I have gotten to the point where the arthritis in my hands make it difficult for me to continue making my reproduction "Trash Can" Condensers. I have talked to my partner (who is not a car guy) and he has agreed to take over the assembly operation for an additional $20 per unit. That would result in a price increase to $70 for Alliance Members and $80 to regular members. I know this is a lot, but material costs have increased greatly since I started doing this and there is a lot of hand work involved. Either that, or I could just shut down the operation for good. Your opinions are valued.
As ever, prices keep increasing, sometimes quicker than other times. Good quality items will always have their market and their price. Nobody is building 32´s or Hemi´s because they are cheap. In my business I´d rather get a complaint about us being too expensive than one about our quality or service being bad. It takes what it takes.
I agree, with any business there comes a time when you can no longer absorb price increases and have to pass them along to the customer, it's just the cost of doing business. HRP "The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten"
Evidently your product works well or customers would be buying from your foreign competition. I would rather buy from a reputable source such as yourself. Is there someone younger who could step in and do the assembly and would they do the work to your standard of quality?
My partner is the electronics brain behind this, and he is going to do the assembly. He is retired, but does contract engineering on the side, and, unfortunately, he likes to be paid for his time. He is eminently qualified. as he helped develop these.
Nothing wrong with being paid for time spent working. Your partner is evidently well educated and education is expensive. I get so irritated by people who come to me with something to be welded that they've already screwed up. After the time I spend cleaning all the garbage welds off their part just to get to the 5 minutes of actual welding, they act like I'm taking the food out of their children's mouths when I tell them what it is going to cost.
Doing a quick mental breakdown, that is a rather cheap hourly rate. No increase in price is unjust if it has sound reason; we hardly sit here and complain about the CEO of your firm wanting to buy a new yacht every year, or at least have the current one platinum plated... You vend sound cause. Most other times I have heard this, it's because manufacturing has been outsourced offshore and the additional cost is just profit margin padding. Phil
You know, I had never thought of it that way, but you do have a valid point. I started out calling them "Big Brass Condensers" but the guys that are interested in these quickly switched to the vernacular from back in the day. Sadly, I think I'm stuck with it now.
A large brass condenser originally made by Mallory Ignitions for use on their dual point distributors. They were mounted externally of the side of the distributor body, since the second set of points took up the space where a regular condenser would usually go under the cap. Because of the rim around the top, they resembled miniature trash cans, thus the name. They were high quality, and looked "right" mounted out there. Being brass, they could be polished up for even more eye appeal. They have not been made for 50 years, and most examples still around are usually seriously cracked. Here's a couple of my repops mounted on a WH Dual Coil for an Olds Rocket (courtesy of @bchctybob). It sure looks good, don't it!
I sure like the ones I got from you, and I would hate to see them discontinued. I suspect that a big percentage of HAMB guys feel the same way. Price is reasonable given that they are hand built to high standards, rather than spit out of an offshore factory at a rate of one per second. A fellow in our neighborhood had a backyard operation building small keypad safes. He oversaw the operation, but the 4 employees were all Boy Scouts that he trained to work slow, and pay attention to workmanship. One of them was my son, who got valuable experience in doing a job right the first time. He went on to get a Masters degree in fisheries biology, and still pays meticulous attention to everything he does. Maybe you could find a local high school kid to train. A current day "Rosie the Riveter"? Their fingers work better than guys our age, and as long as you oversaw the work to insure the continued quality it might be something to check into. Granted, most kids nowadays would rather look at a colorful screen than a soldering iron and brass tubing, but there are still those out there who are malleable enough to instill in them a good work ethic.
I'm in agreement with raising the price as needed. In my business, prices I'm paying are going up all the time now. Don't have any control over that, so prices change. Looks like a good product. Good luck.
I usually agree with hotrodjack, but I have to say that the name was what made me look at this thread. Its also unique enough to stick in someones mind. Like "badshifter", I had never heard of them till today. I'd just raise the price and see if people still buy them............ They look really well made and the kind of thing the nostalgia guys would pay to get.
