Travel Products - Need some feedback on a laptop bag that I designed

OK, so a year and a half ago I was looking to get a new laptop bag. As probably with you and any luggage/bag we have certain criteria that we look for in a bag, and unless we find it, we keep looking. We don't want to settle for anything but perfect.

And since I couldn't find a laptop bag out that fit my needs. I decided to create my own laptop bag.

1) It had to be able to hold more than one device. As, I carry a laptop and an iPad. At the time you had to take an iPad out of the bag at security, but not anymore. But I also travel with my wife and she wants to bring her laptop too, so that would be two laptops. And I knew there wasn't any bag that could carry two laptop bags, or I should say designed to do it.

2) It HAD TO BE FAST, through security. Even the airport friendly laptop bags out there would still require one of the two devices to be removed for security.

3) Since carrying two devices is heavy, the shoulder strap had to be so so so so comfortable. Of course it wouldn't lighten the bag up, but at least wouldn't dig in so you could walk a little further without having to change shoulders.

4) It had to be able to be placed on rollerboards with some strap on the back of the bag to slip over the retractable handle.

5) Lots of room in the bag for all the cables, papers, books or anything else. And had to have some compartments to keep it separated.

Now, the end result of my bag isn't perfect, I know, there are some things that I definitely would like to change. And the price point for the manufacturer to make the bag is higher than I wanted and made me have to price it too high, in my mind.

So, I only ordered 50 bags for the first run about a year ago. And I still have 30 left. But, I really haven't done any marketing. I did a small press release, so google ads and some Facebook ads(By the way, don't buy Facebook ads because Facebook cheats and lies and says you had clicks, when you didn't)

So what I was looking for is some feedback about the bag. Yes, it can be that it needs something else, or it looks like crap, too high priced? I just want to try to figure out if there is enough of a niche market out there for me to make a couple bucks. And if so, what would it need to reach that market and people to commit to buying it more than I have received. If there is a market, should I find another manufacturer to try to get it done cheaper and a bit better? (Is that possible)

Sorry, longer post than I wanted.

This is my bag. www.twolaptopbag.com

Thanks

Mark

p.s. If you are interested in the bag, I have a discount code of FLYERTALK that reduces it $25 to make the price $82. I pay for UPS ground, the price is less than what I pay for it.

A couple thoughts:

First: It's not all that comforting to offer a flyertalk discount down to $82, when the front page offers a 4th of July sale/going out of business price of $77. But I'll put that aside.

Maybe it's me, but from the website, I don't really understand how the bag works. But then even the video wouldn't load for me. (Why not post it to youtube and link there?) I get that it's basically two bags, one that holds the laptops and one for documents that snap together at the top. But convince me the document bag is handy. And convince me that I'd actually save time unbuckling, unfolding, and then refolding and re-buckling two bags together. The only thing that is clear is it looks like you are a Op/Tech SOS type shoulder strap (or at least the hardware looks darn similar). Comment wise: The laptop half seems, well, super cheaply made and easy for laptops to fall out. The two bag concept makes me not all that comfortable that the laptops are secure. Sales wise, were did the successes come from? I'd market there. Perhaps that is what this post is doing...

My feedback is that Tom Bihn makes a similar bag look a lot better (Checkpoint Flyer), albeit at a much higher price point.

A couple thoughts:

First: It's not all that comforting to offer a flyertalk discount down to $82, when the front page offers a 4th of July sale/going out of business price of $77. But I'll put that aside.

Maybe it's me, but from the website, I don't really understand how the bag works. But then even the video wouldn't load for me. (Why not post it to youtube and link there?) I get that it's basically two bags, one that holds the laptops and one for documents that snap together at the top. But convince me the document bag is handy. And convince me that I'd actually save time unbuckling, unfolding, and then refolding and re-buckling two bags together. The only thing that is clear is it looks like you are a Op/Tech SOS type shoulder strap (or at least the hardware looks darn similar). Comment wise: The laptop half seems, well, super cheaply made and easy for laptops to fall out. The two bag concept makes me not all that comfortable that the laptops are secure. Sales wise, were did the successes come from? I'd market there. Perhaps that is what this post is doing...

Thanks.

For the two laptops, there wouldn't be a way to make it without unbuckling something. But I agree that the two "snaps" are not as good as what I envisioned. I wanted something like the plate over batteries in your remote.

The padding is strong, and there is a covering inside that keeps the laptops in the sections, and would never be able to fall out.

All my sales come from people finding my site via Google search. I have placed Google ads too. I was thinking of SkyMall and I was in talks with Home Shopping Network, but the cost was high and I wasn't sure if I should take that risk. It is more of a hobby for me right now.

Thanks again for your reply

Mark

My feedback is that Tom Bihn makes a similar bag look a lot better (Checkpoint Flyer), albeit at a much higher price point.

Good looking bag there. It is an airport friendly bag for one device and I really like all their pockets in that bag. I think it looks much nicer than my bag, but I still think that is a high price.

Mark

I'll just spitball some product/marketing stuff at you off the top of my head. I don't know how extensively you tested your product or how much research you did, so maybe you've addressed some of these already.

I actually do like the aesthetic of your bag, but I'm not convinced unbuckling the laptop sleeve is more convenient than simply removing that sleeve from a large briefcase or even a rollaboard pocket. I'm not seeing any efficiency of movement in the design. Consider this: Your laptop sleeve by itself is a nice enough design - but why not simply place it inside a zip-top briefcase (like a Tumi or whatever) allowing you to pull both laptops out in one motion? Then after they are scanned, you close them together like a book and drop them back into the briefcase. Why am I buckling them to the side of another bag? Have you timed yourself buckling/Velcro-ing everything together? Can this be done while you are walking, or must the bag be resting on a surface to make sure you can properly line up all the elements?

Have you considered selling the sleeve by itself?

Your photo shows a laptop and a tablet in the sleeve, but since tablets don't need to be scanned the same way laptops do, your product seems to be, specifically, for people carrying two laptops. If I'm carrying two different laptops with non-compatible equipment, is your main bag large enough to accommodate two sets of chargers and cables and all that junk, PLUS documents and notepads and work-related stuff?

Also judging by the picture, it does not look like I can easily access one device over the other. It looks like I undo all the fasteners each time I want to safely access any device. (It looks like I can leave the top attached and unfold the sleeve, but that sounds dangerous especially if I'm on the move.)

lugnut1. Thanks for your reply.

1) I have timed myself and it takes about 3 seconds. On and off. It used to take me longer removing it from non airport friendly bags. About 5-10 seconds before. I can start to unbuckle it when it is on my rollerboard attached to the handle of the rollerboard, but I always unbuckle it on the belt. (Yeah, I wanted a single button press release, but my manufacturer couldn't find something like that)

2) The really cool thing is how accessible the devices are when you are sitting in the plane. The flap over the top is velcro too, and since it is on the top, I just have my bag between my legs and my seat and reach down and pull the devices out. With other bags I had, I always had to put the bag on my lap to open it up and get to a device.

3) Yeah the main bag has a big storage area where you could easily store all the batteries and cords that you need.

Thanks

Mark