Beware - The Rustic Flag Company

[Irving]

You posted this same thing on FaceBook right?

[Gman]

Sounds like Justin Scott got in way over his head.

Veterans are people, so there are still bad apples out there. Has anyone ever confirmed the claim of veteran status, or was that a marketing ploy?

ETA: After visiting the websites linked by the OP, I'm with def90 on their pricing structure. Maybe they weren't charging enough and decided that volume would make them more money?

Reminds me of a joke I heard in college:

2 guys come across a used truck and one gets the bright idea that they could buy the truck and sell watermelons on the side of the road. They buy the truck and buy a truck load of watermelons for $.50 each and then sell them for $.50. At the end of the day, one of the guys wonders why they aren't making any money. The other guy says he thinks he knows why. They need a bigger truck.

[def90]

My red flag is that I have no idea how a company could sell a product of that type so cheap without going under unless they are sourcing the artwork from China. The materials are cheap but when you look at labor involved in assembly and then the layout and painting aspect on top of the multitude of design options they couldn’t be paying their people any more than minimum wage at best.

[Ramsker]

Yeah . . . these guys have been building a reputation for this kind of shenanigans for awhile based on some other gun forums I am on.

[wyome]

This is part of the reason why I try to shop local for as much stuff as I can. Face to face works better than emails and resolution on stuff is a lil easier to do. Of course you can always have problems with local area vendors too

[hollohas]

ETA: After visiting the websites linked by the OP, I'm with def90 on their pricing structure. Maybe they weren't charging enough and decided that volume would make them more money?

My thoughts exactly. I actually commented something similar on their FB post. Their profit wasn't enough, they ran huge sales to generate cash to finance past orders and it was a downward spiral from there.

They say they are going to honor all orders but I don't see how that is possible. 20+ months of backorders and they don't have any cash to hire help. No way they can pay for that many backorders while also not taking in any new cash. The gig is up.

PS - I don't know why so many companies try to operate on such slim profit margins. The entire point of owning a business is to make money. Not break even. Why cut it so close? I run into that in my industry everyday. My competition selling stuff for low single digit gross profit margin. Why? What's the point? Aren't businesses supposed to make money? Run your business with honesty, integrity, awesome customer service and deliver on your promises and people will be willing to pay a few percent more for what you're selling.

[BladesNBarrels]

PS - I don't know why so many companies try to operate on such slim profit margins. The entire point of owning a business is to make money. Not break even. Why cut it so close? I run into that in my industry everyday. My competition selling stuff for low single digit gross profit margin. Why? What's the point? Aren't businesses supposed to make money? Run your business with honesty, integrity, awesome customer service and deliver on your promises and people will be willing to pay a few percent more for what you're selling.

Is that why Chinese made products are not selling versus US made, why Amazon is failing, and why the Big Box stores can't get customers?



Don't shoot the messenger!

[Irving]

I might have missed it, but would you mind posting what you were interesting in buying?

[hollohas]

Is that why Chinese made products are not selling versus US made, why Amazon is failing, and why the Big Box stores can't get customers?



Don't shoot the messenger!

Point taken.

However, there are lots of people here that will support a good LGS over buying online even if it costs a bit more. Or will support a good veteran owned company that charges more for their product than they can get it elsewhere (black rifle coffee as one example). It's especially true for fine handmade products as these flags are by all accounts by customers that have received their orders.

So your point contained within your sarcasm is obviously valid. No one can argue that. But it's certainly not universally true. There are countless companies all over the country that are extremely successful even without being the cheapest and one of the most important reasons for their success is the good service they provide.

[hollohas]

I might have missed it, but would you mind posting what you were interesting in buying?

Hand Carved Charred American Traditional - 20" x 34" / Gloss finished flag.