Crafting small products are fun!

[Oceanbox Designs]

I have to admit I love making these small products!

My niece just told me I'm a cool uncle because she like my work with acrylic crafting, she love crafting and want to watch me work and offered to help. There is little that she can do but I have her removed all the paper masking from the acrylics, then she said it has a weird smell but she doesn't mind..lol. The sweetest thing I've heard in a long time!

Products in picture:

1. AquaClear AC110 Magnetic Surface Skimmer
   
2. Mini SlideFit Frag Rack
   
3. Mini Magnetic Frag Racks
   

[Narzyzz_12]

Got my racks the other day and man they are just great!The craftsmanship is really top notch.

[Oceanbox Designs]

Got my racks the other day and man they are just great!The craftsmanship is really top notch.

 

Really glad to hear that and thanks for the support! I try to perfect it every time

[crawdads57]

I bought some of your products: https://oceanboxdesigns.com/product/lightmaxx-stands-current-orbit-marinepro-led/ They aren't worth what I paid and nobody but you likes your branding all over everything. To top it off you're obviously marking up your shipping as if your inflated prices aren't enough.

 

Shop around and you'll see that Oceanbox is out of line on price, even with a N-R.com discount.

[Oceanbox Designs]

I bought some of your products: https://oceanboxdesigns.com/product/lightmaxx-stands-current-orbit-marinepro-led/ They aren't worth what I paid and nobody but you likes your branding all over everything. To top it off you're obviously marking up your shipping as if your inflated prices aren't enough.

 

Shop around and you'll see that Oceanbox is out of line on price, even with a N-R.com discount. Where do you get off, really?

 

First of all, thank you for your business! Your support is what kept me going and be in business, I know you have other options but you went with my product and that means a lot to me.

 

I totally agreed with you on the pricing and believe it or not sometime I think the same. However, because every single unit of my product is designed and hand made by me (and just me) and some takes a ridiculous amount of time to be built in high quality so I priced my product based on the time/costs to design and make them.

 

Obviously not everyone will agree with my perspective but in order to stay in business and to be able to pay for other costs such as NR sponsorship, advertisements, website, machines, tools, etc. I didn't have any other options and I certainly didn't off easily. To be honest with you, this line of work is tedious and extremely overwhelming but still I'm trying very hard to stay in business because I love what I do.

 

In the next few months I plan on doing some price adjustment on a few selected products, hopefully to make it more reasonable for you guys and I also offer special promos on this forum for the same effort. But no matter what I do, the work involved in making the product doesn't change for me and certainly not the product quality. Once again, I really appreciate your business, all the best!

[zooman72]

I bought some of your products: https://oceanboxdesigns.com/product/lightmaxx-stands-current-orbit-marinepro-led/ They aren't worth what I paid and nobody but you likes your branding all over everything. To top it off you're obviously marking up your shipping as if your inflated prices aren't enough.

 

Shop around and you'll see that Oceanbox is out of line on price, even with a N-R.com discount.

 

Wow, where to start...

 

The items are worth what you paid, because you paid for them. Now, you might not like paying that much, but you had the option to simply not buy them. I also fail to see where else you can buy those particular light stands. Posting a snarky reply here just seems quite petty and juvenile, especially when you could have posted it in the appropriate subforum.

 

I personally am planning on grabbing those exact stands, and while I don't enjoy spending that much for them, I am also not going to be able to make them myself, and so I will turn to someone who has taken the time to construct them and offer them for sale.

[Oceanbox Designs]

 

Wow, where to start...

 

The items are worth what you paid, because you paid for them. Now, you might not like paying that much, but you had the option to simply not buy them. I also fail to see where else you can buy those particular light stands. Posting a snarky reply here just seems quite petty and juvenile, especially when you could have posted it in the appropriate subforum.

 

I personally am planning on grabbing those exact stands, and while I don't enjoy spending that much for them, I am also not going to be able to make them myself, and so I will turn to someone who has taken the time to construct them and offer them for sale.

 

I really appreciate your kind words! There is nothing more than the quality I go for with my products for what I priced them at. You're right about one thing, while my price may not be just for you it will not determine if my product is worth what it is because you have no idea what I have to go through to make these available for you.

 

The fact is that my products weren't mass produced by a big company and they certainly didn't come from China for a fraction of cost, they're designed and hand made from raw materials and that's a huge difference hidden behind the curtain that may not be apparent to most people.

 

For those who understood what I do, thank you!!! I valued your feedback and your support is greatly appreciated.

[Oceanbox Designs]

Apparently your feedback is important to me, the logo on the lightmaxx stands is now made 25% smaller. I also wanted to clarify that it's not simply because I like my logo on my products but the fact that I have to have it so at least I own some rights to my products and allowing people to recognize my work. As with all retail products, I'm sure you'd at least agreed with me there isn't a single product out there without the company branding on it whether it is more or less apparent.

