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UPSCALE: What do you think of my invention?

BrianLateStart

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*** MODERATOR NOTE

THIS POST WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE SELL-ME SATURDAY
SELF-PROMOTION THREAD.
DUE TO DETAILED DISCUSSION,
IT WAS EXTRACTED TO ITS OWN THREAD




Thanks MJ for allowing us to post our product on your forum. There's a lot of knowledge and talent here. In the name of transparency, as much as we'd like to sell our product, our product, website and my wife and I are very new to this business. We could really use any feedback on the product and the website that this community has to offer.

The problem: My wife and I were trying to manage our weight, but we just didn't have a place to keep our bathroom scale where it was convenient to use. We would stand it on edge, but often it would slide down the wall and break a foot off the bottom. We never would have even considered getting a larger, nicer, glass scale. We usually just skipped weighting ourselves.

One day my wife asked why couldn't I make something that could store a scale off the floor and out of the way? This got me thinking. After several years, countless CAD models and prototypes, my wife and I are proud to present:

UpScale

UpScale keeps your scale off the floor, out of the way and ready for use.

26508

26509

26510

We believe UpScale can work in even the smallest 1/2 bath. It can even attach to the back of a door.

26511

26512

We hope once your scale has been UpScaled, you may want to decorate the bottom of it to enhance any bathroom! We use laptop decals, but, leaving it plain it fine too.

26513

UpScale is made in the USA (my wife and I rivet them in our garage) and has a lifetime warranty.

As our introductory offer, we're discounting UpScale 10% with free shipping. We're also giving an additional $10 off if you use the checkout code Fastlane.

As I said earlier we welcome and appreciate any feedback. At the moment we're only offering it for sale in the US, but would love to here from forum members outside the US whether or not this product is useful in your country.

TheUpScaleScale

Thanks again MJ and Fastlane community!
Brian and Lisa
 
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biophase

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Thanks MJ for allowing us to post our product on your forum. There's a lot of knowledge and talent here. In the name of transparency, as much as we'd like to sell our product, our product, website and my wife and I are very new to this business. We could really use any feedback on the product and the website that this community has to offer.

The problem: My wife and I were trying to manage our weight, but we just didn't have a place to keep our bathroom scale where it was convenient to use. We would stand it on edge, but often it would slide down the wall and break a foot off the bottom. We never would have even considered getting a larger, nicer, glass scale. We usually just skipped weighting ourselves.

One day my wife asked why couldn't I make something that could store a scale off the floor and out of the way? This got me thinking. After several years, countless CAD models and prototypes, my wife and I are proud to present:

UpScale

UpScale keeps your scale off the floor, out of the way and ready for use.

View attachment 26508

View attachment 26509

View attachment 26510

We believe UpScale can work in even the smallest 1/2 bath. It can even attach to the back of a door.

View attachment 26511

View attachment 26512

We hope once your scale has been UpScaled, you may want to decorate the bottom of it to enhance any bathroom! We use laptop decals, but, leaving it plain it fine too.

View attachment 26513

UpScale is made in the USA (my wife and I rivet them in our garage) and has a lifetime warranty.

As our introductory offer, we're discounting UpScale 10% with free shipping. We're also giving an additional $10 off if you use the checkout code Fastlane.

As I said earlier we welcome and appreciate any feedback. At the moment we're only offering it for sale in the US, but would love to here from forum members outside the US whether or not this product is useful in your country.

TheUpScaleScale

Thanks again MJ and Fastlane community!
Brian and Lisa

Cool product. I would suggest listing it on Amazon. You don't address if this device skews your weight in any way. Is it held by tape?
 

BrianLateStart

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Cool product. I would suggest listing it on Amazon. You don't address if this device skews your weight in any way. Is it held by tape?

Thanks biophase, we are planning to list it on Amazon. There's so much to learn and we've been so busy assembling that I haven't figured out how to get my product on Amazon. I know Shopify can coordinate it.

