So I knew a few things were dropping tonight on their site, and I’ve never attempted to do any business from there, but I thought I’d check it out. I get on there and find out that it’s not really first come first serve, it’s everyone add as many things as quickly as possible and then decide what to get. After that it’s whoever can refresh and click add enough times to get stuff thrown out after 10 minutes gets their chance to decide if they want that thing or not. That is kind of upsetting, but the main thing that bothers me are the price hikes. FG’s are a great deal I hear, but many people have been begging for solid colors from CLYW and finally it’s done again on the BvM2, but the price is 15.00 more than the same yoyo with 3 colors. They did less work, didn’t have to go through a middle man, aren’t losing anything on shipping across the border, only made 8 of the solid color, and charged a lot more for it. Same deal with the Yeti. It’s 20.00 more (not including shipping) for a yoyo that people are dying to get their hands on but can’t even though it was mass produced, but CLYW can find the time to get so many grey Yetis ready to ship for a 50% mark up (again before shipping is calculated. Figure that in and it’s almost a 100% mark up.) I’m not trying to sound like a whiny kid, of which I am neither of those things, but I just feel let down. Maybe I’m looking at it all wrong. If so, reply and let me know what you think.
I think you are looking into this too much, and should buy what you like if available, and appreciate the good that the company has done for the community.
bark
Actually, those prices are in CAD so it’s a little bit less 
It’s called business. Live with it.
Not surprising
Just don’t buy direct if you are so upset… I 2nd Haru
I had the opposite reaction… I thought, “That’s a reasonable approach.” After seeing “not available” for 3 choices of Puffin colourway, I selected one that was fine. Went to the checkout and then at the last minute I thought, “Ehhhh… I don’t REALLY need this” and removed it from my cart.
I felt good knowing that it’d be available to someone else wanting it.
If it’s “race to a completed credit card transaction”, you’d have people who think they’re getting a yoyo, entering a bunch of information, and only at the last minute having the system say, “There isn’t really one available anymore… uh… sorry bout that…”
There’s no perfect system. When there are physical goods (must-have toys at Christmas), people wait in line for hours at a door, get trampled (to death!) and may not even get the item they waited so long for.
Again, there’s no perfect way to do this. But I felt the “as soon as you add to cart, it’s reserved for you for 10 minutes” system is about as good as it gets. This is a luxury item, and not only that-- a toy one! Your life won’t end if you miss out on a Fool’s Gold BvM2 or whatever. And knowing that, don’t let it anger or upset you so much. Name a better system than this and I’ll point out its flaws and opportunities to complain.
I respect CLYW for everything they do, and even moreso for at least attempting to do this the best possible way. So, MORE respect over here… not less.
I bought one of the grey Yetis.
$60 is a bargain for a prototype run of 50 of something that is going to retail at $45 anyway. I used to get $100+ for prototype Freehands and they weren’t nearly as cool as this Yeti is.
The Fool’s Gold prices are basically wholesale…not really sure how you can complain about getting something for 50% off?
THIS.
You are looking at supply and demand my friend yes I know it sucks most of the time so you live with it anyways.
The yetis are a very very limited run in that color and material. It’s a different type of plastic than the first run black. And it only comes in that color. It won’t be found on their site again.
As far as the putting things in your cart, yes that sucks, but it’s strategy I suppose…
What kills the cost is $15 for shipping to the US. But if you truly want it (fools gold are only sold directly from clyw) you gotta spend the money to ship it. The fools gold yoyos are a steal, Chris is picky and let’s a yoyo with the slightest vibe go, or the slightest ano flaw. It’s great for someone like me who doesn’t want to spend over $85 for a clyw yoyo.
Overall, it’s clyw’s site, they can do whatever they want with their products.
They can’t please everyone, but they do what they can.
I’ve been waiting for this drop for the past 2 weeks and I had my two yoyos picked and ready to add to cart and they sold out in 5 mins. I was sooooooo disheartened :'(. Well better luck next time…
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I still give clyw the most respect possible.
FG CLYW used to be about -$25 from their A-grades. Nie they’re half off. Sounds legit to me…
Edit: And the shopping cart thing does suck (I was trying to get a puffin), but that seems to just be poor online store design rather CLYW being jerks.
Chris can’t undercut his dealers. Think of how Andre would feel if you could buy directly from Chris at a discount ! How inspired would he be to sell CLYW YoYo’s if he did that to you as one of his primary dealers.
Most manufactures do not even sell factory direct.
It’s all good.
