
How does Hammacher Schlemmer survive in the age of Amazon? - pepys
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/August-2018/Hammacher-Schlemmer/
======
wink
This was an interesting read. I had to think of The Wirecutter. Do some tests
and then present "the best X". (I've heard quite some criticism over the
Wirecutter and don't want to argue, for lack of real knowledge).

When I'm well invested in a topic, I might research for hours and then buy
"the best", but for thing where I just want a "not shitty" option (say, an
umbrella maybe?) I like this model. I wish there were more sites like that,
where I can trust the opinion/result enough to not have to research for
myself.

~~~
alexhutcheson
I think that’s a big part of the appeal of Costco. For most items, you only
have one or two choices, and they are fairly reliably good, so you don’t have
to think too much about it.

~~~
michaelbuckbee
I didn't make the connection to Costco, but you're absolutely right as Costco
also has a similar set really good guarantees.

~~~
cmurf
Electronics excepted, 90 day return policy, which also includes major
appliances.
[https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1...](https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1191)

I can vouch for coverage for minor electronics: I was able, without complaint
or even a question from Costco, to swap out a Braun electric toothbrush that
failed somewhere around year 1. The replacement is going on ~5 years. (The
brushes are frigging expensive compared to a manual toothbrush, that's where
the money is, give away the battery+motor for free!)

~~~
ben1040
When Costco reduced the electronics return period to 90 days, they also
started extending the manufacturer warranty to 2 years, so they still have
your back more than most retailers do. They just cracked down on people
returning computers and TVs several years after purchase, and getting a free
upgrade.

~~~
cmurf
When was this? I bought a TV barely a year ago and it's a flat 1 year warranty
with paid upgraded warranty. And then a number of years ago my mom bought an
Apple iPod which failed within 6 months and Costco shrugged, said it wasn't
covered beyond 90 days at all.

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alex_hitchins
Amazon isn't really a competitor to them at all it seems. You go to Amazon to
get stuff you know you need. You read the HS catalog to find the stuff you
didn't know you need. That's how I perceive it anyway, as an outsider to the
US.

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INTPenis
We have other catalogs like these in Sweden and my 70+ year old father is one
of their consumers. He just doesn't understand computer interfaces enough. A
catalog is the extent of what he can grasp outside of regular stores.

When someone feels insecure online. Not sure what they're doing or what they
can trust. Then they turn away from the internet.

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itom
I think we’ll come a full circle … not only with e-commerce but also with
search in general. Instead of being bombarded with 1000’s of products/blue
links, we will want few, highly curated products/links that we can blindly
trust.

~~~
dzhiurgis
Reddit has r/buyitforlife that hints that way, but I really want a sub for
premium products that I can enjoy (Bose QC, Allbirds, Icebreaker, Airpods,
etc)

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julienfr112
Someone has to do the sorting between good and bad products. Amazon bet on
buyer reviews to do that, but seeing the fake reviews and all (dozen of post
on that subject on HN), it's not working so well. So the seller has to do the
job.

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pnathan
This is a great case study in niche sales. You see this pop up in small online
businesses. The _one_ risk right now that is pointedly raised here is that the
niche is, unfortunately, young execs in the 80s - they are aging now!

Very cool business study about delivering perceived value.

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astatine
I am surprised to know they exist. As an occasional visitor to the US 15-20
years ago, I used to be enamoured of this catalog and would often read it end
to end (and a similar one present on some flights - though, I can't recollect
which one). I used to wish I could buy some of the cool stuff in there. Some
were fantastically drool-worthy; at least as I remember the then me feeling.

~~~
mturmon
The similar airplane-pocket catalog might perhaps have been The Sharper Image
([https://www.sharperimage.com/si/](https://www.sharperimage.com/si/)) ?

~~~
colanderman
Or the sadly now-defunct SkyMall. [1] It was the Weekly World News of mail-
order catalogs. Though apparently there are plans to publish again.

Apparently also they were affiliated with Hammacher Schlemmer.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyMall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyMall)

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pbreit
Consumers are hungry for curation. Not surprising at all.

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wccrawford
How do they survive Amazon? By relying on lazy people.

The "barber eliminator" is mentioned in the article. I thought it was
interesting, and within my budget and started to consider purchasing it.

But then I thought: What if Amazon has it cheaper? Pro tip: It's 2/3 the price
on Amazon. Same exact product. You can even search "barber eliminator" on
Amazon and find it under its real name.

So how do they survive? By providing a curated list of products to people too
lazy to search for a better price.

~~~
Retric
Except _caveat emptor_ Amazon might have the product or a reasonable fake.

~~~
lisper
And, not infrequently, an unreasonable one.

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samstave
Isn't this the one which starts every single product description with some
version of "the world's best (object which does this thing)"?

~~~
cmroanirgo
Not quite, but a very healthy percentage of all start with 'The'. eg: 'The
Fitbit Alta Heart Rate Monitor' [0][1]

[0] [https://www.hammacher.com/category/electronics-
gadgets?promo...](https://www.hammacher.com/category/electronics-
gadgets?promo=topnav_elec_gadgets)

[1] [https://www.hammacher.com/product/fitbit-alta-heart-rate-
mon...](https://www.hammacher.com/product/fitbit-alta-heart-rate-
monitor?promo=electronics-gadgets)

~~~
wccrawford
It looks like they have a "the best" category for a lot of stuff, but their
slogan is now incorporating "the best, the only, and the unexpected" now.

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thrillgore
Simple: They don't. I get the sense (based on my family at least) that their
audience is boomers that aren't really tech savvy looking for easy gifts. Once
this existing audience base dies off, they'll struggle and ultimately be
acquired.

Since they're based off mass-mailing of catalogs, they know their effective
target is not a tech-savvy audience. They've run the numbers and they figure
this demograph is a sufficient one to market to.

~~~
jermaustin1
The majority of their revenue comes from online sales.

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genericacct
TBH HS was doing e-commerce on compuserve at least a decade before amazon even
existed

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siruncledrew
I'll be honest: The first time I heard of Hammacher Schlemmer was when Dwight
mentioned it in the Niagara Falls episode of The Office. It's pretty
interesting to read more about them.

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donjoe
Ey! I always thought Hammacher and Schlemmer only existed as characters of
Beerfest...