The device does not skew your weight (we're going to add this to our FAQ page!). The mechanism locks and unlocks with about 1/2" vertical sliding motion. This provides some slack in the mechanism so the mechanism isn't pushing down or lifting up skewing the results in either direction. There is about 1/2 pound of mechanism on the scale, but digital scales will zero it out if you zero it before using each time.

We do use double sided tape to attach to your scale. We also include more double sided tape as one of the wall mounting methods. We only recommend taping to wall if your wall is stone or tile. Sometimes you might not want to drill a hole in it.

Thanks for the comment! Brian
 

AppMan

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Thanks MJ for allowing us to post our product on your forum. There's a lot of knowledge and talent here. In the name of transparency, as much as we'd like to sell our product, our product, website and my wife and I are very new to this business. We could really use any feedback on the product and the website that this community has to offer.

The problem: My wife and I were trying to manage our weight, but we just didn't have a place to keep our bathroom scale where it was convenient to use. We would stand it on edge, but often it would slide down the wall and break a foot off the bottom. We never would have even considered getting a larger, nicer, glass scale. We usually just skipped weighting ourselves.

One day my wife asked why couldn't I make something that could store a scale off the floor and out of the way? This got me thinking. After several years, countless CAD models and prototypes, my wife and I are proud to present:

UpScale

UpScale keeps your scale off the floor, out of the way and ready for use.

View attachment 26508

View attachment 26509

View attachment 26510

We believe UpScale can work in even the smallest 1/2 bath. It can even attach to the back of a door.

View attachment 26511

View attachment 26512

We hope once your scale has been UpScaled, you may want to decorate the bottom of it to enhance any bathroom! We use laptop decals, but, leaving it plain it fine too.

View attachment 26513

UpScale is made in the USA (my wife and I rivet them in our garage) and has a lifetime warranty.

As our introductory offer, we're discounting UpScale 10% with free shipping. We're also giving an additional $10 off if you use the checkout code Fastlane.

As I said earlier we welcome and appreciate any feedback. At the moment we're only offering it for sale in the US, but would love to here from forum members outside the US whether or not this product is useful in your country.

TheUpScaleScale

Thanks again MJ and Fastlane community!
Brian and Lisa
Good idea , however the price is far of what I would expect from such tool , I would buy it from $10 but no way more than 20 ,
Are you getting any sales with that price tag ?
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Thanks MJ for allowing us to post our product on your forum. There's a lot of knowledge and talent here. In the name of transparency, as much as we'd like to sell our product, our product, website and my wife and I are very new to this business. We could really use any feedback on the product and the website that this community has to offer.

The problem: My wife and I were trying to manage our weight, but we just didn't have a place to keep our bathroom scale where it was convenient to use. We would stand it on edge, but often it would slide down the wall and break a foot off the bottom. We never would have even considered getting a larger, nicer, glass scale. We usually just skipped weighting ourselves.

One day my wife asked why couldn't I make something that could store a scale off the floor and out of the way? This got me thinking. After several years, countless CAD models and prototypes, my wife and I are proud to present:

UpScale

UpScale keeps your scale off the floor, out of the way and ready for use.

View attachment 26508

View attachment 26509

View attachment 26510

We believe UpScale can work in even the smallest 1/2 bath. It can even attach to the back of a door.

View attachment 26511

View attachment 26512

We hope once your scale has been UpScaled, you may want to decorate the bottom of it to enhance any bathroom! We use laptop decals, but, leaving it plain it fine too.

View attachment 26513

UpScale is made in the USA (my wife and I rivet them in our garage) and has a lifetime warranty.

As our introductory offer, we're discounting UpScale 10% with free shipping. We're also giving an additional $10 off if you use the checkout code Fastlane.

As I said earlier we welcome and appreciate any feedback. At the moment we're only offering it for sale in the US, but would love to here from forum members outside the US whether or not this product is useful in your country.

TheUpScaleScale

Thanks again MJ and Fastlane community!
Brian and Lisa
Cool product. I would suggest listing it on Amazon. You don't address if this device skews your weight in any way. Is it held by tape?
Thanks biophase, we are planning to list it on Amazon. There's so much to learn and we've been so busy assembling that I haven't figured out how to get my product on Amazon. I know Shopify can coordinate it.

