Both the Arctic Circle 2nd Expedition and Gnarwhal 2 are 65 grams 
They didnât make a profit on the Yeti. Probably lost money.
That being said, theyâre probably going to be making a good bit more now that theyâre released.
Itâs not that theyâre not making good money b/c trust me, they ARE. Itâs that they can make MORE money by cutting out the middle man. It probably doesnât cost more than a few grand to make a run of around 100 yoyoâs and if they sell at an average of $130, thatâs $13 grand. They probably make anywhere from around 7-10 grand profit on a run of 100. Employees have to get paid and being a sponsor cost money and I guess they have a warehouse they work out of that cost money but when I just think about it, I would think thereâs making money hand over fist. If they make around 13 Gâs on a run of 100 think about selling 200-300. I donât know their production numbers but if theyâre selling 200-300 over the course of a month, youâre talking some pretty big money. That would be getting up to around $30,000-$40,000. Thatâs not all profit, but around 70% would be. This is just all me thinking out loud. I could be completely wrong. I would think it would be hard for most yoyo companyâs to make good money on making yoyoâs, but for CLYW, who is established and could make a run of dog $hit yoyoâs and call them the stinky pickle or something and all the kids would HAVE to have them. Really anything CLYW makes is going to sell.
I suspect that even when selling direct that they profit substantially less than 70% per yoyo.
Also Iâm really surprised that so few of these new releases are sold out. Only 2 Yeti colors and 28s/BBB AC2 last time I checked. Maybe this run was really big but I wouldâve thought a lot more would be sold out by now.
Letâs not pretend we know the numbers when we donât. Suffice it to say, Chris is doing his best to make sure he can make a proper living (to stay passionate, heâs going to have to do more than âscrape byâ) so that he can keep doing this. We donât need to know the numbers if we simply believe what he has told us, which I do.
Not sure why these threads always get derailed into speculation about CLYWâs business model. Answer the darned question: if you could pick one, which would you pick?
Iâll reiterate: Iâd go for the Puffin 2. 
haha did not mean to do that ;). Although, I am thankful for the information because I did not know the story. And also to reiterate I would go for the AC2!
Man, whatchasayin?
First off, a warehouse? For real?
Its not what you thinkâŚ
CLYW/Chirs designs a yoyo and has it made at a machine shop, then assembles at his HOUSE (aka, The Caribou âlodgeâ) and then sells them/ships themâŚ
He does not store them in a warehouse, he stores them in his boiler room lolâŚ
He pays his employes? You mean himself, his wife, and Charles Haycock (maybe Jensen Kimmit as well)âŚ
Its not a big operation. Him and his family plus Charles do it all for the most part.
To answer the question in the OPâŚIâm not sure. After I buy them all and play them for a while Iâll be able to answer the question much more easily!
^
Of course I donât know the exact numbers and I didnât say I did, thatâs why I said I could be completely wrong. I was really just meaning for the numbers to be approximate and the only reason I even wrote anything about any numbers at all is because someone said something about CLYW having to sale direct now b/c they were losing money or something along those lines. I meant for it to be more like a "If there were this many yoyoâs made and they retail at an avg. of $135, thatâs a lot of money. But if I wanted to write every little thing I thought in terms of how much money I thought CLYW made, I could had, because I can write whatever I want to write.
Whatâs the deal with acting like I said negative things about Chris and CLYW? Do you do that just so you can sound like a hero? I didnât say one negative thing about CLYW, as a matter of fact, all I said was I think they make good money. So itâs bad to say that I think that CLYW does well business wise? Isnât that the goal? You just said it yourself in that heâs doing his best to make a proper living and needs to do more than âscrape byâ. I know your reasoning for saying it was different, but you still said it. You said it so that hopefully Chris would come across this thread and see your little post and think you were taking up for him. Heâs just a person and CLYW is just a company and a yoyo is just a freaking toy. You speak of Chris like heâs some kind of God or like heâs the leader of your cult or something. Iâm so sorry for assuming that CLYW makes a lot of money, that was terribly wrong of me and from now on, Iâll never speak of CLYWâs âbusiness modelâ again.
And you can âanswer the darn questionâ and Iâll write whatever it is that I want to write. Quit going around and acting like a power tripping forum monitor. I know it makes you feel good to try and bully someone from behind your keyboard, but it makes you look like a d.bag.
