S11.E9: Kit Lender, Easy Treezy, Beardaments, Little ELF Gift Wrap Cutter

[Guest]

Quote

An entrepreneur from Miami Gardens, Florida, presents his patented system that easily helps decorate and set up a Christmas tree in a matter of minutes. Santa and his elves from Murray, Utah, enter the tank with their fun and easy-to-attach body decor, while an entrepreneur from Stowe, Vermont, presents his web rental service that ships outdoor gear and apparel directly to you, wherever and whenever adventure strikes. Finally, an entrepreneur from West Boylston, Massachusetts, introduces his innovative tool to make holiday gift-wrapping easier.

[rhys]

I thought beard ornament guy was already making a killing so I was surprised he got a deal. His idea was brilliant especially when he explained his cost vs what he charged. Savvy. I did agree with the other sharks that he ought to leave well enough alone.

The Xmas tree price seemed high but I guess if you figured $100 per year then that tree is cheap. I didn't see one I liked though. The idea was intriguing. But kids want to decorate trees, so that's a concern.

[DEL901]

The wrap cutter was nifty but I thought they would say it is a product not a business.   Glad the kid got a deal, though.  

[Gregg247]

The Christmas tree company seemed like a winner, and the trees looked nice - on TV.  At the end, when Robert tried to pick up the tree and it fell apart, I realized that, in person, those trees must have looked really cheap and fake.  I think the Sharks' objection to the "price point" was a nice way of saying that the product was lousy but the idea was fine.

"Its a product, not a company."  Count me among the many who dismissed the gift wrap cutter that way.  I was surprised by the really exciting bidding war that broke out over that silly cutting thing.  I can't stand Lori, but for a cheap product like that, she's the perfect Shark to get.  She'll make that guy an instant millionaire.  I'll bet that guy comes up with a lot of other useful gadgets in his life.

The beard light thing was very successful; good for the guy who came up with it.  It doesn't really feel like a Shark Tank-backed company, though, does it?  Like Kevin said, though, he's made a lot of money on stupid ideas!

[DEL901]

19 minutes ago, Gregg247 said:

The Christmas tree company seemed like a winner, and the trees looked nice - on TV.  At the end, when Robert tried to pick up the tree and it fell apart, I realized that, in person, those trees must have looked really cheap and fake.  I think the Sharks' objection to the "price point" was a nice way of saying that the product was lousy but the idea was fine.

Also, not a good tree for cat owners.

[basiltherat]

Kevin's portfolio includes the Toilet Light, so he does occasionally go for the whimsical.

[Whimsy]

12 hours ago, DEL901 said:

The wrap cutter was nifty but I thought they would say it is a product not a business.   Glad the kid got a deal, though.  

I am glad he got a deal, too, considering I am the WORST at cutting wrapping paper AND the kid is from a town about 10 minutes away from me so I find it pretty neat!!

I thought that beard product looked familiar.  Either there are other companies selling similar items or I've seen that exact company.  I didn't pay much attention to it since my husband doesn't have a beard. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The beard lights were interesting, especially since they are branching out into other holidays.   I bet there will be a lot of green light bearded leprechauns soon.   

The price for the Christmas trees wasn't that bad, especially in the commercial sector.   Setting up a store, or business Christmas display with the trees will be super quick.     Also, if you want amazingly high prices, look at the pricing for the flip over ones another company has been advertising on TV.      This would work really well for someone who wants to put up a fancy display for a party or something.   

The Kit Lender guy was impressive, but Barbara and Lori were right about inventory control.   I like Kevin's idea of going with the two big equipment rental companies.   I like Robert's idea of reaching the customer at the point where they book their winter trip.     I'm surprised Kevin didn't join with him for licensing and marketing, but I think the inventory issue was what killed the deal.   

The Wrap device looked brilliant.   I love Kevin's idea of putting the young man on QVC, and actually do the show with him.    I love the bargaining between Kevin, and Lori, and their competing QVC show offers.    Little Elf looks like a winning company.    Lori will do a great job for Little Elf.   