The device does not skew your weight (we're going to add this to our FAQ page!). The mechanism locks and unlocks with about 1/2" vertical sliding motion. This provides some slack in the mechanism so the mechanism isn't pushing down or lifting up skewing the results in either direction. There is about 1/2 pound of mechanism on the scale, but digital scales will zero it out if you zero it before using each time.

We do use double sided tape to attach to your scale. We also include more double sided tape as one of the wall mounting methods. We only recommend taping to wall if your wall is stone or tile. Sometimes you might not want to drill a hole in it.

Thanks for the comment! Brian
This is a super neat product. I wonder if there's any way to eliminate those divots in the back, and maybe replace the black rubber pieces with white ones. That way it would just look like a piece of art on the wall.
Cool product! Honestly, I went to your website to buy it... IMO, you will have to get the price point down. It is a problem solved, but I couldn't pull the trigger at that price. If you can move this thing out of your garage and reduce your cost, I think you could sell a ton of these.

Do you have a thread here at the forum discussing this product?

It looks super cool and convenient, just don't know if the need its solving will be worth $90 for most folks. It's hard for me to judge because I'm used to large bathrooms and don't mind a scale on the floor, or shoved in a corner somewhere.
 

BrianLateStart

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This is a super neat product. I wonder if there's any way to eliminate those divots in the back, and maybe replace the black rubber pieces with white ones. That way it would just look like a piece of art on the wall.

Thanks ChrisV. I don't sell the bathroom scale with UpScale. Those divots are finger grooves built into the bottom of the scale. Same goes for the black feet. I have talked to American Weigh Scale (AWS) and they could make me a scale with a bottom however I would like. I'm sure they could even do white feet. In the future I would like to have a scale made with a slot that UpScale could just plug into and eliminate attaching it to your scale with double sided tape.

Cool product! Honestly, I went to your website to buy it... IMO, you will have to get the price point down. It is a problem solved, but I couldn't pull the trigger at that price. If you can move this thing out of your garage and reduce your cost, I think you could sell a ton of these.
Thanks Sizemore. The price isn't carved in stone. Just started testing the waters. I've read that it's easier to start with a higher price and work your way down then starting low and increasing. I don't know if that's true, but that's the strategy I started with.

If I could get this out of my garage with a larger size order I could get much better pricing. Small batches are very expensive.

Good idea , however the price is far of what I would expect from such tool , I would buy it from $10 but no way more than 20 ,
Are you getting any sales with that price tag ?

Thanks AppMan. This is the first day I've offered them for sale, so no sales yet. I don't know if I could get them down to $20 and still make them in the USA and offer a lifetime warranty.
 

BrianLateStart

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Do you have a thread here at the forum discussing this product?

It looks super cool and convenient, just don't know if the need its solving will be worth $90 for most folks. It's hard for me to judge because I'm used to large bathrooms and don't mind a scale on the floor, or shoved in a corner somewhere.
Thanks MJ. I haven't started a thread. I did mention UpScale in some of my replies in my intro thread. I will start a thread to keep track of my progress.

I don't know if it's worth $90 for most folks either. Still testing pricing. Was hoping that a lifetime warranty would ease the pain a little. Most people will buy only one, maybe two at most and have them forever.
 
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Thanks ChrisV. I don't sell the bathroom scale with UpScale. Those divots are finger grooves built into the bottom of the scale. Same goes for the black feet. I have talked to American Weigh Scale (AWS) and they could make me a scale with a bottom however I would like. I'm sure they could even do white feet. In the future I would like to have a scale made with a slot that UpScale could just plug into and eliminate attaching it to your scale with double sided tape.
Post it here:

 

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Thanks AppMan. This is the first day I've offered them for sale, so no sales yet. I don't know if I could get them down to $20 and still make them in the USA and offer a lifetime warranty.

Most bathroom scales are $20-$30. I don't see someone spending $90 as a convenience to their $20 product. I agree that the price needs to really come down. $30-$40 at the most.

