Price Comparison and Value
Potential customers from time to time email me asking why does my Out of Sight Litter Box cabinet cost so much more then others. My jokingly but serious short answer is that it is NOT because of profit margin, just ask my wife. So, let me here, compare and explain major differences between litter box cabinets, and mine, the Out of Sight Litter Box vs. others. And why mine costs more.
NOTE: This Blog was written before I sold my business… the new Owners, Wood Chip, LLC believes and holds true my same values as expressed in this posting. When you read below, “I, My or Mine” in this Blog… that was me talking, writing, but my thoughts below are the same as the new Owner. Wood Chip LLC will now do all the manufacturing in Fenton, MO. The Out of Sight Litter Box will continue to be MADE-IN-AMERICA!
1.) My Out of Sight Litter Box is Made-In-The-USA. Which cost more for labor, manufacturing and included items. I help employ about a dozen American workers within the manufacturer that I use located in Mocksville, North Carolina. All of those employees are concerned about Quality Control, and will NOT let any defect pass by them. I have read a few times on reviews of the other cabinet products, that upon arrival, the product had broken areas, or out of place drilled holes, or hardware missing. Most other’s manufacturing is done overseas, I’m guessing, Vietnam, or China. Also, just a side note, their translations of the Assembly Instructions to English can be, misunderstood. My Assembly Instructions are, entertaining, informative with photos, drawings and easy to understand explanations. It cost more to be manufactured in the USA.
2.) Quality of materials and cost. I use high-grade California approved plastic coat melamine panels with all sealed panel edges. My panels are 5/8 inch thick. Others use 1/8 inch plywood pieces inserted into pressed cardboard frames, that are then lightly spray painted with a “Non-Toxic” paint. My panels will withstand “misses”… one reviewer of others I read stated he had to coat the inside of the cabinet with epoxy varnish to seal the “wood”. Other cabinets leave their cut panel edges raw cut, exposed. All my blind panels edges are edge banded to help seal them. Then I also include a large tube of clear caulking to be used on all the connecting panels for even more insurance to protect against “misses”. High-Quality manufactured panels cost more, plus the clear caulking ain’t cheap.
3.) I use hidden Pins and Cams to assemble my cabinet. Others use screws through the outer side panels. Others use a key latch to hold doors closed… I use a magnetic touch latch on my hidden storage area. My Top Lid closes and rests on rubber stops. The cost of my hardware is much more. Pins and cams hold much tighter over time. My cabinet does not wiggle, side to side after assembly, over time it remains sturdy. It is a structurally sound design. Others rely on the screws to be tight, and you can only tighten screws so much before they pull out of the pressed cardboard. My hardware cost more.
4.) Size does matter… my cabinet is larger. The Out of Sight Litter Box cabinet is 25 1/4 wide x 24 deep x 35 1/2 tall, outside dimensions. Double check a few sites and compare what dimensions are used for other cabinets, review site to site, and you will find the correct size, many others show sizing slightly larger then what is true. Check what the head room is in the other covers, your poor cat has less then 14 inches of head room to sit up right and do it’s business, unless it figures out how to stick it’s head out of the entrance hole. With three inches of litter my included litter box, in my cabinet your cat will have 16 to 17 inches of head room. I measured many cats, all different sizes, during my design process. I wanted happy cats, and I wanted cats to USE my cabinet. Also, the number of panels, 4 sides and top and bottom equals 6… my Out of Sight Litter Box uses 12 panels. Larger size and more panels costs more.
5.) With purchase my cabinet system, I include two (2) wax saturated custom fit (23 inch long x 13 inch wide x 15 inch tall) High-Sider Litter Boxes. The high sides insures that the cat can not “miss” over the edge of the litter box… and “miss” into the cabinet. Others DO NOT include a litter box/pan. You have to find go find one that will fit, and most of them have low sides. Plastic also absorbs odor… my wax saturated ones do not. They also last at least six months each, some one cat owners have used the same litter box for a year before changing to the second included one. Including two litter boxes, cost more.
6.) With my cabinet design, the cat walks into the cabinet on the ground level, hops up to the second level, makes it’s deposits, then hops down and walks out. Others: the cat has to aim at a small hole 24 inches off the ground, and jump into a dark enclosed area, or drop in head first into the box and litter, or jumps into the front entrance right onto the litter and then out of the litter back onto your floor tracking litter everywhere. The only light in most of those small covers are from the entrance only, which also is the only ventilation the cat, and litter area gets. Once the deposit is made, the cat pushes off from the soiled litter out of the entrance hole and onto your floor leaving a trail of litter behind. My Out of Sight Litter Box cabinet has two long openings across the front and the back, to let light into the top litter area, but they are designed for cross ventilation. Continue to read #7 below about how the cat exits my cabinet, leaving your floors clean and without tracked litter.
7.) I include “TraxTurf”, real name brand Astro-Turf. It last for years, and is washable. Two pieces, one long piece for the entrance area, and a second piece for the upper level. When the cat hops out of the litter box, it lands on the second level TraxTurf, which collects a lot of the litter, BUT, when a cat hops down… its paws open naturally, and all the litter falls out, into the lower TraxTurf and after the last few steps out of the cabinet, there will be no tracked litter in your home. It will take a few days for your cat’s “exit speed” to slow down to get the full effect… but on day one, you will notice less litter in you home, after a week, you will have forgotten how to use a broom. Unlike the other box covers, which you will find litter all over the landing zone from exit…. not to forget all the litter on the inside of those other pan covers. With mine, once a month or so, take the TraxTurf out and recycle the trapped litter back into the litter box. Oh, the included TraxTurf cost more, too.