 

[crawdads57]

1. Make your logo 95% smaller next time. 100% would be better.

2. Make your product fit the thickness of the tank you sell it for without your customer having to push and rock and be concerned with breaking their tank to get it in place.

3. Do not make excuses about your exorbitant prices based on your inability to manage your business expenses.

4. Do not think you're doing something special just because you are selling a $20 product for over $60 (includes your severely marked-up shipping) that anyone with acrylic fabrication skills can make. It's nothing special, your huge gawdy logo makes it even less special. A 25% smaller logo doesn't make it any better.

5. I have another set coming from another vendor. Same light / different tank. I'll post them here with the price once I receive them if you would like. Just let me know if you would like for me to do that. They were also handmade. Also not in China. And they do not bear any enormous, ugly logo. Guess how much... please go ahead and guess.

6. Zooman, go ahead and buy these. "The items are worth what you paid, because you paid for them." You are incorrect. I wish you were right.

P.S. We all know what the purpose of a logo is, but thanks for the clarification. I have several aquarium products which are completely visible without a ) any logo, or at least b ) no logo that looks as if its trying to brand my entire tank. They also fit what they are supposed to fit and they don't come with all the excuses and 2X shipping markup.

[Oceanbox Designs]

1. Make your logo 95% smaller next time. 100% would be better.

 

2. Make your product fit the thickness of the tank you sell it for without your customer having to push and rock and be concerned with breaking their tank to get it in place.

 

3. Do not make excuses about your exorbitant prices based on your inability to manage your business expenses.

 

4. Do not think you're doing something special just because you are selling a $20 product for over $60 (includes your severely marked-up shipping) that anyone with acrylic fabrication skills can make. It's nothing special, your huge gawdy logo makes it even less special. A 25% smaller logo doesn't make it any better.

 

5. I have another set coming from another vendor. Same light / different tank. I'll post them here with the price once I receive them if you would like. Just let me know if you would like for me to do that. They were also handmade. Also not in China. And they do not bear any enormous, ugly logo. Guess how much... please go ahead and guess.

 

6. Zooman, go ahead and buy these. "The items are worth what you paid, because you paid for them." You are incorrect. I wish you were right.

 

P.S. We all know what the purpose of a logo is, but thanks for the clarification. I have several aquarium products which are completely visible without a ) any logo, or at least b ) no logo that looks as if its trying to brand my entire tank. They also fit what they are supposed to fit and they don't come with all the excuses and 2X shipping markup.

 

It was not my intention to offend you in anyway so it seems but I took my time to explain to you what I thought was necessary (I didn't have to) and I'm not obligated to. If you (or anyone else) was not happy with my products for any reason, I will always step in to help and even rebuild and replace the product free of charge if I have to (if the fault was mine) but I don't recall hearing from you with any issues until now. Regardless, I'm glad you've found a solution that works for you and thank you once again for bringing it to my attention.

[crawdads57]

You're welcome.

[NYfishies]

I bought some of your products: https://oceanboxdesigns.com/product/lightmaxx-stands-current-orbit-marinepro-led/ They aren't worth what I paid and nobody but you likes your branding all over everything. To top it off you're obviously marking up your shipping as if your inflated prices aren't enough.

 

Shop around and you'll see that Oceanbox is out of line on price, even with a N-R.com discount.

 

Yikes, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed!

 

I have an OceanBox tank. Love it. He spent weeks working with me on the exact customization I wanted. I do not feel like I overpaid.

 

I will be buying from him again.

 

I think your review/post should have gone into a different post personally. Given that you just joined the forum 2 months ago I understand you may not have known this, but to hijack a thread the way you did was rude.

[Oceanbox Designs]

A couple of mini step-down frag racks I was working on. Each holds 28 frags for a total of 56 frags. All CNC laser and hand assembled.

 

 

 

 

 

[martinicu]

I bought the light stands from Phuong. There was a problem with the first set but he was right there to help. He made a second set which fit perfectly. As for the logo I never gave it a thought and I still don't when I look at my tank.

[Oceanbox Designs]

I bought the light stands from Phuong. There was a problem with the first set but he was right there to help. He made a second set which fit perfectly. As for the logo I never gave it a thought and I still don't when I look at my tank.

Thanks Martin! I really appreciate it. I think I ended up making you 3 sets and the 3rd time was the charm lol. I later realized it was due to a variant in the thickness of the glass from a Mr Aqua 12L that was made in 2012 with 5mm glass and the later with 6mm glass. Obviously with 6mm glass, you'll need to go with 8mm version of the Lightmaxx stands.