How about referring to these as a CANdenser? (Works where others can't.) Or maybe call them a "Brass Can" condenser instead of a trash can?
You're the expert on what an item you make is worth, because you know what you have in it. There exists an odd dynamic in buyers. If you price your "trash cans" low for the bottom feeders, they will conclude that you sold them a cheap product and have no appreciation for it. But the buyers who accept the cost increase will appreciate the trash cans all the more and will look on them with pride and warm fuzzies every time they peek in the engine compartment. Most of my items in my swap meet booth are created or worked over by myself. I factor that into how I set a price. I've had a small banner made to help folks identify for themselves whether they are among the sheep or the goats.
The guys who want them know them as "Trash Can". The name is actually a selling point. I would think that if those same guys cared enough to get the correct look, they would be willing to step up and pay the new price. If I hadn't started collecting Mallory distributors and parts 30 years ago when you could still find them, I know I'd be a buyer even at the new price. About all you can do is raise the price and see what the market will bear.
Your price increase won't even keep up with inflation. You could call them "Big Ballsy Brass Condensers", and I'll be buying two for my dual coil ignition sometime in the future.
1. I also would have never opened this thread had "trash can condenser" not been in the title. 2. If you decide to cease operations I'd like to get two of them before you do. Do these things ever go bad? I mean from age; not your workmanship. If they do maybe I need to get three.
I would not have an issue paying 70 for one of those if I needed one. It is all relative. IMHO they are a quality piece and well worth the cost. I mean really, look at the junk that is out there today, Glad you will keep making them.
I'm not in the market to buy them so I won't vote, but most prices go up and people are used to that. I'd guess that people buying them for $50-60 now would still buy them for 20 more tomorrow. If you don't really have any competition and the product is good people will have to buy from you or find an alternate solution that may not look as work as good. There's always the people who won't buy anything but the cheapest available, but those probably didn't buy anything from you at the present price so an increase will just keep them at the steady level of zero purchases.
I started selling these in 2016 in response from numerous folks who wanted them. I had developed them for myself because the originals were no longer available, and nothing looks worse that a FLAPS condenser hanging off the body of a Mallory dual point. Since then, I have sold over 400 of these without a single proven failure. I do have one back that is "suspect", but I will be running it on my '51 to see what is really going on. (It has passed all of our regular tests with flying colors.) We have made significant cosmetic improvements over the last 7 years, but the basic functionality has remained at the same high level since Day One. Can you imagine the WH DuCoil pictured with a couple of genrric NAPA condensers hanging off of it? I know I can't.
I liked em so much that I wanted some.......and I don't even have a Mallory Distributor. Wonder (since I'm electrically challenged), would these work on other old distributors? Might be an even bigger market out there.
Hmm...I have been thinking about running a dual point again in my near future, so would be willing to pay the new price if that happens. Seems at least from the small sampling here, there would still be market for these at the $20 additional cost. I agree that I would rather pay for quality than fight junk chinesium anything.
Actually, these have proved very reliable and work well with any points ignition system. When we were kids in the '50's, we'd buy 'em and run them on our stock distributors just for the looks. These are rated at .22 microfarads which is just right for most modern coils. As said, they look impressive, and actually live longer, since they were mounted on the outside of the distributor where they ran cooler than when mounted inside. The only problem is that they may be a challenge to mount on some modern points units; but it's usually not a problem. I've even had a couple of customers buy them to mount on electronic units, just for the "traditional" look.
Jeff, If you decide to go with a dual point, just let me know. After the deal on transmissions you gave me, I can be had. Denny
You have a quality product and should be proud of it. I have a dual point Mallory on the race car. Had it rebuilt with a NOS trash can about 10 years ago. Yes looks great and works great. And if you stop making them I will buy a spare for sure. Thank you for being conscientious with your product.
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