13821049:Shewlur... said:
while revision and on3p aren't remotely comparable in terms of their respective customer service, ski quality, etc., it's important to remember that many small ski companies receive skepticism early on. people complained during on3p's second year of operation, when their pre-ordered skis didn't arrive until April of that year (yeah that sucked). since then, though, on3p has had few slip ups and they proved themselves as a company.
after seeing these scenarios play out with multiple start-up ski companies over the last ~10 years it would be wise to steer away from newer companies who still have some kinks to work out. seems vishnu and others are doing just fine though. revision, on the other hand, is a whole different story.
Just because I have access to all the data, figured I would respond just to make sure all the facts are clear re: ON3P's first 2 years.
I think you are likely thinking of our first year (2009). We started taking pre orders that year, in our first month of business, in late July and that lasted until September. That first year was the year we were super late (which, as you stated here, not surprising since it was transitioning from prototyping in a garage to designing a ski factory from scratch - moved in with nothing on 8/1/09 - and doing actual ski production). The majority of skis shipped in January and February, so far from ideal, with some models earlier in December and some later in March/April. I can tell you that sucked for everyone, including the 3 of us building all the skis while working 100 hours per week.
2010 was a bit better. Preorder started in late May and ran through the summer. First skis (according to my shipping records) started shipping out in late August. For orders placed by the end of September, the breakdown of preorder shipping that year was:
August - 3%
Sept - 19%
Oct - 24%
Nov - 25%
Dec - 29%
So again, late and far from ideal but quite a bit earlier than April, at least according to all the sales and shipping data I just reviewed.
As for the Revision situation - it's really not my place to comment. I will say, sadly, based upon the info I've heard the situation is neither surprising nor will there likely be any real resolution. Hopefully people end up getting there skis, but I wouldn't hold your breath.
As for all the brands that seem to be popping up every month...some will be good, some will suck. It's pretty easy to establish a company and outsource skis to Asia. Building that company into an actual brand, though, is hard. To me, when I see brands start to actually takes steps to differentiate themselves, I start to view them as a company trying to build something, rather than having a ski company just for the sake of having a ski company (which, to me, seems like the majority) That is, at least, my jaded perspective from having spent the past 8 years trying to establish my own brand from scratch.