I didnât mean warehouse as in a huge, 30,000 square foot building, I meant where ever he does his business stuff. And for all intents and purposes, it doesnât even matter what I called it. I was naming things that cost money for him, so when I said warehouse, I was just putting a label on the place he works from that has power and running water and things like that that cost money.
And whatâs the problem with me putting his employees down when making a list of costs for him? So Charles Haycock and Jensen Kimmit donât work for CLYW? Oh, thatâs right, they do. So therefore, they get paid. I even know of at least one member here that runs errands for Chris and gets yoyoâs in return. That could count as cost as well, b/c yoyoâs arenât free. Try again.
What just happened?
I think youâll discover I have no power⌠whatsoever⌠not powertripping, thatâs for sure! Although âacting like a d.bagâ may be how you interpret what I said.
I honestly didnât even reply to YOU directly. And I have no interest in being a hero. Donât see how suggesting we stay on topic and that we acknowledge that none of us truly understand the business model is âbullyingâ other than maybe you took it personally (it wasnât⌠I wasnât even replying to a particular person) and your feelings were hurt. Sorry about that. But your feelings being hurt doesnât equate to someone else being a âbullyâ, and thatâs a pretty harsh accusation to level at somebody. And actually, though I feel youâre overreacting, it makes me feel bad (not good) that someone perceives themselves to be the victim of bullying due to something I wrote. That sucks.
I am not even particularly a fan of CLYW exclusively though I loooove my Puffin. Most of my yoyos are not CLYW⌠if anything, I am known as kind of a SPYY fan. What I AM a bigger fan of is common sense, which is why I tend to stick my nose in sometimes when I smell a bit of âfertilizerâ being spread around. Iâll own that weakness⌠it probably doesnât make me the greatest person in the world, but just as you are claiming the right to do, I will claim the right to be myself and write what Iâm feeling.
As if yoyo manufacturing was rocket science. Thereâs a reason why every day a new yoyo manufacturer is announced and itâs not just b/c they love yoyoâs.
CLYW has one employee on staff - Charles. The entire business operates out of Chrisâs house. Chris pays fair prices to his artists, which says a hell of a lot about his character in a world where even huge corporations try to snake free art by hosting âcontestsâ with shitty contracts that cut off any future revenue streams to the artists who win. Or straight up ask for free art by promising âexposureâ in exchange.
Both I and all of you have no idea of the overall profit of any specific Return-top made by CLYW because it VARIES. Signatures have royalties paid out to the sponsored pro, Return-tops with art have commissions paid out to the artists who do them. There are cost every step of the way in ANY business. And when you factor in the hours put in, it gets even harder.
Iâm an artist - Iâm lucky to have a very manageable overhead, and low start up costs. However, I still have to spend a few thousand a year in tech and supplies. My biggest overhead is hours. I generally charge a flat rate for work (with limited rights to the images I create to keep the cost manageable to a client), and if a job spirals out of control I can end up making less than minimum wage on it.
Donât speculate on something you donât do, because youâre going to be wrong.
Also - BONFIRE. All of them look amazing (I have the AC2 and Gnarwhal 2, and theyâre GREAT players) - but word on the street is that the Bonfire is magical.
Donât speculate on something I donât do? Iâve never in my life seen so many people getting upset b/c I gave an opinion on how much a freaking company made. I even said I was just guessing and that I could be completely wrong so thanks for telling me that I was in fact, wrong. I guess you DO know the numbers that CLYW does. Where did I say that I knew there profits on a specific return-top? You have to be replying towards what I wrote, so tell me where I said I knew how much CLYW profited every year? You canât, b/c I didnât . So what are you even talking about? CLYW is the company that this thread was about and my reply was directed towards a comment made about why they were selling direct now instead of using a middle man. Any manufacturers name could replace CLYW in my reply. It was meant to be more off a guess on the money that can be made by a yoyo company. For Godâs sake, itâs not a big deal. Quit crying over spilt milk and nothing that has anything to do with you.
Oh boy! Another thread thatâs bound to be locked and deleted because of petty bickering. This is getting really old. All these so-called hurt feelings isnât any excuse for the kind of language I keep reading on this website. I come here for friendly talk about yo-yos and this is what I get? The topic of this thread was: If you could only pick one of the new CLYWs, which would you pick? If you donât have an answer you shouldnât post anything.
Gnarwhal 2. Looks so awesome and smooth!