Well, we didn't have account on this forum before, but when I saw this thread, I figured this would be a good opportunity for a first post. JTKub, we're even closer than that! We grew up in Colden, if you've been in West Falls awhile it's possible you know our family, and almost certainly we're a common acquaintance away. I learned to read in that tiny West Falls library, and our parents attended St George's after the church in Colden closed.
Regarding the knock-offs, yes, unfortunately those green ones are especially frustrating. It meant someone bought our product in this country, sent it to China, where they reversed-engineered a mold from our unit and modified the front of it. As Kenny related, the front clip is so blatantly copied that the people who did the copying didn't even understand why it was made the way it was. For all the knock offs, you'll notice the images on their pages are all photoshop'd; these people don't understand the products they are selling, and haven't even done the work to put them on a tractor themselves!
We have no problem with someone, even in another country, coming up with something novel and selling it here. But this is obviously not that. There is a term in economics called "dumping", and that's what this is. Do a search on it, it's worth a few minutes of any reader's time to be educated on such things. It's effectively state-sponsored economic warfare of selling unfairly cheap goods, and the American manufacturer has little defense. For whatever reason, the tariffs don't seem to be helping, which should have defended our country from these practices.
To be clear, lest anyone think these are political statements, they aren't. They're just the facts. I did say we have little defense, but we do have some:
- We can be innovative. We invented the Edge Tamers (yes, we own the patent), and we made them to take accessories, such as the Edge Extenders, Hitch Tamer, Trash Tamer, Bucket Extender, and Poly Pads. None of the competitors have all of that.
- We can make a high quality product. We went through a lot of time and expense to make a perfect part every time, and the powder coat is top notch and each part is inspected. We don't skimp on any of the hardware.
- We can provide quality service. If you want to talk to a human, give us a call. If you have any problem whatsoever, we're here to respond. We have people call us literally years after purchase with a question or issue, and they still get serviced. That's just how we work.
Beyond that, we can't prevent much of the knock-off activity. It really comes down to the consumer and what the consumer values. If it's only the price, we will always lose. American innovation suffers, and our global competitor gets stronger. Hopefully, if you're reading this thread, you can see the value in having folks like Kenny and us around, who really do care deeply about creating new and useful products for the folks on this forum and elsewhere!
