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PO’d at the PO

Oh, USPS, it is hard to love you, or even like you.  We seem to have more and more packages going AWOL.

And while for years the USPS has been plagued by lower volumes of first class mail, the drop box at our local main post office might indicate otherwise.  This is what I found as I went to drop off a customer package this morning.

We aren’t talking about a small box.

More often than not, this is how I find it, full to the brim.

While USPS is still the cheapest option for us to ship, it does come with drawbacks.

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Brand hijacking on Amazon; beginning of the end?

The latest threat to this business is unsavory Amazon sellers hijacking our product listings.  Here is what a normal listing on Amazon looks like.  Notice that we are listed a the brand.

Here is one of the (so far) six hijacked product listings.

The product listings haven’t been altered yet, but I have no doubt this game is about replacing the product I sell with another one on the same listing, and tricking people into believing the ratings and reviews are for the new product.

With the items now associated with another brand, we have to “ask for permission” to be able to send products for sale, so this prevents us from shipping additional inventory.

The only way Amazon allows people to prevent this is by registering a trademark and creating an official brand on Amazon with the trademark.  Sounds simple but the last trademark application I was involved with took several years, multiple submissions, and tens of thousands in attorneys fees; they aren’t as simple as they seem.

This doesn’t bode well for the future my of selling Revere Ware replacement parts.  As dealing with Amazon (excessive returns, customers with attitude that don’t bother reading anything, poor customer service, ridiculous policies, removed listings, hijacked listings) becomes more and more of a hassle, I just can’t see continuing to sell items there.  I’ve already stopped selling a half dozen of our parts there due to excessive returns.  If our few big sellers get hijacked and we can no longer send inventory, that’s probably the end of Amazon selling.

Without the Amazon sales volume, the rest of the business doesn’t make a lot of sense for the effort.

We’ll see how it goes this time around with their support.  If I am unable to get any help in this, it is probably the beginning of the end for this business.  I can imagine winding things down by the end of this year.  Being able to take a vacation without answering customer service emails might be a nice change. 🙂

So consider this a warning shot, our replacement parts might not be available much longer.  Stay tuned.

Update 2/12/24

Oh what a mess Amazon’s support is.  A case filed under one issue type they told me to file it under another issue type.  Then that case they told me it would be transferred to another group that could help and I would be contacted but wasn’t.  Then I opened a new case and they told me to file under the account health dashboard | listing policy violation. This approach managed to get three of the six listings transferred back to my brand ownership, but the other three just kept coming back as “no violation found”.  I am now six replies deep in another filed case trying to get them to get a clue.  For example, a typical response from Amazon:

We cannot make the suggested brand change to ASIN B017GRFQBW B0170TXUNM B0170TEWUW.

Kindly note that the detail page associated with this ASIN is controlled by the brand owner. Any product-related information on this ASIN must be submitted by the brand owner.

Right, that is exactly the problem I had to remind them for the umpteenth time.  So I am still in limbo on three of my listings, hoping for the best.

 

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Revere Ware find of the week: shiny new 12 qt stock pot on eBay

While this large stock pot isn’t from the vintage era, in my opinion the thicker copper bottom isn’t quite as critical in the stock pots as they are more than likely to be used for liquid items where “spreading the heat” isn’t quite as important.  While there are fair number of stock pots larger than 8 quarts on eBay, the vast majority of them are 8 quarts or less.  And to find a brand new one in the 12 quart size .. I’m not sure I’ve seen one in this size and this condition before.

So if you want to add a nice shiny trophy pieced to your collection, this might be the one for you.  The price is not unreasonable for what it is.

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Happy New Year Revere Ware!

Whatever you think of 2023, it was a good year for Revere Ware.  For starters, if our sales are any indication, interest in the brand is still as strong as ever; we came close to matching our pandemic sales high in 2023.  And the number of listings on eBay is still very high.

And, the Revere Ware brand has a new owner, someone that may actually care about it.

Perhaps I’ll even add some additional replacement parts this year.

I predict it will be a good year for Revere Ware.

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Get a square skillet

The Revere Ware square skillet is one of the most iconic pieces they ever made in the vintage period.  Nothing exemplifies this more than this ad (a framed copy of which is hanging in our kitchen.)

They aren’t common and they aren’t inexpensive.  But if you are a serious collector, it is a must have item.

There are a couple of them on eBay right now with lids that should polish up nice; they are from the same seller in fact. (Click on the images below for the eBay links.)

 

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The most common question we get – lid knob won’t fit screw

I’d venture a guess that a quarter of all questions we get are about this issue.  Probably untold more people return lid knobs (mostly on Amazon) because they think they got the wrong one. Take a look at these pictures that accompanied recent emails.

The questions are typically:

  • The replacement knob that I recently ordered X000W1KUXZ does not fit on my pot lid. As illustrated in the pictures attached the screw is much larger.
  • I recently purchased this knob to replace one that broke from my parents’ set from 1960 only to discover that the stem for the knob is larger and does not have threads!  Does any such replacement exist?
  • Problem is the hole in the knob is too small for my screw that is on my lid!  I am hoping you can help find the right one?

What you see in the above pictures is the nut insert from the old knob that has stuck to the lid screw.  The corrosion on the nut insert and the state of the old knob is a pretty good indicator why; the disparate metals (typically aluminum and stainless steel) and the moisture trapped under the knob promotes corrosion which bind the screw and nut together, as the Bakelite in the knob corrode around it from years of use, and probably cleaning in the dishwasher.

The solution is to try and unscrew the nut from the screw with a pair of pliers.  Most of the time this is successful.  Some of the time the corrosion is bad enough that the screw will break off.  If that happens, you can drill a hole and use a separate screw, as we’ve outlined here.

Hopefully this new post, and the addition of the most recent posts to our home page will help more people find this information.

 

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Revere Ware brand acquired by Full Sail IP Partners

The Revere Ware brand has been acquired from Instant Brands by Full Sail IP Partners, an intellectual property firm. They say:
Revere Ware is a classic American brand with a strong heritage of quality and innovation. We believe Revere Ware has the potential to be a leading player in the cookware market once again and are confident that Full Sail IP Partners is the right partner to help Revere Ware achieve its full potential.
Sounds promising They also say:
Full Sail IP Partners plans to build the Revere Ware brand and expand its product line at retail by cultivating strategic licensing partnerships not only in cookware but also in other complementary areas such as bakeware, flatware, dinnerware, kitchen gadgets and others that align with Revere Ware’s brand equity. The company also plans to launch a new website and social media presence for the brand.

The Revere Ware name was milked for all its brand value for several decades before the cookware was discontinued in 2018, so color me skeptical that this won’t turn out to be more of that.  But on the other hand, I welcome anything that keeps the brand going.

I searched the Instant Brands bankruptcy for information on the sale of the Revere Ware brand, but was unable to find anything.  It appears they sold substantially all of the cookware products division assets in late September / early October to a holding company set up to purchase the assets.  I’m guessing that this holding company has sold off the Revere Ware brand rights to Full Sail OP Partners.

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Credit card ordering glitch 11/9/23 (fixed)

Looks like starting last night the setup with our merchant processor got messed up and credit card charges started failing.  We called them today and they said “It is a known issue.  Let me fix it, run some test transactions, and call you back” so I expect it will be fixed shortly.

Update: it is fixed now

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