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PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

planbags.com

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Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#11

Post by navbaker »

bombcar wrote: post #6
unwind wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love two things about that site, after discovering it now: - The fact that the ordering form does not compute the total price, and also asks you to manually keep track of adding $0.25/ea for orders under 100 pieces. - That they practically bomb you with their phone number , which is also said to be the company president's number. That's very accessible, if you're into that kind of thing.

I'll bet you anything that form just sends an email to the president who then prints it out and fills out the order details. It's probably much easier for them if you call, and once your setup you just call and ask for a refill.

I'm definitely picturing a dot matrix printer with the alternating white and green rows and holes on the sides of the accordion-folded paper.

Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#12

Post by cldellow »

Luc wrote: post #9

Using a 'planbag' for shipping, doesn't the blueprint arrives full of folds? Is that not an issue?

My wife does sewing pattern printing which I think is somewhat similar, ie very large format prints on a very expensive printer. She ships either folded in a large-size envelope or (for an extra fee) rolled in a sturdy container.

Looking at the picture on the website here, it looks like the bags are big enough to support rolling, so I imagine it doesn't crease the plans.

Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#13

Post by thechao »

dawnerd wrote: post #7
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A specialty business like PlanBags doesn't survive 50 years without building deep decades-long relationships with some customers. It's easy to forget that in tech when the biggest players shut down services with no lead time.

It's amazing how many companies out there that specialize in one thing and do that one thing very well. Example: https://www.ballchain.com/about-us/

This company restores dash boards for cars (anything from ~1960–~2000):

https://www.justdashes.com

Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#14

Post by sokoloff »

thechao wrote: post #13
dawnerd wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how many companies out there that specialize in one thing and do that one thing very well. Example: https://www.ballchain.com/about-us/

This company restores dash boards for cars (anything from ~1960–~2000): https://www.justdashes.com

There’s a company specializing in restoring lighted panels for aircraft: https://aircapitoldial.com/

I’ve got a few friends/acquaintances running nice single-digit million revenue companies doing some of the strangest things.

One of them turned a quite niche idea (“ice as a service”) into a successful 8-figures ARR company and sold it.

Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#15

Post by Aeolun »

dawnerd wrote: post #7
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A specialty business like PlanBags doesn't survive 50 years without building deep decades-long relationships with some customers. It's easy to forget that in tech when the biggest players shut down services with no lead time.

It's amazing how many companies out there that specialize in one thing and do that one thing very well. Example: https://www.ballchain.com/about-us/

Sweet! You get free shipping if you order 2000ft of ball chain.

Re: PlanBags Has Retired 1968-2021

#18

Post by Xylakant »

bombcar wrote: post #6
unwind wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love two things about that site, after discovering it now: - The fact that the ordering form does not compute the total price, and also asks you to manually keep track of adding $0.25/ea for orders under 100 pieces. - That they practically bomb you with their phone number , which is also said to be the company president's number. That's very accessible, if you're into that kind of thing.

I'll bet you anything that form just sends an email to the president who then prints it out and fills out the order details. It's probably much easier for them if you call, and once your setup you just call and ask for a refill.

I have implemented order forms that would send an email to a printer located in the warehouse. The customer said they had a very well refined process from the days when fax was dominant and no good reason to change. That was a decade or two ago though, so maybe they now have caught up with that digital thing.
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