How Saddleback Leather Makes Millions Selling a Bag That Never Dies
Dave Munson started Saddleback Leather two decades ago when he was a volunteer English teacher in Mexico City. He needed a bag to carry his books and he wanted something he thought Indiana Jones would carry. So he found someone who made bags, sketched out what he was thinking and told him that he wanted it to last forever. He wanted people to fight over it when he died. When he returned back to Portland he was routinely stopped and people asked where he got the bag. A business was born.
He moved to Juarez Mexico for three years and lived in a $100/month apartment without hot water and put all the money back into the business. He sold the bags on eBay. At first one a week sold. Then two. I find this fascinating. If you fast forward to when they’re selling $15 million per year then it’s obvious that it was going to be a success. But when you’re sleeping on the floor of a $100 apartment in Mexico selling a bag a week… That’s commitment to keep going. But Dave kept going and pretty soon the father son team that was making the bags couldn’t keep up. They started a factory, Old Mexico Manufacturing and continued to build the business.
The secret to the product is that Dave doesn’t compromise. He designed the bag for what he would want. He uses pigskin to line it because it’s stronger than cowhide. He puts in secret pockets. There’s no breakable pieces and because of that… the warranty is 100 years. In an interview years ago he noted that there were 18 knockoff bags on the market that he noticed and they were selling for the same amount of his raw materials. So what do you do? You create a cheaper version to compete right? Not Dave. He puts out a video that shows his competitors how to knock off his bag cheaper… Genius.
Saddleback Leather succeeded because they focused on quality and stuck with it over the long term. Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, started this way too. Yvon made better climbing tools than what existed and never compromised. Yeti did this for cups. In a day where products are made in seconds and last minutes there’s still a market for quality goods that you can pass down to your children.
Where else can it be done?
I think the perfect forever product has several qualities.
It can be seen. It helps if your product can bolster someone’s view of themselves. Being able to afford a higher priced product produces status and buying something for life signals to others that they care about the environment.
It’s timeless. You can change the style a bit over time, but it should be recognizable. The Berkin bag doesn’t say Berkin, it’s just known by the design. Having a timeless design allows your reputation to compound over time.
It’s unbreakable or repairable. It actually has to last forever.
It costs more. It can’t be a similar price to the competition. It has to be built to the highest specifications.
It can be used or worn constantly. The reason customers will pay thousands for a bag is that it can be worn day in and out. That’s a much higher value proposition than an article of clothing you would wear once a week.
If you’re interested in starting a business like this then you should keep a journal of everything you have to replace and question whether it could have been designed to last a lifetime. Here are a few ideas:
Tents. Most sold in major retailers last a night or two until your kid trips on the string that attaches the top part to the ground and then it rips the cover. When you go to return the tent they only give you store credit and you can only choose another crappy tent. This will lead customers to searching online for something that is built to last. There’s competition, but it’s an interesting space.
Charging cables. Like seriously, can we just build these to not come apart at the connection? Although this really isn’t a status play, just a pet peeve.
Houses. We built our house and after the first bath water was coming through the siding. A plumber had forgotten to seal one of the joints. Then the soft close kitchen cabinet hardware broke. Then the door locks. Then the dishwasher. Then the clothes washer. Then the toilet cracked. Then the furnace went. Really anything in a house these days. Just be the Moen of cabinet hardware or toilets.
Coffee machine. Vitamix and Blendtec did it for blenders, but there’s no mainstream last forever coffee machine.
Hair trimmer. Where’s the barber quality trimmer marketed to the masses? Why do they still have plastic breakable guards?
Patio furniture. You can get a resin last forever bench, but no one’s making full patio furniture sets out of it.
Umbrella. I think this is an interesting one. It could be a status symbol. If a shoe can be famous for having a red underside then imagine what you could do with an umbrella.