Bazooka Gold Company

[Medina Joe]

I' am a little mad(Pissed). I ordered my sniper Bazooka Gold Trap Sluice Box on 2/12/15. Bazooka Gold Company has withdrawn my money from my bank account. I have send them an email, I have called them to find out where my product is (Nothing). You would think if they were out of stock or shipping orders late, I would get an email or something. I'am ready to make a complaint to BBB. Hell I can't even get a replay to get a refund.


Returns Policy

You may return most new, unopened items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.).

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

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Shipping

Our sluices sell faster than we can make them. We strive to have them ready to ship out within 5 business days of the order date, and this doesn't include the time in transit. In many cases your sluice will ship out faster than this, it depends on the varying daily demand for our different models. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Our new system calculates freight to any address in the world. Some countries have restrictions on the size of the package, and those items will not have a real-time shipping quote. Our largest sluices have difficulty shipping into some countries at this time (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa), but we have ways to work around it.

 

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[KevinInColorado]

Skiddum, great to see your first pics and Bazooka success!

 

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[Skiddum]

thanks I had fun. but now it's turned back into winter again and can't go out and play. so I start looking at all the different types of stuff and it gets me thinking hey this might work better. but from everyone I've talked to the bazooka is the king of the sluice world. angus mackirk and le trap are really close though. I hate OCD. I start over thinking everything and what might work better

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

According to the Bazooka web site their patent expires December 15, 2015 . I wonder if the chinese (or someone) will be making essentially identical less expensive units ?

 

[KevinInColorado]

Probably, considering the success of the current products, they'd be crazy not to. I'd have second thoughts about quality and such of course.

 

[Skiddum]

yeah but you can bet bazooka will be on it reduimg that patent. I liked the 1 guys remake of bazooka. it had the dual flair of the Angus and le trap design. coming in to increase pressure and then out to reduce presure. on his it was not much but was still a cool idea. don't know if it helps or not but in theory it would be just as good

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

yeah but you can bet bazooka will be on it reduimg that patent. I liked the 1 guys remake of bazooka. it had the dual flair of the Angus and le trap design. coming in to increase pressure and then out to reduce presure. on his it was not much but was still a cool idea. don't know if it helps or not but in theory it would be just as good

Not sure patents work that way. You get your 20 years of protection and then it is open season perhaps.

 

[arizau]

The company most likely has a normally high profit margin (the same as for newly developed drugs) because of current patent protection AND they already have all the patterns and jigs for cutting and assembly. If they expect competition when the patent expires, they will probably continue production and sales at a lower price/profit margin and still compete for domestic consumption. Or, with competition, they may go out of business if they cannot operate profitably with lower, competitive, prices.

Foreign production, if any, will probably be for foreign markets unless the original company goes out of business in which case the price may not drop by much. High shipping costs and relatively low demand will dictate this.

Another thing they have in their favor domestically is that prospecting equipment just fills a select and small niche market so, in the big scheme, there is really little demand and it is not likely any or many others will be able to compete as they will have to develop their own jigs, etc.

Look for probable lower prices in the future!

 

[GoldpannerDave]

That is some nice looking gold. Also, I did not see much flour gold. Did you get just the pieces you showed in the photo? Wow! Pretty nice spot you have there. Hope it pans out for you with the Bazookas for some time.

 

[Skiddum]

There's actually quite a bit in there I wasn't trying to get It when I took that 1st picture. the picture was like a double take I had to make sure the camera was seeing what I was lol.
never found anything this big before. so I moved everything but the big stuff to one side. and took the picture of the big stuff. after I got it out I took all the bigs out and used the blue bowl to get the rest. first real time I've used it. most the time I get mad because it ain't moving fast enough so I'll set up the black magic. But if you look you can see some of the small stuff in the bottom of that picture

 

[Asmbandits]

thanks I had fun. but now it's turned back into winter again and can't go out and play. so I start looking at all the different types of stuff and it gets me thinking hey this might work better. but from everyone I've talked to the bazooka is the king of the sluice world. angus mackirk and le trap are really close though. I hate OCD. I start over thinking everything and what might work better

Im wondering if this patent your referring to is actually for the gold trap technology that Todd purchased the rights to originally for the trap design, The trap sluice was designed after a older in line trap device used in conjunction with a dredge. While I was at the shop he explained that he purchased the rights to this technology and designed the bazooka sluice from that.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

The company most likely has an abnormally high profit margin (the same as for newly developed drugs) because of current patent protection AND they already have all the patterns and jigs for cutting and assembly. If they expect competition when the patent expires, they will probably continue production and sales at a lower price/profit margin and still compete for domestic consumption. Or, with competition, they may go out of business if they cannot operate profitably with lower, competitive, prices.