[crawdads57]

You neglect to state the possibility (probability) of variance in thickness on your website though 4 years have passed. On the other hand, I'm sure you can make 5 replacement sets and still be in the black at the prices you charge. I'm glad you have a few fans here, they obviously have no issue with your prices. That's fine. They also have no issue with your branding of their entire tank. Fine. But none of them can say that there aren't better options available, because it's clear they didn't look.

 

So either it's a forum or it's not, sorry to mess up your perceived notions of etiquette, fellas. I say it's over-priced junk, you say it's not. I could post that anywhere and you would argue it. But I must have wanted people to know to post it here. Rude? I find it rude to market faulty products while claiming they are worth the price of superior craftsmanship. The majority of the attempt at craftsmanship is in branding the product with AN ENORMOUSLY UGLY BLOB OF A LOGO.

[crawdads57]

And to be clear, I didn't come back to you for a replacement because I found your customer service lacking the first time I contacted you for other work. You didn't get that business because you acted like the conversation was a bother because you could see you wouldn't be able to hump me for 3X the correct price of what I was asking for. So keep on gluing plastic together and billing yourself at $50/hr and see how long it lasts. You admit above that you're over priced and then try to excuse it with "expenses" that are the basis of your strategy to sell over-priced work. So tell us all about what a rough business it is gluing plastic together.

[Marc.The.Shark]

You neglect to state the possibility (probability) of variance in thickness on your website though 4 years have passed. On the other hand, I'm sure you can make 5 replacement sets and still be in the black at the prices you charge. I'm glad you have a few fans here, they obviously have no issue with your prices. That's fine. They also have no issue with your branding of their entire tank. Fine. But none of them can say that there aren't better options available, because it's clear they didn't look.

 

So either it's a forum or it's not, sorry to mess up your perceived notions of etiquette, fellas. I say it's over-priced junk, you say it's not. I could post that anywhere and you would argue it. But I must have wanted people to know to post it here. Rude? I find it rude to market faulty products while claiming they are worth the price of superior craftsmanship. The majority of the attempt at craftsmanship is in branding the product with AN ENORMOUSLY UGLY BLOB OF A LOGO.

There will always be people that have buyers remorse and aren't happy with their purchase. What I can't understand is that you looked at the product (including the enormous logo) & the price & decided that it was worth it when you clicked the BUY button. This is not the fault of the seller, this is the fault of the buyer for spending more than they intended to. What did you think that you were purchasing, stands made of titanium? I think that you're being a little unfair to an honest business. If you have/had a problem with fit/function, I'm sure that Oceanbox would make it right. But in a free market economy such as ours, a business can charge whatever they want for an item. If you don't feel that it's worth that, then find another alternative.

[Oceanbox Designs]

You neglect to state that on your website though 4 years have passed. On the other hand, I'm sure you can make 5 replacement sets and still be in the black at the prices you charge.

The stands are stated for the glass thickness it's sold for and has always been, it is irrelevant to state that (although may be helpful) because it wasn't listed for any specific tank brand/model and because anyone who purchased the stands assumed you should already know the thickness of your own tank.

[crawdads57]

I decided that it was worth it and I was wrong, no doubt. But that I was wrong is because of what I actually received, which is nothing special. Look, I have plenty of money to blow on stuff like this, it's no problem. The problem is that it's not a good value. You can try to dispute it, but it's obvious that you're just proud of your little Oceanbox club. You should probably start selling car window decals. I think you could probably get at least 5 people to give you $40 and $20 shipping for a big ugly sticker. Oh wait, that's not news to you.

[crawdads57]

a business can charge whatever they want for an item. If you don't feel that it's worth that, then find another alternative.

Excellent point, I hope anyone looking for any product this guy sells will read this twice.

[Marc.The.Shark]

No, I just respect people that make their own way in this world & not live off the backs of society, be it you or Oceanbox. What you bought was $5 worth of plastic and $45 for the idea. Who knows how long it takes to assemble it, I don't. Maybe it takes 2 hours, have no idea & its irrelivent. It was an original idea that is worth something. You will get copycats I'm sure that will make a version of it for half the price now that there is a model to go by. It just pains me see how petty as a society we've become with the introduction of all the Chinese knockoff products that have us brainwashed into thinking that all we need to be concerned about is the lowest price. All stolen ideas & copyright infringements. Shame

[crawdads57]

You have got to be kidding me. Sandwiching 3 pieces of plastic together with the middle one being higher than the other two hardly counts as "an idea" and "Ginah" has nothing to do with it. At all. You sound like a "yooooge" fan.

Look up "copyright" and it's actual meaning before you use the word. Shame? BS.

[Marc.The.Shark]

hahaha, no pleasing you I see. Just want to rant. Well, feel free, I'm done. You're the one that bought it, not me! lol.

[TheKleinReef]