Is someone having a laugh .....

[jonbee56]

All I can say is that there’s got to be an opportunity for us on here to make a few bob,

To answer before anyone starts asking :
1. Yes, its timber & not plastic
2. Its softwood
3. It’s also damn rough
4. 9” long x 2” wide
5. 1” diameter holes in the side & through the middle

So anyone want a Christmas present then ?

 

[NazNomad]

I think 'adventure tunnel' is where it needs shoving.

That said, your pet mice would love it.

 

[MikeG.]

OK, I'll bite.

Someone with a machine (= overheads) has had to buy the wood (or arrange for its collection) and make the holes. It's then transported to the shop at Xp per mile plus driver's time. It is then marked up to cover the retailer's costs and profit margin (that mark-up is usually 100% in my experience, so this arrived at the retailer's door worth about £1.60. £1.60 buys you about 12 minutes of someone's time at minimum wage rates).

To you and I, who can collect an off-cut and drill our own holes, this is worth precisely nothing............but unless you can add up the time you spend collecting it, cutting it, and drilling the holes and come to less than 12 minutes, then I'd say that this isn't too bad a price. To someone without a workshop I'm struggling to see how this could be produced for much less.

....Edit.......oops, forgot VAT. Take 20% out of my figures. You've got 10 minutes to make this, and transport it in and out of your premises.

 

[marcros]

I hate to be boring but it is being sold at a garden centre for 3.29, including vat. The person making it is probably getting a quid plus vat, they have to labor it, drill it, deliver it. They aren't going to be getting rich from it.

I don't know what is going to know on it, but if it suddenly does, you are going to grateful for the product liability insurance that you should have.

All in, I doubt that I could turn a profit on the supply of these even if I only paid myself minimum wage

 

[tony_s]

What is it- a sex toy or something?

 

[Tasky]

Tony_S - It's for pet mice/gerbils/hamsters to go crawling around.
Many home & garden centres have small pet shops incorporated. Not sure why, but at least I can go somewhere and have the dogs for company when the wife gets in a shopping mood!

Slightly on the pricey side, perhaps, but not bad for pet shop prices... You should see the prices on some of the wooden dog puzzles and cat climbing frames!

 

[NazNomad]

Happy Pet Products Ltd supply a whole heap of brands, 'Nature First' being just one of them.

This isn't some woodland scavenger trying to earn a crust.

''Over forty years of international pet trade experience has also earned us a well-deserved reputation as one of the most reliable and customer focused companies in the industry. We currently design and manufacture over 2,000 high quality products, which are sold and distributed to over 10,000 pet stores, online retailers, garden centres, DIY, home store, and grocery chains worldwide.''

 

[jonbee56]

MikeG,

Tend to agree with the cost analysis,

But surely even someone unskilled whatsoever with any semblance of common sense can drill a hole with their old blue Black & decker. Even the office guys & girls I know can drill a hole.
I don’t actually know anyone that wouldn’t laugh at this.

 

[Richard S]

Crack on son, if you think you can do it better, faster or cheaper feel free to have a go. But while you're snidely taking the water there's someone out there turning wood into cash.

 

[MikeG.]

.......But surely even someone unskilled whatsoever with any semblance of common sense can drill a hole with their old blue Black & decker. Even the office guys & girls I know can drill a hole........

A 1" hole through the end-grain of a 9 inch piece of wood isn't trivial, even for the reasonably skilled. It would certainly give me pause for thought. What bit am I going to use? How am I going to hold the work? Is this a job for a hand-held drill? A one inch bit biting into something, with a drill powerful enough to get through 9 inches, is a potential broken wrist.

 

[RobinBHM]

If somebody came to me asking if I would do it......Id say no. Its not easy without the right gear. A codless drill and a flat bit wont hack it.

For £3 Id buy one rather than risk burning a tool motor out, for the cost of a tall skinny machiato with double shot, hazelnut milk and yaks foam

 

[sickasapike]

Well, I actually rather like it and think it's a bargain, I'm going to buy a couple.

...sorry.. I know I've gone too far... i'll see myself out...

 

[Eric The Viking]

... For £3 Id buy one rather than risk burning a tool motor out, for the cost of a tall skinny machiato with double shot, hazelnut milk and yaks foam

Heck! Round here that's not even a single shot with Sloth froth for that price.

Yak foam? Dream on!

E.

PS:

"Please Miss, I got one of these for Henry, our hamster and he likes it very much, but he went in and now he won't come out again, can you help?

"Hamsters often sleep throug the daytime. How long has he been in there, dear?"

"Ten days, miss. Here, take a look!"

 

[andersonec]

VAT??? Can't see the 'maker' of this being in the vat bracket, and as for buying the wood, check your local tree surgeon. A five inch long auger drilled in from either end would do the job, you don't need a nine inch bit.

Andy

 

[Phil Pascoe]

''Over forty years of international pet trade experience has also earned us a well-deserved reputation as one of the most reliable and customer focused companies in the industry. We currently design and manufacture over 2,000 high quality products, which are sold and distributed to over 10,000 pet stores, online retailers, garden centres, DIY, home store, and grocery chains worldwide.''

I expect they're VAT registered.

 

[NazNomad]

A five inch long auger drilled in from either end would do the job, you don't need a nine inch bit.

''I'm not using that, the hole doesn't even line up in the middle'' - A. Hamster

 

[NazNomad]

http://www.bizdb.co.uk/filings/6e/3a/6e ... 2e95f0.pdf

They had a turnover of 8½ Million squids in 2016

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Brilliant, I'm going to make one for my daughter's gerbils for Christmas, they're going to love it.

 

[Mark A]

I think £3.29 is a very reasonable retail price, all things considered. Just think if that bit of branch had a couple of tea lights stuck on and was placed in the window of a shabby chic junk shop the price tag would have a 2 in front of it.

 

[Tasky]

I think £3.29 is a very reasonable retail price, all things considered. Just think if that bit of branch had a couple of tea lights stuck on and was placed in the window of a shabby chic junk shop the price tag would have a 2 in front of it.

Exactly - Even on my hourly wage pro rata, it'd cost more than the retail price for me to make you some of these myself.