Foreign production, if any, will probably be for foreign markets unless the original company goes out of business in which case the price may not drop by much. High shipping costs and relatively low demand will dictate this.

Another thing they have in their favor domestically is that prospecting equipment just fills a select and small niche market so, in the big scheme, there is really little demand and it is not likely any or many others will be able to compete as they will have to develop their own jigs, etc.

Look for probable lower prices in the future!

This is not exactly true. New drugs take millions and sometimes billions to develop and get through FDA testing. If drug developer only charges costs of production, then who pays for the research? If not paid for, the company goes under. Indian and Mexican companies (Russia and China also) simply steal the patent and make the drug and sell it for a slight profit over costs of production (sometimes a large profit over costs of production, but then they don't have to repay for the research and FDA testing costs because they stole the patent). If no one does new research or is willing to pay for FDA testing, no more new drugs, period. As a chemist, I often have to explain this to my cadets, who eventually understand why new drugs costs so much. They also understand that Indian and other companies who make generic drugs _while_
they are still on patent are apart of the problem with new drug costs since that pushes the price up also.

There is a parallel in the Bazooka patent. The company has start-up costs, research time and costs, advertising, and employee costs to pay for. If those costs are not covered in the prices of their products, they go under. Once that happens, if you are not handy with tools or can find a used Bazooka, you are out of luck.

With drugs, if a drug company can show a new, improved method to produce the drug, they can extend the patent. (This is usually for chiral drugs, which most are, but I will not go into). Perhaps if Bazooka improves their patent by incorporating the Le Trap or MacKirk using decreased pressure or some other method, maybe they can extend the patent. This may or not apply, since I don't know anything about patents on gold equipment.

 

[arizau]

This is not exactly true. New drugs take millions and sometimes billions to develop and get through FDA testing. If drug developer only charges costs of production, then who pays for the research? If not paid for, the company goes under. Indian and Mexican companies (Russia and China also) simply steal the patent and make the drug and sell it for a slight profit over costs of production (sometimes a large profit over costs of production, but then they don't have to repay for the research and FDA testing costs because they stole the patent). If no one does new research or is willing to pay for FDA testing, no more new drugs, period. As a chemist, I often have to explain this to my cadets, who eventually understand why new drugs costs so much. They also understand that Indian and other companies who make generic drugs _while_
they are still on patent are apart of the problem with new drug costs since that pushes the price up also.

There is a parallel in the Bazooka patent. The company has start-up costs, research time and costs, advertising, and employee costs to pay for. If those costs are not covered in the prices of their products, they go under. Once that happens, if you are not handy with tools or can find a used Bazooka, you are out of luck.

With drugs, if a drug company can show a new, improved method to produce the drug, they can extend the patent. (This is usually for chiral drugs, which most are, but I will not go into). Perhaps if Bazooka improves their patent by incorporating the Le Trap or MacKirk using decreased pressure or some other method, maybe they can extend the patent. This may or not apply, since I don't know anything about patents on gold equipment.

I am aware of what you explained about drug costs so my comparison was not really appropriate but has some of the basics for those in the know who could separate them out. Also my reference to "abnormally high" should have been "normal high margin for single source products". It was not meant as an attack on their capitalism if that is how you perceived it.

The current bazooka prices do partly reflect the markup necessary to recover their research, tooling, replacements, labor, advertising, raw material and other expenses, etc. as well as the profit margin. At the same time they currently have a non competitive captive market for a very popular item which is growing ever more popular. They probably set the market price based on demand/profit and not just to make a profit but make as much profit as they think the market will allow. If demand drops so will their prices until they can no longer justifiably operate. Until their patent expires and they get legal competition they will hold the advantage of setting market prices. If no serious competition steps up they will still be able to control the market and set the prices as long as demand vs. expenses allows them to cover costs and operate at reasonable profitably. A little bit redundant but you get the point.

From what I have read about patents, they cannot extend the patent but it is possible they can protect, by patent, an improvement(s) so other businesses cannot manufacture, for sale, duplicates of the improved model or use the new technology for any other use without license. The original patent becomes public domain upon expiration.

PS: Your employment (service?) has to be very rewarding and thank you for helping to turn out such fine young men and women who selflessly serve our country!

 

[Goldwasher]

Considering the title of this thread and the relationship between Bazooka and the website, It might not be a proper to discuss their business and patent situations without having all the information.

Medina Joes issue was resolved and the tread has taken a bit of leap into the unknown.

 

[theseeker]

I ordered my BGT 36" Heavy duty Prospector with the heavy duty grizzlies about 3 weeks before I got to CA from Florida. Called Chris and he had me meet with Todd at the BGT shop to pick up my sluice. What a great group of people at BGT. Todd went out of his way to explain how to use the sluice when encountering different rock/gravel/dirt material types. Had great discussions on California geology and history and also found out that the BGT was initially designed by a Florida guy. Nice folks and very helpful !!

