Pure Outdoor IS Olicamp!!

[ScareBear]

And, I am talking about IDENTICAL product, IMHO.

No idea WTH has happened here, but you can go to monoprice.com and get the Pure Outdoor 1L pot with silicone strainer lid and flux ring for $12 and the Olicamp is $30. These are clearly the exact same product, not a knock-off. Take a look at the photos and weights!

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15324

http://www.campsaver.com/olicamp-xts...FV5WDQodJ14Clw

Now, take a look at the Pure Outdoor Titanium Backpacking Stove for a whopping $19. It is the same product as the Olicamp Xclerator Ultra Titanium Stove for....$59. I think these are the EXACT same products, with only color differences. Examine the two photos and specs...

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15633

http://www.campsaver.com/olicamp-xce...FQdMDQod5xEI-Q

SO, WTH is going on here? Has Olicamp just been buying a generic product from a Chinese manufacturer and labeling it????? And, GOUGING the heck out of the consumer?

BTW, I have the Pure Outdoor stuff from above that I got from monoprice. I didn't believe it so that's why I ordered it. It looks to be the exact same stuff, just a different color...

[MtDoraDave]

Does the Pure Outdoor pot have the measurement graduations marked on the side also? - that isn't mentioned in the pot description.

...and gouging probably isn't the correct word to use. Price gouging is when some essential item is price inflated during a time of need - like gasoline or food/water after an area is hit by a storm and there is no other place to buy these items. A backpacking stove and/or pot is not an essential item, and there are plenty of other places to buy these types of things.

If Olicamp simply bought these chinese items that were available to anyone and marked up the price triple, and made a large profit, eh, good for them - that's what business are in business to do - but it surely would be temporary, because with today's internet searching ability, it wouldn't be long before someone else found these items for the lower price. If you knew how many businesses double or triple what they paid for a product, you'd be shocked.

However, what if YOU designed this pot/ stove and had them made to YOUR specifications, thought YOU owned the intellectual property, paid the tooling and set-up fees, had to come up with a "minimum order", etc., then YOU priced the product at what the market would bear - which seemed a reasonable price compared to the MSR Reactor or the Jetboil - and had to sell hundreds of them to even begin to start making a profit? It may have cost you thousands of dollars to get your first shipment of these pots!

... perhaps after your contract with the chinese company expired or maybe it was poorly written (I really don't know how that sort of thing works), the factory already has the tooling and dies made, the idea/ engineering/ creating has already been done - they just crank out a bunch of them and sell them for what they need to cover costs and a little profit...

I don't know exactly what happened to cause this difference in price for what appears to be the same product, but I'm not going to bash Olicamp for it. How many other items that started as relatively small business items are later "knocked off" by larger companies, mass produced, and sold MUCH cheaper than the originals?

[zelph]

A little info on monoprice:

https://gearpatrol.com/2016/04/27/mo...re-outdoor/The new pieces, which will be sold under the brand name Pure Outdoor, are Monoprice’s attempt to land the consumer that might not need the best and newest offering from top outdoor brands, and can’t afford the lofty price tag of most name brands. According to Monoprice, the outdoor industry is filled with “markets saturated with high retail channel costs and margins.” Only a thorough test will determine whether or not Monoprice hit the mark with Pure Outdoor as well as it did with its tech line. For the moment however, the conversation surrounds the fact that a tech-minded company has taken notice of the outdoor industry’s oversaturation, and that an untapped consumer exists in the marketplace where Monoprice is well suited to fill the gap. We’ve picked out a few interesting pieces from the initial launch, to which Monoprice will be adding in the coming months.

[Franco]

GOUGING the heck out of the consumer?

Different business model.

Olicamp is a retail brand, therefore it has to have an extra mark-up for the retailer as well as distribution/advertising costs built in.
The easiest way to understand that is to start importing a product from China then to try to sell that product to shops. You soon discover that it can be a lot more difficult and costly than it appears or just open a retail shop.

[ScareBear]

GOUGING the heck out of the consumer?

Different business model.

Olicamp is a retail brand, therefore it has to have an extra mark-up for the retailer as well as distribution/advertising costs built in.
The easiest way to understand that is to start importing a product from China then to try to sell that product to shops. You soon discover that it can be a lot more difficult and costly than it appears or just open a retail shop.

Olicamp sells direct to consumer on their website, as well as on Amazon. Same prices. Olicamp does not have a brick and mortar store. Other than online retailers, I've never seen Olicamp in a brick and mortar retailer, only online. Maybe I need to get out more? The point is...it doesn't look like Olicamp designed anything. They just went to China and bought generic and branded it. Same as Pure Outdoor.


It looks to be the exact same product, just with different color and branding. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.

How long will Olicamp remain in business selling something for 3 times what monoprice.com charges?

[TexasBob]

..................How long will Olicamp remain in business selling something for 3 times what monoprice.com charges?

Never heard of monoprice before, I think Olicamp will be OK.

[MuddyWaters]

The point is...it doesn't look like Olicamp designed anything. They just went to China looks to be the exact same product..

You just described the vast majority of retail.

Even if unique, you give yur specs to the mfg. Many mfgs make $$$$ items right along side $. Sometimes borrowing from both, and producing their own line too, and often selling off-spec or items that failed qc testing, or bypassed it as they were extras sold onto black market. A tremendous amt of unauthorized or counterfeit goods are sold on internet, ebay, amazon

[ScareBear]

Never heard of monoprice before, I think Olicamp will be OK.

Monoprice is probably a factor of 10 greater gross annual revenue than Olicamp...I think Olicamp is done for...

If you had anything to do with computers or a/v for a living, you would know monoprice...

[TexasBob]

............If you had anything to do with computers or a/v for a living, you would know monoprice...

People generally don't shop for backpacking equipment in a computer store. That's my point. Kind a like I wouldn't think to shop REI for computer memory or a hard drive.