When I was reading about my Plastics Guy bump stops on T4R.org, I noticed that one day, his thread suddenly disappeared. Prior to its disappearance, there was a well known bump stop vendor (and forum sponsor) that was essentially placing their product ads via comments within Curtis’s product thread. After that company received some blow back from other forum members for trying to undermine Curtis and his products, the whole thread went missing. Now, nothing has been officially confirmed, but it is my suspicion that the company, which will remain un-named as to not give them free publicity, had the forum moderators shut his posts down and ignore Curtis’s requests to become a forum vendor.
A couple things here: First, as an American, I strongly believe in a free market and supporting small business owners and entrepreneurs, and if the Plastics Guy bump stops were in fact being blocked by another larger competitor, then they should be ashamed of themselves. I’m sure there was a time when they started off as a small company too, and they should appreciate that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking. Instead, it would seem that maybe our neighbors to the north (hint) don’t value that anymore. With that being said, this is a private forum, and they are entitled to do as they please. However, that brings about my next point.
Why are they feeling the need to block a competitor of such a small magnitude? That is meant as no offense to Curtis and his product either, it’s just the reality. His business is much smaller. My belief is because Curtis has personally engineered each bump stop specific to the vehicle model and has been able to produce a high quality product at a fraction of the price that the other company charges, and they know it. The bottom line is that there is room for both of them in the market and no reason to try and keep the newcomers out. Competition should be welcomed, because it drives us all to become better and continue to innovate, no matter the product. And if the expensive bump stops really make all the difference, then they should have no problem at all justifying their cost and meeting their sales numbers.
