Hey all - Thank you so much for the discussion regarding Audiophile Ninja cables. I definitely appreciate the feedback, and will incorporate into future products where possible and where it makes business sense.
This year has been crazy keeping up with all the orders, growing our cable offerings as fast as possible, managing the site, photographing our products, answering emails, etc. So I'm not always on Head-Fi, but if you have any questions, definitely reach out to me via the contact info on our website. Always happy to help. I hired 2 part time technicians this year to assist me with Audiophile Ninja's production and support, so if you get a response from Chris or Wil, don't be alarmed. They don't bite.
Just wanted to answer a few of the comments and questions on here on this thread. I just scanned through some of the posts, so if I missed one, I apologize and was not intended.
Labels on Connectors for R/L: We initially did have heatshrink with red/white logos that we used to cover all of our connectors that didn't have pre-marked R/L. But I wanted to simplify the look, to give it a cleaner aesthetic, and not be another brand layered with heatshrink that warps and degrades over time. Then came the idea to use the splitter/logo as a built-in method of making that determination.
After testing out the new method, most of our customers prefered the cleaner look, and using the logo for orientation, so we moved forward with that. But we still have the heatshrink available with Red/White logos. If you wish to have them added, just add a note to your order to ensure we see your request. Most of our connectors are coated, and didn't hold colored paint well on them, but I will look in the future for other materials to put a red/white dot/smear instead of heatshrink for L/R option.
Promo Items and Costs: Box, Pen, and Bottle Opener combined cost = $0.76 As a small company, it is critical to stand out and show we care about our products. Part of that quality and care needs to go into the presentation. The box with logo/site also aids in branding recognition and advertising, in addition to guiding customers to our website, where prices are the lowest, as Etsy and eBay charge their platform fees. The pen/bottle opener swag, when bought in bulk is just a few cents, which is well worth it to give our customers a little bit of something to say 'thank you'. I'm from WI, I drink beer. You betcha. What better way to say 'hello and a warm welcome from WI', than something to open booze with, eh?
Simplification:
I truly do try hard to keep everything simple and avoid all waste by including re-usable cable ties, no throwaway plastic, etc. Heck, at the end of a spool of cable, the few inches left, we use for building our Balanced Adapter products. When you're saving scraps to build new products, that's efficient. All the savings goes toward paying our workers a living wage here in the US, and toward designing and building new products. That's it. We work out of a basement to save on costs. I started the company as just me building 4 cable types with 1 standard length, and this past year have recently hired 2 part-time workers to assist me, and we now have 20+ cable varieties (and growing) in 12 cable lengths.
Emails - Order/Shipping/etc: Our ordering system automatically sends out emails with every order, and then again with shipment, including tracking details. There have been a few cases where the customer's email servers were down, congested, etc, and emails were rejected, delayed, or even blocked by filters. Most of them get through, but if you don't see a shipping confirmation within a week of your order, chances are it was lost in the ethereal flow of the interwebs. Just email us, and we'll let you know your order status and tracking details if it was sent.
We are a tiny business, and typically respond to emails within a few business days. We really do work our tails off to do the best we can, and appreciate your patience.
Again, thank you all for your continued feedback, and I'll check back routinely to constantly gather your ideas, and adjust our business. We add cables based on demand, so if you see one we don't have, email us. We may not be able to build yet, but more demand means it gets higher on the design/build list.
Take care, and enjoy your music -
Jeremy