Hudsucker Proxy, and it's making me laugh.

-Andy

That's too funny Andy...that's almost the same image I had in mind.

 

[tinker]

Are there really any "execs" in the Vulfix skyscraper? Sorry, but I'm imagining a boardroom a la Hudsucker Proxy, and it's making me laugh.

-Andy

They dont come any higher than the gentleman (Mark) who replied from Vulfix,,,hes the Managing Director and a very active one.
tinker

 

[JPDyson]

Fear not gents, our website will soon be carrying limited edition custom made Simpson brushes ...

In the meantime, if anyone has a specific brush in mind, please feel free to contact either myself or Brett for a price.

We aim to please, after tea & cake of course ...

Regards,

Mark

Well played, sir. You've done nothing less than inspire dreams with this.

 

[talibeard]

We aim to please, after tea & cake of course ...

You gotta love the British sense of humour!

 

[Shavely Manden]

Fear not gents, our website will soon be carrying limited edition custom made Simpson brushes ...

In the meantime, if anyone has a specific brush in mind, please feel free to contact either myself or Brett for a price.

We aim to please, after tea & cake of course ...

Regards,

Mark

My apologies for the harsh tone of my original post...seems I was wrong about you ignoring us! I wouldn't care so much if I didn't love my Simpson. (And plan on acquiring more!)

 

[huntmol]

Great news to hear that from Simpsons! I am looking forward to seeing more custom Simpsons brushes!

 

[RCC]

Fear not gents, our website will soon be carrying limited edition custom made Simpson brushes ...

In the meantime, if anyone has a specific brush in mind, please feel free to contact either myself or Brett for a price.

We aim to please, after tea & cake of course ...

Regards,

Mark

I'm impressed.
Simpson's @ B&B replying in a thread.
awesome.

 

[Elmfuzz]

I guess with such high quality products that last so long, catering to a niche market is almost shooting yourself in the foot. Giving them exactly what they want won't get you any more sales, so you make a great product that keeps people looking for perfection.
But then, I could just be synical

 

[andrew98]

They dont come any higher than the gentleman (Mark) who replied from Vulfix,,,hes the Managing Director and a very active one.
tinker

I know. I was joking, since all these brush manufacturers are rather small outfits. When I see the term "execs," I think Wall Street and Fortune 500. Some people expect these brush companies to behave like that (not trying to pick on the OP... just having a bit of a laugh). I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Vulfix/Simpson customer service and response, btw.

-Andy