We're in the production queue!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Sep 25, 2017 at 06:50:57 PM

Another quick update. I learned yesterday that yes, Virginia, it is possible to ship overnight from Shanghai to the DC area. I received our production prototypes yesterday afternoon and they are fantastic. I've got copies in all 3 colors plus a spare blue set, so 3 are headed to our packaging designer and photographer, and one is remaining with me for me to stare at lovingly every now and again. :-)

The action is smooth, the grip is good, and the tape spool fits well and comes off easily. All my concerns were addressed by the factory very well, and so I sent in my order for 3000 of these, 1000 each of the 3 colors. Interestingly, the colors are split almost perfectly into thirds among the Kickstarter backers & preorders so far.

Speaking of preorders...

Credit cards will be charged soon

If you added anything through Backerkit or are one of our preorder customers (not Kickstarters), then we are preparing to charge your cards. We've held off this long basically because we wanted you to know products were actually on the way. Now that production has commenced, we're ready to commit and will be charging cards around 29 September - 2 October.

Timeline

We're going to spend the time between now and completion of our production run figuring out how to get them here -- by surface (cheapest but slowest) or whether it makes sense to ship by air. Or split ship. Stay tuned for those details once we have them.

Thanks again for joining us on this adventure!

Bret and the Team 

New pictures - samples on their way
over 6 years ago – Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 09:28:16 PM

I'm going to make this quick. Our latest (last?) batch of preproduction samples are on their way from the factory. This time, the factory is sending them in all 3 colors, so I have pictures to share with you. These were taken by them, and I'll share others when they arrive. I hope these give you some idea what the colors will be like. We really wanted to avoid something too garishly red or green and think we found a nice balance.

I should have the samples early next week (Fedex says tomorrow, but I know there's no such thing as next day from Shanghai!) and will post another update then!

Love from all of us here at Wrap Buddies!

Bret and the team

Mold revision update
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 07:11:37 PM

Hi, I'm Bret, and I'm a Kickstarter Project Creator. It's been just over a month since my last update.

What's the news?

I heard from our factory today that the mold revision has taken longer than anticipated due to the complexity and scope of the work, but they expect to be done on Tuesday. They'll then ship me samples in each of our chosen colors for my review and approval.

Assuming all goes to plan from here on out, the timeline to completion looks something like this:

For those who just want "the facts, ma'am", this means we should be shipping on or about November 10. This is later than I had hoped but it should get them to you in time for your holiday wrapping this year!

I do not anticipate further delays, and have taken some extra steps to try to keep the ball moving. We have already paid our production deposit so that the factory can start work as soon as we give the word rather than waiting several days for a wire transfer to occur.

Looking Ahead

While waiting for all this magic to happen, we also just secured floor space at our first major trade show! You read it here first, we'll be at the Javits Center in Manhattan next year for the National Stationery Show, occupying booth 1546 right across from the #fresh area which features new products in the stationery world.

 

In the nearer term, I'm working hard to get Wrap Buddies listed on Amazon for the Christmas season as well. If the product arrives soon enough, we can participate in the FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) program and offer Prime shipping. Yet another reason to want the production & shipping process to go smoothly!

Thanks again for your patience and your support

You all rock. Enjoy your Labor Day in the US, and I wish a great weekend filled with whatever brings you joy.

Much love,

Bret and the Wrap Buddies Team

Tale of the Tape
over 6 years ago – Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 11:47:54 AM

So, we have our first (and, I hope, last) delay, but I'm confident our timeline will accommodate this.

What happened

I received our samples Monday. That evening, while trying to fit a roll of Scotch Magic tape straight from the box onto the tape holder, I discovered that the recess for the tape roll wasn't big enough. 

All the rolls we had tested with before worked just great. But this one didn't, and I don't want to put this in your hands with caveats like, "Don't use genuine Scotch brand tape because the rolls are too big" or "Peel off a couple mm of tape before inserting the new roll to ensure it fits properly". That's just crazy.

By Tuesday morning, our factory had a modification that would take 2 weeks to complete or they could create a completely new set of main body molds in 30 days. Despite the cost difference, we're opting for the modification. There will be some new parting lines (seams, basically, where the pieces of the molds come together) but I don't really think anyone will care that much.

So this will end up costing us 2 weeks for the mold changes, plus another week for fresh samples to make it here to Virginia for re-testing. As soon as the wire transfer for the mold work clears government regulators, we'll be moving forward again.

On the up side

Everything else about the samples tested out fine. Once we're clear of this hurdle, we should be able to quickly give a thumbs-up and start production of our first run, including all backer rewards!

New timeline

So right now, here's what I'm expecting:

July 31 - Aug 11   Mold rework

Aug 18   New samples arrive stateside

Aug 21   Place full order with factory

Aug 23   Wire transfer complete, factory begins production (anticipating 2 weeks to produce 3000 pairs, confirmed by factory)

Sep 15   Production complete and ready to ship

Sep 22   Shipment leaves factory bound for USA

Oct 27   Shipment arrives in Virginia *

Nov 6   Backer shipments dropped off at shippers (International backers will ship first to allow for extra time in transit)

* This is honestly the biggest unknown at this point, and I've tried to build in some extra slack in the schedule. The factory tells me that shipping by sea will take 30 days to reach the US and then more time to clear customs and get to us in Virginia. I can cut this time to 7-10 days, but at a (much?) higher cost, by using air shipment. As events happen, watch for status and schedule updates here.

Tell your friends!

Don't hesitate to tell your friends about Wrap Buddies. You can direct them to http://wrapbuddies.co/shop, or point them to our facebook page where they can read all about us and hit a big blue "Shop Now" button (which takes them to the same shop as the first address). There's also a pre-order button on our Kickstarter page at http://kck.st/2eixzhK.

Have a great week!

Bret and the Wrap Buddies team

Production Samples have Arrived!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Jul 24, 2017 at 10:09:06 PM

In Other News

We are currently planning to ship Kickstarter rewards without retail packaging -- I'm not sure it'll be ready in time to get these to you and imagine you'd rather have them without if it means getting them in time for your holiday wrapping.

We're also exploring having two tiers of packaging -- clear blisterpak for big box retailers, and something more organic, cute, pleasing to touch for boutique shops where presentation seems to matter more.

Samples!

Our pre-production samples arrived today. You may notice some flow lines in the photographs of these, and I've been assured by the factory that these will be corrected in the final versions. Since these were functional tests, not cosmetic, I'm not too concerned about this, and they've produced products that I've seen and own and the finish is impeccable.

The open/close action is very smooth. I'm worried that the spring tension is a little on the light side so will be asking the factory to source some stronger springs for me to compare against.

Home stretch, people! 

Bret and the Wrap Buddies team