Tantus has a question for bloggers- Alumina

I haven't see that much promoting the interchangeability which could work in your favour. I'd love to see a discount if you buy two (or more!) but maybe that's just me.

I have to agree - the toys are very well made and very attractive. But there's nothing about aluminum that would make it so expensive. For me it's price elasticity. If you lower the price do you increase your profit - I'd willing to bet for great products like the Alumina line - you'd find a big increase in profits at about the $25-$30 level. once volume picks up - then you get into pricing leverage with your suppliers further reducing your costs.

I would also recommend getting rid of the exchangeable parts idea - it's got to add a ton to the cost and I find the transition can sometimes be uncomfortable. It's probably unsanitary as well.

Simple is better - make them one piece and make them affordable!

I'm going to chime in and say price reduction as well. They look appealing, but I can't bring myself to pay $80 for aluminum. $55 or something and then I would definitely think about it.

Kudos to Metis for asking for help with Alumina conundrum, And WOW to the suggestions so far - I am really impressed! I agree with the ideas to push them harder, to highlight the interchangeability, to consider selling them in halves, to consider price dropping, the g-spotting bump - all great ideas!

I too don't own any alum toys. I have read the reviews, they seem to work but just don't look "sexy". What is sexy? For me it has been the Njoy Pure Wand and the various NJoy butt plugs. They just look so sexy and they perform so well.
I am not turned off by the alum line but haven't been motivated to make a purchase. I also have not seen them up close and personal either.

I'll be honest: I waited until they were on sale at around $50 before I bought one. The Motion is amazing, but I couldn't justify the full price. If you could find a way to bring the price down to the $50 range, your volume would definitely go up.

The idea of selling these as single modules is a good one, but these are really hard to use without something screwed onto them to steer with, so it wouldn't really be practical.

Here's an idea to build on that one, though. Since they're hard to use as halves, what if you could make a much less expensive "handle" that you could screw a half onto? You could make the handles out of any of a number of different materials, so someone could buy a single half at around $30, plus a handle for $10-$20. You could also expand this by offering a flanged alternative (not just the Pace's ball, a true flange), so any module could be turned into a butt plug.

You'd end up with a mix-and-match set of handles/flanges in the (hopefully) $10-$20 range, with "head" and "tail" ends of the current models going for maybe $30 each. (You might want to adjust the relative prices of heads and tails to reflect the fact that the heads are much larger than the tails.) Those with larger wallets could go for a "set" as we can currently buy them at around $60, and those with tighter budgets could get a single module and a handle for $40, or maybe even less.



To answer the sexiness comment: these may not look so sexy in photos, but in person they're freakin gorgeous. I've showed mine off to a bunch of sexually open friends, and I have gotten a unanimous "wow that's amazing and sexy" response from everyone of both genders. They may not appeal to everyone, but they're much lovelier in real life than they are in pictures.

Unfortunately $50 was probably the cost, including shipping and processing, for the retailer. They were most likely dumping their stock.

Making products here in the USA may just be a dream we are still trying to keep alive in an economy that is not really open to the costs. The thing I really am a stickler for is making certain my materials are safe. That's so risky with making products overseas. One lot can be fabulous and the next mystery material.

When we previewed Alumina I talked with Greg who owns Njoy. He'd originally looked into making Aluminum toys because the cost and sourcing is easier. Bends are problematic though and his toys have always been based on bends.

In my opinion, It might be the color. Metalic purple isn't for everyone. I like the color but for some reason I associate metal toys with a silver (I own the fun wand) or even black (I like the color of the butt plug). When the toys first came out I remember thinking "Purple!, that doesn't really seem right." It might also help to advertise it's ability as a g-spot toy because typically if I don't see a curved end I don't think of a toy as one used to stimulate your g-spot.

Apart from that I really like the toys and it's only a matter of time (and money) before I get one for myself.

I really don't have any new suggestions, but I do agree with what has been said above. More advertising should be done, and perhaps the promotion to sell them in halves. EF has great reviews (though few) on alumina. Maybe on the Tantus website on the alumina tab there could be more explanation about the line, making it apparent that they're luxury, still yet attainable.

The sex toy store I've been to in west Hollywood doesn't sell alumina. I did see a few people crowding around the njoy. Maybe creating a classy display and contacting more physical stores could help increase sales?

The versatility of these toys goes above and beyond, and it may be true that it goes over people's heads.

For me it really is a price issue. I know that probably makes me bad, but.. I can't justify dropping that much on a toy that, although it has rave reviews, is so odd and unconventional looking. Since well, not everything with rave reviews works for EVERYONE unconditionally.
I don't know about the manufacturing cost... and it would suck to see you guys have to move it out of country for many, many reasons. Do you just use molds to make them? would such a thing be possible, then perhaps finishing it on a machine? I think more colors or a really shiny and smooth presentation would probably help.

This is so sad, Metis! I love the Motion to DEATH. It gives one of the most unique sensations I've found in dildos.

I'm not sure I have any good ideas, either. It's hard to articulate why aluminum is so great. For me, I've found it holds temperature better than any other material. It gets HOTTER than my body, which is pretty awesome when I'm using it.

I agree that the color isn't the best, but my dislike for pink and purple is well known.

I don't know...

Love the products, too much money. That's what it basically comes down to for me. It's sad that you may have to discontinue them, because they really are beautiful, but too much for me to afford. I haven't bought sex toys or BDSM products in a long time that haven't been on sale or extremely low priced. I even waited to buy my little girl the Bottle Rocket because I couldn't even justify twenty dollars for a product.

Money is tight lately, and that's why I am not able to buy such thing.

How can you communicate their beauty? Put them on sale. Advertise a lot for it. One thing that I've seen in business is that people are very attracted to sales. I was getting a crappy little Chai Tea Latte for fifty cents, where one place sold the same thing for $1.50 (Walgreens, cheap Lattes that are good). The place that sold it for $0.50 made a lot more money than the one who sold it for $1.20. It's general rule of business. You have to look at your production costs and see what the lowest amount you can put it and still make a reasonable profit.

I think the real question that should be addressed is the marketing one. The Alumina prices are set where they are so that Tantus can cover costs and make a profit, as Gary said earlier in the thread. It doesn't matter if the products move if the company loses money on each sale (Sir, your analogy only works if each latte actually costs Walgreens, say, $0.35. If the lattes cost even $0.50, Walgreens is only breaking even and the company charging more is, in fact, making more money). I'm sure Metis has taken this into account, so I'm not sure "drop the price" is all that realistic.

I *love* my Flow and it makes me sad that more people aren't buying them. It could be an exposure problem (people don't know they exist) or a competition problem (people in the market to spend that kind of money buying things like Pure Wands instead). I really like newme21's idea of breaking into mainstream advertising, but I do understand how that would be difficult. I'm sorry I don't have any great ideas. :-(