

Ask HN: would you pay $199 to survive the zombie apocalypse? - nooron

My friends and I like to build full-stack (food, tools, aid, the works) emergency kits for ourselves.<p>Now we&#x27;d like to bring emergency preparation to folks beyond your crazy but well-intentioned uncle. We&#x27;d like to start by offering a 2-person, 3-meal-a-day, 1-month kit for $199.<p>I&#x27;d really appreciate your feedback below. If you&#x27;re feeling generous, we&#x27;d graciously accept your email on our landing page:<p>www.prep4.us<p>Thanks a bunch, HN.
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RogerL
No, I wouldn't.

Why? Because I already can do this, and I haven't. The internet is full of
survival gear/food packages, and I haven't bought any of them. Therefore, the
odds of me doing it with your company is about zero. I suspect this holds true
for most people; if so, what is your acquisition cost for a customer?

And then I wonder about your margins. You are selling 180 meals for $200,
which means your food price must be somewhere around 50 cents/meal for this to
be viable to you (and I think I'm being generous; I suspect the price has to
be lower - see acquisition costs above). How are you providing all those
calories for so little money? Your website offers to harvest my email, not
inform me, so I am admittedly in the dark here.

Do I just throw the food away at the end of the year? What is the food - is it
something I'd _want_ to eat? Is this not a problem I can solve by going to
Costco and buying a bunch of boxes of pasta and tinned tuna? These are the
questions that run through my brain.

In a real disaster, my problem is going to be potable water.

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wikwocket
I think you'll have much better success pitching this as a readiness kit for
natural disasters, or even to paranoid readiness nuts, than to zombie fiction
fans.

There is clearly interest in products like this, based on big ticket items I
see like home generators, canned food collections, solar-powered appliances,
etc. Not exactly mainstream but for the right price point, you could pitch it
as a cheap insurance policy.

I think what would be key would be clearly communicating all the cool stuff
you include in the kit, what disasters it would enable you to survive/thrive
in, and how, like a life insurance policy, this allows you to simply not worry
about $RARE_EVENTUALITY_X.

Also important will be getting this in front of the right people. Find out
where preparedness junkies congregate online, observe their discussions, and
ask them what they think.

~~~
dandrews
Natural disasters, yes. Many of us in hurricane-prone areas stock up on
batteries, LP gas, water, easy food before the season starts. One or two-week
power outages are no fun.

A friend of mine in SoCal keeps earthquake supplies in multiple closets in his
home, to improve the odds that he'll at least have water in case of a partial
collapse. He takes earthquake preparedness very seriously.

You can sell to us.

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joezydeco
Lots of companies are doing this already, so do your research.

[http://beprepared.com/essential-gear/emergency-
kits-1.html](http://beprepared.com/essential-gear/emergency-kits-1.html)

[http://beprepared.com/food-storage/year-supplies-and-
combos....](http://beprepared.com/food-storage/year-supplies-and-combos.html)

If you can offer a 1-month kit for $199 that might be an advantage. What type
of food do you offer for such a low price?

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JSeymourATL
Afraid asking HN is the wrong target. Suggest pinging the Zombie Fan Sites,
[https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadZombieFanPage](https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkingDeadZombieFanPage)

~~~
nooron
I appreciate the suggestion for more concrete targeting.

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mattmoss
$199 to survive fiction? More seriously, website doesn't load.

~~~
sp332
Zombie apocalypses are allegorical. They're allegorical for different things
at different times, so it's like a variable name for $DISASTER. The website
doesn't mention zombies either.

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coralreef
A lot of great points in this thread. Definitely a good idea to find a niche,
as your biggest differentiator will be marketing.

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fadiyahya
Cool idea. Yet, needs a better positioning. There is a Domain problem :(

Double check

~~~
nooron
Thanks for your input. It's back up now! www.prep4.us.

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lifeisstillgood
I was about to come in with some dumb answer about expected value, but I
actually think this is a neat idea.

I often worry (not a lot) about letting my family down being unprepared should
there be some real bad disaster, and so I would be interested in a couple of
packages like below:

* Holiday first aid and disaster kit and training My son recently cut his chin open in Greece and I realised I knew nothing about stitches, keeping them dry, had not got steri strips or bandages. Most people would pay decent cash for a holiday specific package (going to this country? You need these injections, got children of three years old - have a selection of these sterile what nots) Throw in a private YouTube showing how to use them and I would pay up (of course too late now but that's the market to go for :-) maybe insurance companies sell my data?)

* the civilisation collapses at home package - I don't have enough tinned goods and stuff to last. Not do I have enough water or first aid. Sell me big box to go in the garage that lasts three months (which is what I think you are doing) and I might be interested.

* sell me some sensible prep - like where to meet if the local oil refinery catches fire and we cannot get to our house, evacuation kits that are stored at some place sensible. Seems a bit odd

I like the idea of being prepared - and would pay for a book to tell me how,
and a weekend to do it. Being prepared on holiday is a much more realistic
market and I think worth investigating - but as for zombie apocalypse - nice
selling point, but I think it's going to be a loss leader to establish
credibility