You'll find out fast by running FB ads or putting it on Amazon and reading the reviews.
 

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I don't see someone spending $90 as a convenience to their $20 product.

That in a nutshell, is the huge issue with this. Not to mention, it's a one-off (maybe twice) product. I'll post a CENTS Grade here soon...
 
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BrianLateStart

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Most bathroom scales are $20-$30. I don't see someone spending $90 as a convenience to their $20 product. I agree that the price needs to really come down. $30-$40 at the most.
I've purchased 12 bathroom scales so far (testing them with UpScale). I know far more about scales than I ever thought I would. We're planning a YouTube channel to review scales. Huge difference between one scale and another. The average scale I bought is closer to $39. I do have a $20 scale. You wouldn't want to use it if your were serious about monitoring your weight (these people aren't my target audience). Many of the newer scales with biometric readings are closer to $59.

I'm not disagreeing that $90 for even a $39 scale seems lopsided. The thing is, this add on product makes your $39 product usable. As much as I wanted to monitor my weight, having it in a closet or in a vanity under the sink was enough of a hassle I wouldn't bother weighing my self. Without UpScale, that $39 scale is just a block on a shelf. My wife and I weigh ourselves every morning. I don't know how to quantify it, but it could lead to being healthier.

I appreciate all this feedback. Sounds like it's really an issue with price. I can deal with that!
 

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That in a nutshell, is the huge issue with this. Not to mention, it's a one-off (maybe twice) product. I'll post a CENTS Grade here soon...

Thanks MJ, I'd love to see your CENTS grade!! Some additional information to consider. I'm 55 and have lived in many different states, in houses, apartments and condos. To date, I've never lived in a place that had room to leave a bathroom scale out. I know that this is a statistic for 1 person, but I pay attention to the bathrooms of friends and family. I almost never see a place for a scale to sit out.
I don't think it being a one-off product is an issue. A lot of products are one-off (one-off or close). I know an appliance manufacture that sells 1 million dishwashers a year in the USA. This is just 1 manufacture, there's a lot of other companies selling dishwashers. Other home appliances, refrigerators, ovens, washers and dryers outsell dishwashers by a comfortable margin. In my 55 years, I've never bought a new dishwasher (they've already been in the homes I moved into). Appliances aren't exactly one-off, but they're close. The US market is very big. Bigger than I realized. I'm not looking to sell a million UpScales a year. A few thousand would be nice.
 
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Thanks MJ. I haven't started a thread. I did mention UpScale in some of my replies in my intro thread. I will start a thread to keep track of my progress.

I don't know if it's worth $90 for most folks either. Still testing pricing. Was hoping that a lifetime warranty would ease the pain a little. Most people will buy only one, maybe two at most and have them forever.
You can buy a famous brand TV wall mount bracket now for $40.

File a provisional patent on this immediately.
 

BrianLateStart

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You can buy a famous brand TV wall mount bracket now for $40.

File a provisional patent on this immediately.

Vigilante, I filed a utility patent on Aug 8th 2017. It was issued Tuesday. Two days shy of the two year anniversary of the filing date. I have an international patent application filed. I have a little over 8 months to file in the countries I want to file for a patent.
 

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I don't know if it's worth $90 for most folks either. Still testing pricing. Was hoping that a lifetime warranty would ease the pain a little. Most people will buy only one, maybe two at most and have them forever.
I can't imagine why this is so costly to produce. Maybe @Walter Hay has some advice?
 
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Most bathroom scales are $20-$30. I don't see someone spending $90 as a convenience to their $20 product. I agree that the price needs to really come down. $30-$40 at the most.

You'll find out fast by running FB ads or putting it on Amazon and reading the reviews.

@BrianLateStart i would buy one right this instant if it was a caddy that was $15-$30. Would be an absolute no brainer for me.

It doesn’t need to fold down so I can use it then fold back up.

Just needs to hold my scale on the wall so leaning it on the side doesn’t scratch my bathroom paint and cause it to crash down when my kids tear through.

Im fine to lift the whole thing up, put it on the floor etc.

