Our design standards
What has to be true before we make something
Every product we release is held to the same standards. These are the rules we work to, written down so you can hold us to them as well.
One of three has to be true
If a product does not do at least one of these, it does not get made.
- It solves a real problem
- Something people in a hobby have worked around for years because nothing better exists. The improvised fix is the evidence.
- It provides education
- A genuine route into a discipline, taught the way it is actually practiced, not a simplified version that leaves you unable to do it again.
- It improves what exists
- A product already on the market that fails at the one thing it is supposed to do. We would rather fix that than add another clone that is not better or worse than what is already on the market.
How our e-learning content gets written
Instructional content is built from textbooks and industry authorities, not from the top ten search results. For niches where reliable information is genuinely scarce, we cross-reference books, academic research, databases, and working professionals until the answer holds up from more than one direction.
This research takes time, and it is why our kits teach you something you can repeat and do your own way rather than steps you followed once.
Materials and construction
We choose the production method each product actually needs, and we publish what it is made of.
Materials are stated
Every product page lists what it is made of and its dimensions. No mystery composition.
Fit is tested against the real thing
A case claiming to fit PSA, CGC and BGS slabs was checked against all three, not measured from a spec sheet.
Built for the journey
Protective products are judged on whether they survive shipping.
Branding policy
Some of our products are designed to be purchased in bulk and carry no branding, some use discreet branding, and others are flagship products that carry our branding.
Products change, and we say so
We update and reformulate. Some lines are limited or rotating and will not come back. When something changes materially, it gets a version number. The Perfume Creation Kit is on its third, and each one was a redesign rather than a refresh.
- Reformulated
- Redesigned
- Limited run
- Rotating line
What we will not do
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Run permanent sales
If something is discounted all year, the discount was the price. We rarely discount, and never deeply.
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Compete on being cheapest
We price for what a product does and what it costs to make properly.
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Ship a product to fill a gap in the catalog
Each vertical opens when we have something worth putting in it.
The Workbench
Hold us to it
If something we made does not meet the standard on this page, we want to know. And if you have found a problem worth solving, that is how the next product starts.