Would you pay for a branded milk crate

Would you pay for a milk crate for your bike if it had the logo of your favorite bike club/non profit/cause ?
How much?



Just a thought.


Views: 2534

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Finch on June 9, 2010 at 7:39am
The charm for me isn't that they are free (though I agree that's probably the reason for most people), it was because they are the perfect size & depth for fitting everything I need for my commute. I don't like panniers or front baskets (I like everything centered directly behind me), and didn't want to pay nearly 100 bucks for a special branded rack, with the special basket that snaps to it. So yeah, as long as it is as roomy as a milk crate, it doesn't have to look like one.
Permalink Reply by rik on June 9, 2010 at 7:46am
I will order 3.


Active Transportation Alliance said:
Hmmmmm....we will have to put this in our list of merchandise to explore. Do agree with Heather about the need to keep it cheap. Licensing, trademarks, partnerships, merchandise, distribution...so many challenges!

Ethan, with Active Trans
Permalink Reply by Dubi Kaufmann on June 9, 2010 at 8:31am
Here are the numbers I found from one vendor.
http://glasurepackaging.com/pages/milk_crates.htm
200 branded crates would cost $6.89

Also,

The dairies pay about $4 a crate. Probably because they buy them in huge numbers.

A crate at container store costs $10.

Active Transportation Alliance said:
Hmmmmm....we will have to put this in our list of merchandise to explore. Do agree with Heather about the need to keep it cheap. Licensing, trademarks, partnerships, merchandise, distribution...so many challenges!

Ethan, with Active Trans
Permalink Reply by igz on June 9, 2010 at 9:13am
i think the basic issue is that these crates are in fact 'free' otherwise. so like mentioned before, making these crates a bit more bike specific could be the selling point, but would likely raise the price point, and move further away from the point.

at the same time, even tho milk crates arent 'bike specific' they do already offer quite a bit of utility and versatility.

so i guess i must pose the question...what improvements can be made to a milk crate for bike purposes??
Permalink Reply by dan brown on June 9, 2010 at 9:19am
I can think of a couple off-hand (since I use my 'bike with a trunk' most days) :

1) a lid that locks (like a basic hasp and combo lock) - when I lock my bike with junk in it..I worry about the contents

2) reflective material on the sides and rear

3) built in bungee cords (I ghetto rigged one to mine for a cheapo-lid)



iggi said:
i think the basic issue is that these crates are in fact 'free' otherwise. so like mentioned before, making these crates a bit more bike specific could be the selling point, but would likely raise the price point, and move further away from the point.

at the same time, even tho milk crates arent 'bike specific' they do already offer quite a bit of utility and versatility.

so i guess i must pose the question...what improvements can be made to a milk crate for bike purposes??
Permalink Reply by Dubi Kaufmann on June 9, 2010 at 9:31am
The conersation changed direction, I'll go with it. :)

A lid can be fashioned out of the bottom of another crate. we know it is designed to fit right in.


dan brown said:
I can think of a couple off-hand (since I use my 'bike with a trunk' most days) :

1) a lid that locks (like a basic hasp and combo lock) - when I lock my bike with junk in it..I worry about the contents

2) reflective material on the sides and rear

3) built in bungee cords (I ghetto rigged one to mine for a cheapo-lid)



iggi said:
i think the basic issue is that these crates are in fact 'free' otherwise. so like mentioned before, making these crates a bit more bike specific could be the selling point, but would likely raise the price point, and move further away from the point.

at the same time, even tho milk crates arent 'bike specific' they do already offer quite a bit of utility and versatility.

so i guess i must pose the question...what improvements can be made to a milk crate for bike purposes??
Permalink Reply by Marty A. on June 10, 2010 at 5:07am
But is it legal to own them in Chicago? Not in NYC . . . . And I want cheaper milk for my Strawberry Quick!!!

Return Crates, Milk Industry Says
By JAY ROMANO
THEY are used as bookcases, file boxes and record bins. Plumbers carry tools in them, students store their clothes in them and children pack them full of favorite toys.

Milk crates. Just about everyone has at least one of the sturdy plastic catchalls tucked away in a basement, attic or garage. But all those crates, literally hundreds of thousands of them, belong to someone else.

''They're private property,'' said Marc Goldman, president of Farmland Dairies in Wallington, whose company ''loses'' more than 200,000 crates each year. In New Jersey alone, Mr. Goldman said, the dairy industry spends about $4 million a year to replace the crates, an amount that ultimately results in higher milk prices forconsumers.