Id imagine this reduces cost and complexity substantially.

i have this problem and it’s bothered me for over 2 years and would definitely buy something that solves this problem at a lower price point, even if it was less “perfect”. But this price point is way too high imo

EDIT: my use case is that I have a huge bathroom but for some reason it’s carpeted except for a smaller toilet room that just has the toilet and is tiled. I weigh myself in that tiny space. I’m making a solid annual income (at least 2x-3x the average in my area), so I have disposable income and highly value an organized home, so your product is speaking right to me.
 
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The price isn't carved in stone. Just started testing the waters. I've read that it's easier to start with a higher price and work your way down then starting low and increasing. I don't know if that's true, but that's the strategy I started with.

If I could get this out of my garage with a larger size order I could get much better pricing. Small batches are very expensive.



Thanks AppMan. This is the first day I've offered them for sale, so no sales yet. I don't know if I could get them down to $20 and still make them in the USA and offer a lifetime warranty.

Just going to post my thoughts on testing pricing because I’m not sure what you read but in my opinion it is terrible advice.

1. Gary halbert worded this the best. He said you want to test your best price, best copy, best placement, best ad first or you’ll end up spending more money later trying to work out oh maybe it will work if I drop the price or get better photos taken.

2. If you run Facebook ads you want purchase data so your ads can optimise, you can get this by having a lower price to start and that way Facebook can quickly find who if anyone will buy this.

3. If you start with a high price and lower it later you upset all your customers who purchased at a higher price. If you do it the other way around you can use the price increases as scarcity.

4. You can keep increasing your price until purchases stop being cost effective.

5. Just general thoughts on this product, you’ve solved a problem that people probably aren’t willing to spend a lot of money to solve. People hate being fat that’s why supplements can be sold for so much even though they cost nothing to make. This costs heaps to make but that doesn’t make it worth more money. I would get rid of the lifetime warranty and try to make it cheaper in China. The price needs to reflect how much people care about solving this problem. The added costs of a lifetime warranty and being made in USA aren’t enough to justify the value they add to the customer. (It may not be cheaper to make in China tho). Also in future let this be a lesson that you could have had one made or even just some mock up images and run ads to see if it will sell before investing too much money.
 

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Just going to post my thoughts on testing pricing because I’m not sure what you read but in my opinion it is terrible advice.

1. Gary halbert worded this the best. He said you want to test your best price, best copy, best placement, best ad first or you’ll end up spending more money later trying to work out oh maybe it will work if I drop the price or get better photos taken.

2. If you run Facebook ads you want purchase data so your ads can optimise, you can get this by having a lower price to start and that way Facebook can quickly find who if anyone will buy this.

3. If you start with a high price and lower it later you upset all your customers who purchased at a higher price. If you do it the other way around you can use the price increases as scarcity.

4. You can keep increasing your price until purchases stop being cost effective.

5. Just general thoughts on this product, you’ve solved a problem that people probably aren’t willing to spend a lot of money to solve. People hate being fat that’s why supplements can be sold for so much even though they cost nothing to make. This costs heaps to make but that doesn’t make it worth more money. I would get rid of the lifetime warranty and try to make it cheaper in China. The price needs to reflect how much people care about solving this problem. The added costs of a lifetime warranty and being made in USA aren’t enough to justify the value they add to the customer. (It may not be cheaper to make in China tho). Also in future let this be a lesson that you could have had one made or even just some mock up images and run ads to see if it will sell before investing too much money.

#6. Product feedback on a new product concept is more valuable than revenue at early stages. That’s why most tech companies launch a free closed beta on new product concepts.
 
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I've purchased 12 bathroom scales so far (testing them with UpScale). I know far more about scales than I ever thought I would. We're planning a YouTube channel to review scales. Huge difference between one scale and another. The average scale I bought is closer to $39. I do have a $20 scale. You wouldn't want to use it if your were serious about monitoring your weight (these people aren't my target audience). Many of the newer scales with biometric readings are closer to $59.

Accuracy and reliability isn't important to your average Joe, but there are people that accuracy is very important. Definitely with competitive fighters.