[Jal]

Glad Kevin got a deal with the beard guy. That'll be popular for sure.

The gift cutter is a great idea, but I've seen it ripped off for a fraction of the price. Not sure how the copycats work and if they're sharp enough, but they seem to have OK reviews.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

The wrapping paper cutter guy should develop a very similar product, some sort of tube that helps keep rolls of wrapping nice. I save cardboard paper towel rolls (after you have used all of the paper towels) and cut them length-wise. I gently place that over a roll of wrapping paper, along with a rubber band, to keep the paper nice. Works pretty well.  If there were a plastic version, I could see selling that with the cutter.  (Just went to the website and I see that they tell you the Little Elf cutter itself can be used to hold the roll together ... but then you would need multiple cutters if you have multiple rolls of wrapping paper.)

I wanted them to show how to dismantle and flatten the Christmas trees (properly) for storage.

Couldn't the beard ornaments also be marketed differently for women? I can see women putting them in their hair, around ponytails, etc.

Edited December 4, 2019 by MoreCoffeePlease

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

I wanted them to show how to dismantle and flatten the Christmas trees (properly) for storage.

Couldn't the beard ornaments also be marketed differently for women? I can see women putting them in their hair, around ponytails, etc.

Yeah, I was wondering about the flattening part too, they looked bulky. And if they did flatten out, how nice could they be up close? 

It was an interesting idea, but a lot of people actually enjoy Christmas tree decorating and it's part of their holiday traditions, so I'm guessing it was geared more toward commercial spaces? 

Agreed about the women's marketing for the beard thing, I recently traveled with a group of women to a championship where we were supposed to represent our region with a color theme and they went nuts buying accessories, especially for the hair. If they'd had an option for those light up things for their hair, most of the group would have been walking around with blinking hair all weekend. 

I know the sharks were a bit dismissive of the sporting event licensing or whatever, but I could see those being an impulse buy at tailgating spots before games or concerts, a bunch of drunk people wanting to support their teams or just be goofy and festive seems like a great market.

[rhys]

5 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I know the sharks were a bit dismissive of the sporting event licensing or whatever, but I could see those being an impulse buy at tailgating spots before games or concerts, a bunch of drunk people wanting to support their teams or just be goofy and festive seems like a great market.

That would be easy to do if you had enough lead time. Just buy the right colors from Etsy like he did then wear them in your hair to the Broncos game or Cowboys. Be smart & pre-package some to sell while you are there. Not sure that would work, but maybe.

[aemom]

21 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

Couldn't the beard ornaments also be marketed differently for women? I can see women putting them in their hair, around ponytails, etc.

Totally - especially tween/teen girls - they would be all over this.

On 12/2/2019 at 11:25 PM, Jal said:

The gift cutter is a great idea, but I've seen it ripped off for a fraction of the price. Not sure how the copycats work and if they're sharp enough, but they seem to have OK reviews.

I'm kind of annoyed.  I really like this and I headed over to Amazon Canada because I wanted to order it for my upcoming wrapping marathon and I liked the kid and wanted to help him out.  But there are so many ripoffs - I seriously can't even find the authentic one.  It's kind of a bummer.

I hope he kills it with Lori on QVC because I totally see this being a huge seller.

[lh25]

I went to the Easy Treezy site this morning, and there are some pretty big price cuts.  Interesting idea, I'm one of those that doesn't like decorating trees, but would need to see it in person before I'd buy.

[TVbitch]

Did not see the need for the show/producers to force the Kit Lender guy to bring up his long ago problem with alcohol. I know the show loves a "story" and the sharks all congratulated him on his 4 years of sobriety, but the dude was visibly swallowing and shaking trying to spit it out. It totally threw him off his rhythm in the pitch and he never fully recovered. It was unnecessary. Then he didn't even get a deal. I felt bad for him.