8.) To clean the litter pan of other cabinets, you need to bend down or kneel on the floor, unlatch the door, then pull out the litter pan… which will also pull out all the litter that has fallen onto the floor of the cabinet… scoop the litter pan, then push the pan back into the cabinet, then sweep up the litter that has fallen out while pulling out the pan onto the floor, and latch the door closed, stand up, and continue to sweep up tracked litter from all over your home. With the Out of Sight Litter Box, you walk up, open the Top Lid, scoop, and walk away.
9.) Included with my cabinet is a Scoop, and Odor Absorber Holder. You get a nice compact handle scoop that has a large scoop area included with my cabinet. And an Odor Holder… which mounts on the Top Lid. It is designed to securely hold a box of “Arm and Hammer Fridge and Freezer” Baking Soda, the kind you use in your refrigerator. Pet urine starts to smell like ammonia very quickly. Bacteria starts breaking urine down immediately, urine contains nitrates, which are the essential building blocks of ammonia. And the ammonia is what smells. What neutralizes ammonia? Baking Soda. Baking Soda’s deodorization power is a result of its ability to absorb and neutralize odor, rather than only covering it up. This baking soda box holder mounts (screws included) under the Top Lid, each time the Top Lid is opened, the baking soda is mixed. And the baking soda box slides in and out easily for replacement. Change it once every few months, and my cabinet will not smell… and remember, a clean litter box has no odor. And the easier the cabinet is to clean… the more likely the human will clean it. Oh, the included Scoop and the Odor Holder adds to the cost, too.
10.) Packaging. Once you open my shipping box, which is made with a triple sided cardboard box… two layers on one side of the bottom and a third layer when the top slides on… plus foam on all four sides and bottom, plus another protective cardboard layer inside the foam… you get the idea? My shipping box was engineered so the product will survive shipping. And so all the panels arrive in purrrfect condition. My cabinet ships out at 95 pounds. Others will be about 30 pounds at most. Overseas manufacturers use single strength soft cardboard, the rips easy. If their product is damaged in shipping, you have to return it, and wait for another to be shipped out. I also include a page that shows how to reuse my shipping box top, and make it into the largest free cat toy your cat will have fun using. When your Out of Sight Litter Box arrives, it will be in ready to assemble condition. High-Quality packaging costs more.
My Testimonials, are just that. My customers send them to me… and include photos. And I post them on my website. Yea, I get a few (one or two a year) humans that have issues… but I take care of those human issues, and usually get their cats to use and enjoy the benefits of the Out of Sight Litter Box cabinet system. I don’t get complaints. The product arrives in purrfect condition… the assembly does take some time… but I only get one or two calls a year with any questions. I have perfected the Assembly Instructions, and have updated them over ten years, so they work, and are understandable. Once assembled, the cabinet is like fine furniture. An investment, yes, for some. But, I have customers that are still using the cabinet they purchased from 2003. My cost may seam high, but my profit margins are very low. Just ask my wife. HA. That is why I don’t, can’t sell on Amazon, they want more then I make. There just is not enough room to give any profit away. I can’t even drop ship for other companies, they want more then I make. I am proud to produce and sell a very high quality, well made, Made-in-the-USA product, that works and does what I designed it to do. As they say, “You get what you pay for”. And that is really true.
As for my shipping costs… yep, $84.00 is added to the price. (Note: FedEx raised rates again for 2021.) I am a little guy and have to pay for shipping. I do get a discount, but I don’t get a contract price of $X. a box, like the big guys. My box weighs 95 pounds. I pay $84. on the East Coast, and up to $125. to the West Coast. FedEx charges all the of us higher rates to make up the loss on all those $X. per box contracts. Nothing I can do about it… I have tried and contacted all kinds of companies to figure it out… but, there is just no way around it. So, I charge for shipping. But I know the box and product will arrive with no damage, due to the time and investment I have made into engineered packaging.
I hope this answers your questions. See.. this is true customer service. Try and get any of that when you call Amazon… or call those other companies If you are missing some hardware, they tell you to box up the whole product and ship it back and they will send you out another. Or please file a claim with USP because of a broken piece and they will handle the damage, and once they get the package back, they will issue you a refund, or ship you out another low quality product. I overnight missing hardware if that ever happens, or email Assembly Instructions if that happens. We are all human, and sometimes make mistakes, but I correct them ASAP! And my panels arrive without damage. I invented the Out of Sight Litter Box, designed it, engineered the shipping box, wrote the Assembly Instructions and even still package the hardware and cut the TraxTurf…. I used to do all the packaging in our garage, but finally my manufacturer does that. Happy wife, she gets to put her car in the garage now. HA.
Why does my cabinet cost more? And why is it worth more in value? I believe you should now understand why. All my best, with His Blessings, I look forward to your order, and I will NOT let you down.
PAUL I. PETTYS “Cat-man-doo-doo”
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“I just wanted to let you know how much I love your litter box! It is the most expensive litter box I’ve ever purchased, but it is worth every penny! Thank you for creating such an amazing product. I could see all the details that you’ve worked hard to create it.”
Kiki W. – Seattle, WA