When I did weigh ins for fights and was dropping 20 lbs and had to hit my weight within 2 lbs, accuracy was very important. My scale was a lot more than $20, but I just kept my scale in my room on the floor under the drawer portion of my computer desk. I traveled with my scale quite frequently, so being easily movable would be important for the competitive fighter and weight loss audience.
 

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@BrianLateStart i would buy one right this instant if it was a caddy that was $15-$30. Would be an absolute no brainer for me.

It doesn’t need to fold down so I can use it then fold back up.

Just needs to hold my scale on the wall so leaning it on the side doesn’t scratch my bathroom paint and cause it to crash down when my kids tear through.

Im fine to lift the whole thing up, put it on the floor etc.

Id imagine this reduces cost and complexity substantially.

i have this problem and it’s bothered me for over 2 years and would definitely buy something that solves this problem at a lower price point, even if it was less “perfect”. But this price point is way too high imo

EDIT: my use case is that I have a huge bathroom but for some reason it’s carpeted except for a smaller toilet room that just has the toilet and is tiled. I weigh myself in that tiny space. I’m making a solid annual income (at least 2x-3x the average in my area), so I have disposable income and highly value an organized home, so your product is speaking right to me.
I thought of the same thing. Just a simple "scale holder." Then you can offer the other product as well for the more luxurious crowd lol


The price needs to reflect how much people care about solving this problem.

Boom. I love this.
 

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The UPSCALE Posts have been removed and extracted to its own thread, the Sell-Me Sat thread is about to be locked until next week.
 
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devbe83

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@BrianLateStart i would buy one right this instant if it was a caddy that was $15-$30. Would be an absolute no brainer for me.

It doesn’t need to fold down so I can use it then fold back up.

Just needs to hold my scale on the wall so leaning it on the side doesn’t scratch my bathroom paint and cause it to crash down when my kids tear through.

Im fine to lift the whole thing up, put it on the floor etc.

Look, a second product that can serve as the base model, and the original one being the "pro" model. :)
 

Grinder20

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*** MODERATOR NOTE

THIS POST WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE SELL-ME SATURDAY
SELF-PROMOTION THREAD.
DUE TO DETAILED DISCUSSION,
IT WAS EXTRACTED TO ITS OWN THREAD




Thanks MJ for allowing us to post our product on your forum. There's a lot of knowledge and talent here. In the name of transparency, as much as we'd like to sell our product, our product, website and my wife and I are very new to this business. We could really use any feedback on the product and the website that this community has to offer.

The problem: My wife and I were trying to manage our weight, but we just didn't have a place to keep our bathroom scale where it was convenient to use. We would stand it on edge, but often it would slide down the wall and break a foot off the bottom. We never would have even considered getting a larger, nicer, glass scale. We usually just skipped weighting ourselves.

One day my wife asked why couldn't I make something that could store a scale off the floor and out of the way? This got me thinking. After several years, countless CAD models and prototypes, my wife and I are proud to present:

UpScale

UpScale keeps your scale off the floor, out of the way and ready for use.

View attachment 26508

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View attachment 26510

We believe UpScale can work in even the smallest 1/2 bath. It can even attach to the back of a door.

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We hope once your scale has been UpScaled, you may want to decorate the bottom of it to enhance any bathroom! We use laptop decals, but, leaving it plain it fine too.

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UpScale is made in the USA (my wife and I rivet them in our garage) and has a lifetime warranty.

As our introductory offer, we're discounting UpScale 10% with free shipping. We're also giving an additional $10 off if you use the checkout code Fastlane.

As I said earlier we welcome and appreciate any feedback. At the moment we're only offering it for sale in the US, but would love to here from forum members outside the US whether or not this product is useful in your country.