Although the industry has tried over the years to persuade the public to return the crates (each one costs about $4 to manufacture and has the name of the owner imprinted on it), never before has a company taken a hard-line approach to get them back. Until now.

''We just found this guy who was in the business of dealing in our stolen cases,'' Mr. Goldman said. ''He called us up and said, 'I have your cases and want to sell them back to you.' ''

Mr. Goldman said that the caller, Robert Voigt of CVM Plastics Recycling in Dunellen, wanted Farmland to pay him $1 for each crate. Farmland, however, was not buying. ''We went down there with the police and recovered 162 cases,'' Mr. Goldman said, ''and now we're pressing charges.'' Farmland recently filed a complaint against CVM in Dunellen Municipal Court, he said.

A spokesman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's office said that CVM had been charged with illegal possession of milk crates, receiving and trafficking in stolen property. The latter two charges, the spokesman said, are indictable offenses that carry penalties of up to $7,500 in fines and five to 10 years in prison.

A representative of CVM, reached at the company's office, declined to comment.

Representatives of the dairy industry, however, are not so restrained.

''It's about time somebody did something,'' said Dan Marx, general manager of the Clinton Milk Company in Newark, a dairy packager much smaller than Farmland. ''I buy at least 3,000 cases a month,'' Mr. Marx said. ''That means that I lose at least 3,000 cases a month. It's amazing; I've had to hire a full-time employee just to go out tracking down cases.''

Gene Madill, president of Tuscan Dairies in Union, said: ''It's an industrywide problem. You would be astonished at the number of cases that go out of here and never come back.'' Although New Jersey is considered to have a strict law on illegal possession of milk cases, Mr. Madill said, enforcement of it is sporadic at best.

''We have people who appear at our guardhouses with four or five cases,'' he said. ''They ask the guard to sign a receipt for them. I guess some police officer told them to return the cases and get some proof that they did.'' Under state law, law-enforcement officials said, illegal possession of one to nine milk crates is punishable by a fine of up to $100, and a person found guilty of possessing more than nine cases could be fined up to $500 and sentenced to up to 30 days in jail. Attempts to dissuade people from hoarding the cases, including a printed warning threatening possible prosecution, have largely proved unsuccessful.

''We believe that we have filled just about every need there is out there for milk crates,'' Mr. Madill said, ''but they just keep on disappearing.''
Permalink Reply by John Greenfield on June 10, 2010 at 7:32am
I've seen a couple of bikes around with very nice, purpose-built wooden cargo crates
on their racks:
http://www.velorbis.com/classic-vintage-bicycle/velorbis-bicycle-ac...

One of these branded with the logo of your favorite cause, e.g. Active Trans, would certainly
be worth paying for. They may already be available at Dutch Bikes, Copenhagen Cyclery or
De Fietsfabriek. It would be easy to hire someone to make them locally, too.

John Greenfield
Permalink Reply by igz on June 10, 2010 at 7:56am
hand made by your local bike heros...thats a nice touch

John Greenfield said:
I've seen a couple of bikes around with very nice, purpose-built wooden cargo crates
on their racks:
http://www.velorbis.com/classic-vintage-bicycle/velorbis-bicycle-ac...

One of these branded with the logo of your favorite cause, e.g. Active Trans, would certainly
be worth paying for. They may already be available at Dutch Bikes, Copenhagen Cyclery or
De Fietsfabriek. It would be easy to hire someone to make them locally, too.

John Greenfield
Permalink Reply by Old Tom on June 10, 2010 at 8:46am
The dairies should hire a guy to go around and steal the things back. Drive around in a truck and when you see one on a bike or wherever you just take it back.

Ahh, you'd probably have to steal back a couple of hundred a day to make it a going concern.
Permalink Reply by Marty A. on June 10, 2010 at 10:47am
I have heard this logic on another thread . . . . hmmmm

Old Tom said:
The dairies should hire a guy to go around and steal the things back. Drive around in a truck and when you see one on a bike or wherever you just take it back.

Ahh, you'd probably have to steal back a couple of hundred a day to make it a going concern.
Permalink Reply by Duppie on June 11, 2010 at 7:43am
This guy is already doing that

John Greenfield said:
It would be easy to hire someone to make them locally, too.

RSS

Groups

© 2008-2016   The Chainlink Community, L.L.C.   Powered by

Disclaimer  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service