hopefuls Reid Jacoby and Trib Gosain have defended the price of their revolutionary umbrella after viewer backlash to the cost following their appearance on the show.
The pair were sick of the rainy weather – so they came up with a solution and showcased their “unique” brolly, the Gilley, in front of the dragons. However, especially as it only costs £9 to produce.
Speaking exclusively to the entrepreneurs justified the price comparing it to the thinking behind reuseable water bottles and insisting it was good value.
“It has worked for us so far,” Reid said. “What we say is the basic maths to the consumer is that you can typically buy one (umbrella) from £5 to £15 from the corner shop, and it breaks or you lose it.
“Or you can buy ours for more than that but it works better and will last you for years. And that’s the way we want to think about it.”
:
Reid Jacoby and Trib Gosain appeared on Dragons’ Den seeking investment for their company Gilley (Image: BBC)
Trib chimed in: “I think the other thing is that, if you look at other categories, like reusable water bottles (for example). If you were to say somebody, you’d be paying £30, £40, £50 pounds per water bottle…now, you know people would, it’s just the done thing. But 20 years ago laughter.
“So I think this has happened already across so many other different products. It’s not like a new concept of making something that’s better and lasts longer. And that’s being reflected in the price. We need to be fair,” he said.
The product features a “hard, water-tight case which then doubles up as an optional handle” meaning once you’ve used the umbrella you simply close it and pop it into the case so it doesn’t drip everywhere and get your things soaking wet.
They entered the den seeking £50,000 in return for 3% of their company and following a successful pitch and Q&A session, Peter Jones made them an offer, albeit seeking a far bigger percentage requesting 20% of the company for the full investment.
Don’t miss… [EXCLUSIVE]
Peter Jones was astonished to have his offer rejected (Image: BBC)
He justified his proposal explaining that the company would need a lot of work to get to where it needed to be.
The pair countered by proposing a five per cent stake but Peter wouldn’t go for it so much to the astonishment of Peter and the other dragons.
Reid admits they were disappointed to have to refuse his offer. “I mean, we were definitely hoping to get a dragon, and I think Peter Jones was the one we wanted to get.
“When he first started talking, I was amazed. It was kind of like an out of body experience because millions of people are going to see it. But then unfortunately, he threw out an offer and our hearts sank and like, ‘oh gosh, it’s not something that’s not something we can take’.
“I think his connection would have been fantastic. So it was great to receive the offer. That’s what we wanted. But it was just something in the end that we couldn’t get across the line.”