TheUpScaleScale

Thanks again MJ and Fastlane community!
Brian and Lisa
Hey Brian, I see the value in your product, very cool! As people have mentioned, your price is high, however, if you can land a contract with a high-end hotel with multiple locations, your price per unit would come down over night. Think outside of residential. Great work!
 

windchaser

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Thanks MJ, I'd love to see your CENTS grade!! Some additional information to consider. I'm 55 and have lived in many different states, in houses, apartments and condos. To date, I've never lived in a place that had room to leave a bathroom scale out. I know that this is a statistic for 1 person, but I pay attention to the bathrooms of friends and family. I almost never see a place for a scale to sit out.
I don't think it being a one-off product is an issue. A lot of products are one-off (one-off or close). I know an appliance manufacture that sells 1 million dishwashers a year in the USA. This is just 1 manufacture, there's a lot of other companies selling dishwashers. Other home appliances, refrigerators, ovens, washers and dryers outsell dishwashers by a comfortable margin. In my 55 years, I've never bought a new dishwasher (they've already been in the homes I moved into). Appliances aren't exactly one-off, but they're close. The US market is very big. Bigger than I realized. I'm not looking to sell a million UpScales a year. A few thousand would be nice.

I really like the product and see the value but agree with the price tag, you need to keep that price down if you want a big enough market.
The issue I see with one-off with a lower price product is the acquisition cost. It is ok to have a one-off cost if your acquisition cost is very low or if your product is expensive, but you have to be very careful in lower price products. My advice is that you pay a lot of attention to this cost, it is particularly important for your case.

As for a potential market, don´t limit yourself to the US, for example, I believe you have a very attractive potential market in EU, houses are considerably smaller on average than in the US and saving space is more valued by people (maybe with the exception of places such as NYC os SF). In fact, there are several brands whose value proposition is that and they do quite well.

Keep up the good work!
 
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BrianLateStart

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Before I start replying to these messages, I just want to thank this community for all the feedback and advice I've been given. I've had more help since posting this yesterday than the entire time I've been working on this, and that will be 4 years this Septemver. I wish I knew about this community back when I started. Thanks MJ and everyone that's part of The Fastlane.

One other thing I've noticed . Not only are the people here great, but the forum software and moderation is better than any community I've been a part of. I'm the type of person that gets going on a project and goes deep with it. I've spent countless hours reading, learning and posting in forums. Everything from Engineering, photography, home automation, computers, forums on specific vehicles (cars and motorcycles) I've owned and maintained (I've heavily used many forums). I haven't seen forum software that is as functional and has a good look and feel as this one.

Thanks again MJ
 

BrianLateStart

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It doesn’t need to fold down so I can use it then fold back up.

Just needs to hold my scale on the wall so leaning it on the side doesn’t scratch my bathroom paint and cause it to crash down when my kids tear through.

Im fine to lift the whole thing up, put it on the floor etc.

Id imagine this reduces cost and complexity substantially.
I looked at making a simple pocket, like a magazine rack you see at a doctors office to put your scale in that's mounted just above the baseboard. I thought that was going to be the perfect solution for me. For some people it probably is, but I'll explain why it doesn't work for me.

I don't think this explanation is something I can quantify and show as a true benefit to the customer. It's all about degrees of freedom. Objects not attached to anything have 6 degrees of freedom they can rotate about the X, Y & Z axis. They can also be translated in each of those directions.

People don't realize how much coordination it takes to pick up a 5 pound scale, rotate it around and place it in that pocket attached to the wall. It takes coordination to get it out of the pocket, flipped around and placed on the floor. I'm not saying it's difficult. It's not. I don't think most people would do it with one hand. But, how many times do you need to repeat this motion before you accidentally bang it into the wall and chip your paint or crack a wall tile? Same goes when your putting it down. You're tired, it's first thing in the morning and you bang the corner of the scale into your tile floor when your setting it down. Maybe you didn't break a tile or crack your glass scale this time. But if you're older, a little shaky or if your kids want to weigh themselves. I'll bet an accident is likely to happen. This manual manipulation of a scale was more than I wanted to do every morning (I'll admit, I'm lazy).

Back to degrees of freedom. A hinge is a simple mechanism. Your bathroom door opens and closes with just the push of one finger. It goes to its fully open to fully closed position with great ease. This is because it only has 1 degree of freedom. Now, remove one of the hinges (or both) and try to open and close it. Not so easy, but it can be done. Too many degrees of freedom.