I appreciate all of the input guys. I just want to clear something up real quick. As I said in the OP, the FG deals are great. I have no complaints there. I’ve never used one but I’ve only heard good things, and I just got my first B-grade yoyo (KLR) and after trying it for a couple of throws before having to silicone it I would love to try an A grade. There can’t be too much more smoothness to the A grades. Back to the point… I respect CLYW and I have posted in multiple threads wishing Chris the best of luck with his company, the Yeti project which was quite an investment, and praising the quality of his products in general. I just lost some of that respect when I see the significant price hike of a solid color yoyo that lots of people want from CLYW, and the fact that so few were produced. Those two go hand in hand. Lots of people have been asking for solid CLYW’s, but instead of them becoming available in similar quantities to the splashes which require more time and effort there were very few produced and sold at a premium. The Yeti is in a kind of similar situation. The grey Yetis aren’t made of a different material, they just have grey colorant in them. They also aren’t prototypes, the site says they were made in the same batch as the Yetis that the team used at Worlds, and I was under the impression that those were made after the black Yetis. Chris has said that he has 1000 Yetis that just need assembled and they are ready to go. Instead of assembling and selling those, the grey Yetis were pushed out first at a premium. The website thing isn’t that bad, but the pricing and circumstances surrounding the release bothers me. Like I said, I lost a little respect for CLYW. I still have respect for the company. They do a lot of great things, and I hope they stay around for a long time.
I can appreciate being unhappy with the price hike but I don’t really know how much more effectively they can do the actual sales. It sounds like as soon as something is added to cart it becomes unavailable on the site? I would prefer sitting there refreshing to see if someone removed it from their cart than trying to rush through the checkout process and having it turn me down at the end with a “just kidding, someone beat you to it”.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I cannot stand the current FG engravings. The small old ones are okay but the ones they use these days are hideous to me. I’ve never owned a FG before although I would definitely consider picking one up if it was just small ano flaws (even with a little bit of vibe, the FG stuff seems like an absolute steal) but the FG engravings are total deal breakers for me. Maybe I’m the only one. Different strokes for different folks.
I may be one of the first to say that I understand some of your sentiments on this one. There will be times when you are the fan of a business, and they do not always do things the way you would like to see them done. But, some of those decisions are based on factors you are not privy to, or beyond the company’s control.
I think you might be better off sending a private note to CLYW about your disappointment on this, and you might get a better answer about why this particular round of sales went the way that it did. Not every business will share with you the details of how they run things, but perhaps they can make arrangements for you the next time there is a limited release. Let them know specifically what it is that you were attempting to buy, and you never know, they may still have something around that suits your needs at that price. They may still be in a position to accommodate you. You never know.
There is no person, celebrity, company that you will be a fan of, that won’t disappoint you at some point. I see it as a fact of life really. The only thing you can do is appreciate the business for what they bring to the table, and the good they have done, and weigh it against those few disappointments. Only a true fan will stick it out when things don’t go their way. When I offer a business my total support, I always give them the benefit of the doubt, or contact them directly to ask questions. But, I keep in mind that it is not my business, I don’t know all the details, I don’t know all the challenges, and everything cannot go my way. I may be one of many supporters or fans that they are trying to satisfy.
I just made a note on Instagram and CLYW replied promptly. My guess is, if you share your feelings with them directly, they will offer you a better perspective. Keep in mind that CLYW is working within the limitations of their website software, in attempt to bring you some limited special items. There was less supply than demand for some of the items, and people have to work within the limitations of the software.
I don’t get into discussing company’s prices, because we don’t know anything about CLYW’s overall costs, debts, or expenses. If they sell some items to cover their costs, let’s just help them keep the business going, so we can enjoy some more great releases.
I understand your feelings, but think they are better expressed directly to CLYW. If you send a message in a respectful manner, as a fan who is a bit disappointed, they will understand and appreciate that you cared to buy in the first place. Trust me on that. If you were a fan, continue to totally support them, because they cannot satisfy everyone all the time. These disappointments will be few and far between.
This time was ridiculous, it took minutes for everything to be gone. Snagged a puffin, but I wanted more, alas, no luck. Last time they were on for a few days. Sorry dude, maybe next time? It’s not like its a once a year event.
I agree 100%.
This. Believe it or not YoYoJam does disappoint me at times. I died inside when their booth didn’t show up at BAC. I also got kind mad when my trigger broke, it’s like the best 5A yoyo IMO but the design has very little durability, the rim shattered the first time I dropped it. But I have never lost a single bit of respect for them. I gain more with every yoyo they release. I still play the Trigger. Im always stalking their Facebook posts to see where they might show up. The Quest was kinda expensive, but that didn’t stop me from getting one. I have some of their best models in my case (Titan 3, Diamondback, H3X, Quest, Theory, XLR8, etc.)