Survey: Decreased interest in my mirrors

Goldjunge_Chriz · Dec 31, 2018, 9:37 AM

I started this thread to find out why the interest in my mirrors has decreased so much. 1-2 years ago, the interest was so great (I had several requests a day and was not able to serve all users) that I even considered buying a glass cutting machine for several thousand euros to be able to deliver the mirrors faster to you, I had considered renting a machine room and was in contact with several logistics companies to improve the logistic.

Unfortunately, the interest in the last six months has collapsed completely and I am glad that I did not make these investments. Now I want to contact you directly and ask, why is that so?

Maybe you can also give me some tips and help me to get things started again or tell me how the interest can be increased again?

I would be very happy about a lively discussion.

If the interest in the near future does not rise again, I have to stop the mirror deliveries unfortunately completely, because the effort and the other around are so no longer profitable.

Thank you for your help

Best regards
Chriz

mdhenriksen · Dec 31, 2018, 10:07 AM

Maybe due to systems like Amazon Echo and Google Home. They are very affordable and have integrated screens that can do pretty much the same as the Magic Mirrors. Sure Magic Mirrors might look better, but they are harder to maintain and limited of you can’t do upgrades to them yourself. 🤔

Cr4z33 · Dec 31, 2018, 10:41 AM

@goldjunge_chriz honestly speaking and at least imho your glass price is too expensive compared to what is ie the price of similar products (Pilkington MirroPane/MirroView or Saint-Gobain Antelio) by a local glass store.

I don’t know in Germany, but I can get here at a local industrial glass company a 130x80 cm 6mm Pilkington MirroView or a Saint-Gobain 6mm Antelio “Havana” for about € 120,00-130,00 instead of spending 400-500 for your glass (and we still need to add the shipping costs).

Not to mention that if we add the shipping cost again it becomes even more expensive, so expensive that someone might think 10 times before spending soooo much into a glass.

Please understand that I am just replying to your question and there’s no will to sound harsh. ;)

Goldjunge_Chriz · Dec 31, 2018, 1:04 PM

@cr4z33 said in Survey: Decreased interest in my mirrors:

@goldjunge_chriz honestly speaking and at least imho your glass price is too expensive compared to what is ie the price of similar products (Pilkington MirroPane/MirroView or Saint-Gobain Antelio) by a local glass store.

I don’t know in Germany, but I can get here at a local industrial glass company a 130x80 cm 6mm Pilkington MirroView or a Saint-Gobain 6mm Antelio “Havana” for about € 120,00-130,00 instead of spending 400-500 for your glass (and we still need to add the shipping costs).

Not to mention that if we add the shipping cost again it becomes even more expensive, so expensive that someone might think 10 times before spending soooo much into a glass.

Please understand that I am just replying to your question and there’s no will to sound harsh. ;)

with this size it would be 370 euros ;) Please do not forget that your said mirrors weigh about 16 kg and my mirror in the mentioned size does not even weigh 8 kg ;) just to mention one of the advantages…

Of course I can understand that, but the price I can only change very little and have little room for maneuver. It is just a very special glass that is perfectly suited with its features for our mirrors, but if the users doesn’t want to afford this anymore and would rather make a few cuts here and there, I have to stop selling just as I wrote above. That’s why I’m doing this survey here to find out if I should continue my efforts or let the sale be entirely.

Cr4z33 · Dec 31, 2018, 3:52 PM

@goldjunge_chriz just saying mate.

strawberry 3.141 · Dec 31, 2018, 4:21 PM

I think here in this forum most of the people are only active as long as they have a problem or question. As soon as the mirror is up and running the users disappear again. The users that stay active, mostly have a mirror already, so they also don’t fit in your range of customers.

MagicMirror is also not the only project of it’s kind, so it’s probably worth it to post also in other forums about your product.

I also remember that you planned once, to create a dedicated online shop for it, which in my opinion would also be more profitable for you, as a lot of people google for mirror shops and don’t look up the forum if someone is selling it there. With seo you can also attract more people that way.

yawns · Dec 31, 2018, 4:55 PM

I agree to @strawberry-3-141
The active people in here build a mirror and continue supporting the community with new modules and error handling. But most likely they won’t build lots of mirrors. Other people around the world join the forum, ask some support questions and disappear once they are happy. And I’m pretty sure there are several people being interested in this project in the beginning but lose interest with time going on or their priorities change.
I ordered a mirror in your first batch of mirrors and it still is stored in the crate you used to send it. I don’t know if I ever will create a mirror and if the mirror glass will still fit the project, as the layout in my mind evolved.
Additionaly I think people are tempted buying a real mirror glass but are afraid of the costs compared to the usability factor. Investing several hundred euros in a project you don’t know if you will really use it is a show stopper.

What happened to your plan creating a webshop? Based on your revenue you could operate it as a Kleinstunternehmer.

Goldjunge_Chriz · Dec 31, 2018, 5:14 PM

@yawns said in Survey: Decreased interest in my mirrors:

I agree to @strawberry-3-141
The active people in here build a mirror and continue supporting the community with new modules and error handling. But most likely they won’t build lots of mirrors. Other people around the world join the forum, ask some support questions and disappear once they are happy. And I’m pretty sure there are several people being interested in this project in the beginning but lose interest with time going on or their priorities change.
I ordered a mirror in your first batch of mirrors and it still is stored in the crate you used to send it. I don’t know if I ever will create a mirror and if the mirror glass will still fit the project, as the layout in my mind evolved.
Additionaly I think people are tempted buying a real mirror glass but are afraid of the costs compared to the usability factor. Investing several hundred euros in a project you don’t know if you will really use it is a show stopper.

What happened to your plan creating a webshop? Based on your revenue you could operate it as a Kleinstunternehmer.

I have already registered a “Kleinunternehmen” for the mirror sale. The idea with the webshop has died, as another user from the forum (who wanted to build this together with me) left me in the lurch. Unfortunately, I myself have no experience in creating a webshop.

yawns · Dec 31, 2018, 6:03 PM

I see, that’s bad. What kind of webshop do you need, or what kind of features? There are several free shop solutions out there. All you need is a hosting provider and a domain.
Maybe Jimdo is a starting point: https://de.jimdo.com/website/onlineshop-erstellen/

dazza120 · Dec 31, 2018, 8:41 PM

@goldjunge_chriz I’m in the UK and I just googled companies in the UK and getting it from a reputable manufacturer that I’ve heard of so I went for Pilkinton. And for the UK as if it arrived broken, damaged or not as described I would have my consumer rights and long distance selling laws that I could fall back on if things didn’t go right, have not had to use it for that glass but having the backup was piece of mind. They could also be the reasons for other people also