UpScale is not a hinge. It rotates your scale while guiding it above the baseboard. When you want to use your scale, Upscale rotates it, lowers it towards the floor and pushes it out from the wall (you can't use a scale that is tight to the wall). UpScale's greatest benefit is that it has 1 degree of freedom. This 1 degree of freedom means this entire motion can be done with 1 finger(with the biggest, heaviest scale you can find). It can't bang your scale into the wall and the control you have with only 1 finger allows your scale to be gently placed on the floor. Even when you're not fully awake.

People buy things that they think they're going to use (like a bathroom scale). But, if there's too much resistance to using it, it just sits unused. UpScale makes your scale very usable. I like to compare it to a coat hanger vs a coat hook. A coat hanger is very easy to use, but takes two hands. A coat hook is a one handed operation and is simple and fast. That pocket scale storage shelf is like a coat hanger. UpScale is like a coat hook.
 

Raveling

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Hi Brian,

I'll help with feedback and ideas if I can and you're open to it. I've been inventing since childhood and will continue until death. I've made it to the edge of a significant license deal once and to the start/ middle 3 ish other times, but not to the end YET.

As for your product, it looks really cool, but honestly I'd never buy it because scales don't tell me anything useful about my fitness that my eyes can do better, so I wouldn't be a customer. That's an advantage in that I can give you an outsider's perspective.

I won't give any further feedback unless you verify that:

1) You're open to honest unvarnished feedback, both good and bad because I've discovered some
members on this forum are very sensitive and by feedback actually mean praise, agreement and ego
validation only, and that won't help you succeed.

2) You're honest about how much detail you're willing to share because the more information I have,
the better I can help you, and I won't ask anything that isn't relevant and necessary to helping you with your product.

timbgreen
 
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Danny Sullivan

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Neat idea.

What i recognized is, there's a lot of bending over required to open and close it. It's especially painful for people with high weight (or the eldery) to bend over or pick things up, because their back tends to hurt quite often. Yet this might also be target audience if they want to manage their weight or lose some.

Maybe that's fuel for another value skew.

Best of luck.
 

BrianLateStart

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Just going to post my thoughts on testing pricing because I’m not sure what you read but in my opinion it is terrible advice.

1. Gary halbert worded this the best. He said you want to test your best price, best copy, best placement, best ad first or you’ll end up spending more money later trying to work out oh maybe it will work if I drop the price or get better photos taken.

2. If you run Facebook ads you want purchase data so your ads can optimise, you can get this by having a lower price to start and that way Facebook can quickly find who if anyone will buy this.

3. If you start with a high price and lower it later you upset all your customers who purchased at a higher price. If you do it the other way around you can use the price increases as scarcity.

4. You can keep increasing your price until purchases stop being cost effective.

5. Just general thoughts on this product, you’ve solved a problem that people probably aren’t willing to spend a lot of money to solve. People hate being fat that’s why supplements can be sold for so much even though they cost nothing to make. This costs heaps to make but that doesn’t make it worth more money. I would get rid of the lifetime warranty and try to make it cheaper in China. The price needs to reflect how much people care about solving this problem. The added costs of a lifetime warranty and being made in USA aren’t enough to justify the value they add to the customer. (It may not be cheaper to make in China tho). Also in future let this be a lesson that you could have had one made or even just some mock up images and run ads to see if it will sell before investing too much money.
This is some amazing advice, thanks for taking the time!! I'm going to spend some serious time and come up with my best price.

I understand what you're saying about the lifetime warranty and being made in the USA. The lifetime warranty is kind of a bonus. There's a minimum structural strength it needs to be to work with a 6 pound bathroom scale (glass scales can be very heavy). When you're actually using UpScale, your hand is doing much of the lifting so the mechanism isn't really stressed. I can look at what can be done to remove some of the cost. At my Lowes, they're selling toilet paper holders for $15-$24 that are very simple parts that have to support a 3 ounce roll (maybe people aren't buying them from Lowes). Making them in much higher volume would reduce the cost considerably. Thanks again.
 

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