Current Status of Delay
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hey Aussie mates, just saw the news,... 40 container's fall off ship in high seas off NNSW, (diverted to Brisbane) on ship from China en route to Melbourne.
My guess our sparks are coincidentally on one of those 40 out the 4000 on the ship.
Considering I got notified they left about 3 weeks ago, and limited shipping nowdays due to covid, the time frame is about right.
I unfortunately have to break the bad news, those that don't ask for a refund, will be receiving their Sparks by October. -
@crystalpit The ship stopped off the Sunshine Coast (where I live) - was tempted to swim out and find my Spark!
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@crystalpit Won't make a difference now it's under the sea :)
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Two big announcements today. At some point last night, PG passed $15,000,000 in gross sales revenue received for advance sales. The total amps sold now stands at 63,376. Approximately 2/3 of units sold and gross sales revenue are now from the "Las Chance" specials. Unlike previous occasions, PG has not increased the number of Amp+Phones "Last Chance" specials in well over a week (it has been locked at 4,200) Maybe they ran out of headphone.
Second big announcement is that my "Power Supporter" amp, ordered 12/3, will be delivered today, 5/27, so it will be just short of 6 months from order.
Maybe I will do a video,
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@jameswwiggin said in Current Status of Delay:
At some point last night, PG passed $15,000,000 in gross sales revenue received for advance sales.
You keep stating this as if it's a fact, but I'm sure you're aware that they don't actually get the money until the item is delivered to the customer. Until then it's held by a third party LLC.
It's not as if they're rolling about on a bed of everyone's money.
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@mcgillivray-kevin No, I'm not aware of that fact. The notice at the bottom of the FAQ and Returns page is "Positive, LLC." The notice at the bottom of the store pages is "Positive Grid, LLC." I would venture a guess those are related entities and that one is possibly a holding company of the other. What third party LLC?
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Well, around seven weeks after I started tracking and posting updates on PG's order and revenue status, and a little less than six months after placing my Power Supporter order on 12/3, I have on 5/27 received my Spark, several hours earlier than Fed-X projected. It is real and works. The amp sounds great--I just kind of suck.
I probably won't be as obsessed about tracking it since I'll be so busy practicing, but here is where we stand as of a few minutes ago. PG has now accepted 63,692 for a total gross sales revenue of $15,108,900.00. Approximately $5,000,000.00 has been taken in over the past seven weeks and the "Last Chance" specials now constitute approximately 2/3 of total orders and revenues. They have still not extended the amp+phones special, but are still increasing available "Last Chances" for the other two deals.
I have also been posting on the FB page, so will add here a word about shipping projections. I am guessing that PG has just about shipped all of the first three tiers of deals--through Power Support--which would total 10,050 units. Assuming that is roughly the case, there are another 41,842 units to deliver, even if PG doesn't sell another unit after tonight. At the rate at which the first 10,050 units were delivered, it will take nearly two years for PG to deliver the remaining units. I only mention this because people who have ordered recently keep asking, When will I receive my unit? I suspect PG will increase its manufacturing capacity and streamline its distribution chain. Otherwise, it will be a long, long wait.
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@jameswwiggin said in Current Status of Delay:
@mcgillivray-kevin No, I'm not aware of that fact. The notice at the bottom of the FAQ and Returns page is "Positive, LLC." The notice at the bottom of the store pages is "Positive Grid, LLC." I would venture a guess those are related entities and that one is possibly a holding company of the other. What third party LLC?
This is part of a reply someone got from support some time ago. It was posted on The Gear Page forum -
"If it's any consolation, we don't receive your money until your unit arrives at your door. The money is held by an intermediary company until the order is fulfilled, this is how we've opted to do things, we're not just here to scam you; nothing has been further from the truth. This is why it's possible for you to request a refund and you will receive it in full."
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/30311439/
I presume Positive LLC is the holding company set up for this purpose, as that's the company my money was paid to.
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@mcgillivray-kevin Well, that implies the money is held in escrow by a third-party, which I suppose is possible but I'm skeptical. The last sentence of the quote is nonsensical. You could request a refund from PG and receive it from PG if they received the money directly, assuming they did not spend all of it. The entire purpose of the pre-launch specials was to provide PG with the capital needed to prime the pump for manufacturing how would it do that the money were held in escrow? I suppose they could have obtained some short-term bridge financing based on the escrow, but that seems like a roundabout way of doing things.
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@jameswwiggin Yeah maybe, but the important thing is - How are you finding your Spark amp? All ok with it?
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@mcgillivray-kevin As many people are saying, it's worth the wait. I've seen some people complain about noise but mine is absolutely silent, even turned way up. The only time I've heard any noise at all seems to be when it was intentionally injected into the tone settings by the author. I've run a cheap guitar through it and it sounds great, especially with the noise gate on. It seems to be very well made and the best thing is that nearly all the magic is done with software so PG will be improving it for years.
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@jameswwiggin said in Current Status of Delay:
@mcgillivray-kevin As many people are saying, it's worth the wait. I've seen some people complain about noise but mine is absolutely silent, even turned way up. The only time I've heard any noise at all seems to be when it was intentionally injected into the tone settings by the author. I've run a cheap guitar through it and it sounds great, especially with the noise gate on. It seems to be very well made and the best thing is that nearly all the magic is done with software so PG will be improving it for years.
So, can we clear something up about noise? I think many people don't quite get the noise gate thing.
If you use a high gain setting, you have to control the excess noise/hum/buzz with the noise gate? Using a low gain or clean setting, you don't experience any excess noise at all? Is that correct?
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wakes up what ?! amps here ?! oh. nope. nvm. goes back to sleep
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@mcgillivrThat's correct. I don't even know it's turned on unless I see the lights.
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OK, sometime last night, PG passed the $16,000,000.00 mark in "pre-launch" gross revenue, with 67,475 units sold. Over 68% (2/3rds) of those units are "Last Chance" specials, although it has clearly never been the "Last Chance."
It appears PG is just about finished delivering Power Supporter orders and is shipping Player's Specials. That means they have shipped at least 10,050 units but implies they have around 45,625 left to ship. Deliveries seem to be accelerating a bit but at the current rate it will take two years to fill last nights orders.
We all want PG to be successful so that they will continue to support and improve the product for years. I trust that some of that $16,000,000 will be applied towards increasing manufacturing capacity and streamlining distribution channels.
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@jameswwiggin Congrats on finally getting the amp. It's interesting that Positive Grid say that orders ship on a first come first serve basis. I ordered mine on the 27th of November last year as a Power Supporter order. It still hasn't shipped. I've been patient but this is getting ridiculous. I've cancelled and asked for a refund.
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Does anyone that has received their amp want to share what their order # was? I'm not sure they are actually sending them out by number. I would guess there is some logistics involved depending on your location, etc. but I'm curious. I wouldn't be surprised if I still have a couple of months (or more) to wait based on what we are seeing. Ordered mine mid March (#158139), so yeah, definitely not at the front of the line. I'm just learning and this is my first amp so maybe I'll know how to play something by the time I get it ;-)
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@aroshajayawardena Yes 7 months out is beyond belief. New amp will be out by the time people get their orders they are just placing now, hilarious.
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FYI, ordered the Last Chance Special on may 28th and just out of curiosity, I asked support for an ETA and here is what I got back "will be shipping out all Last Chance Special orders starting mid-June and continue throughout July". I have to remind myself that mine was a "Pre-order" and not a regular order. Also, it wasn't a reservation, so the fact that they took my money doesn't bother me. As a company I'm sure it's hard to commit a bunch of resources to increase production without at least some sort of funding. To each his own and you have a right to be upset if you ordered several months ago with no communication of where things are. But for me, I'm happy that I'm on the list and the I personally got an update when I asked.
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@cbrandst That's what it says on the web-site when you order the "Last Chance Special," so the "update" you received was just a repetition of what they've been saying for months. As that same ordering page that lists the "Last Chance Specials" also shows that while some of the earlier specials have shipped, there are versions which still say "Shipping Now" and others which still say "Estimated Delivery April to May." So they are obviously at least two months behind their original estimates of when they will be shipping. And those are for batches of very limited amounts, 7500 sold, 3300 sold, 1000 sold. The version and time period I ordered is still taking orders and the versions on that tier (the last tier) are showing that there will be 29510 of the amp alone, 12460 of the amp with the bag, and the sold-out version of the amp with the headphones is showing 4200 sold. So there are 11800 amps to be made and shipped in the "estimated delivery April - May 2020" before they start on the production and shipping of the 42170 amps to be made and shipped in the "estimated delivery June-July 2020" categories.
If I get mine before December I'll be surprised!