 

[Capricorn]

I place an order a while back, and was curious when it would get shipped. So I sent them an email from their comments section of the website. Within minutes Chris called me up and let me know where my order was and that they were backed up and stuff. A few days later he called me up again, to see if it was OK with me that they UPS it out instead of using the USPS. Man I don't ever get customer service like that! I was super pleased with how my order was handled and would love to do business with them again. Really great company in my book! I should get to break my bazooka in next Sunday! Super excited

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Considering the title of this thread

Bazooka Gold Company

and the relationship between Bazooka and the website, It might not be a proper to discuss their business and patent situations without having all the information.

Here is what BGC has on their website about their patent, in plain sight. Sluice Trap Patent I find it unlikely they seek privacy about it. What more 'information' do you require to qualify the conversation?

Medina Joes issue was resolved and the tread has taken a bit of leap into the unknown.

What part is unknown?

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I am aware of what you explained about drug costs so my comparison was not really appropriate but has some of the basics for those in the know who could separate them out. Also my reference to "abnormally high" should have been "normal high margin for single source products". It was not meant as an attack on their capitalism if that is how you perceived it.

The current bazooka prices do partly reflect the markup necessary to recover their research, tooling, replacements, labor, advertising, raw material and other expenses, etc. as well as the profit margin. At the same time they currently have a non competitive captive market for a very popular item which is growing ever more popular. They probably set the market price based on demand/profit and not just to make a profit but make as much profit as they think the market will allow. If demand drops so will their prices until they can no longer justifiably operate. Until their patent expires and they get legal competition they will hold the advantage of setting market prices. If no serious competition steps up they will still be able to control the market and set the prices as long as demand vs. expenses allows them to cover costs and operate at reasonable profitably. A little bit redundant but you get the point.

From what I have read about patents, they cannot extend the patent but it is possible they can protect, by patent, an improvement(s) so other businesses cannot manufacture, for sale, duplicates of the improved model or use the new technology for any other use without license. The original patent becomes public domain upon expiration.

PS: Your employment (service?) has to be very rewarding and thank you for helping to turn out such fine young men and women who selflessly serve our country!

Perhaps I jumped a bit too quick. Sorry, I was simply trying to set the record straight about drug costs and "abnormally high" profit margins for Bazooka. I was attempting to point out that though the price may be relatively high for a sluice, that does not necessarily all translate into profit. And tried to show why.

Your response says it much better this time, and yes, prices will probably fluctuate with supply and demand. After their patent expires, there might be more competition and prices might come down. However, I was also trying to show the scenario of what could happen if from the get-go they tried to price the sluice to be competitive with a Le Trap or whatever and if in doing so, went under.

As far as my service; thank you. I am actually more proud of my dad's service (34 years, 3 wars, 14,300 flying hours) and the fact that together we had almost 55 years of continuous service. And teaching at the Air Force Academy is a great job; I love teaching chemistry and interacting with our cadets who will be future officers and eventually the leaders of the Air Force. I am very fortunate to have been asked back after two tours teaching here active duty. I was told that greater than 40% of all the folks who teach here or graduate here eventually end up back on the Front Range somewhere. I sure know it happened with me.

Thanks for the reasoned response; like I said, my jets may have been too hot when I answered.

 

[arizau]

Perhaps I jumped a bit too quick. Sorry, I was simply trying to set the record straight about drug costs and "abnormally high" profit margins for Bazooka. I was attempting to point out that though the price may be relatively high for a sluice, that does not necessarily all translate into profit. And tried to show why.

Your response says it much better this time, and yes, prices will probably fluctuate with supply and demand. After their patent expires, there might be more competition and prices might come down. However, I was also trying to show the scenario of what could happen if from the get-go they tried to price the sluice to be competitive with a Le Trap or whatever and if in doing so, went under.

As far as my service; thank you. I am actually more proud of my dad's service (34 years, 3 wars, 14,300 flying hours) and the fact that together we had almost 55 years of continuous service. And teaching at the Air Force Academy is a great job; I love teaching chemistry and interacting with our cadets who will be future officers and eventually the leaders of the Air Force. I am very fortunate to have been asked back after two tours teaching here active duty. I was told that greater than 40% of all the folks who teach here or graduate here eventually end up back on the Front Range somewhere. I sure know it happened with me.

Thanks for the reasoned response; like I said, my jets may have been too hot when I answered.

Thanks for your and your Dads service.
I aspired to attend there after high school in 1960 but discovered that I have poor color vision so I did not attempt to get appointed. After college, I had a two year stint of active duty USNR spent as an enlisted man then a full career involved in the mining industry which my Dad and Mom also retired from. Dad and several other relatives were in California gold mining pre and two post WWII and their tales gave me the gold bug.

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Thanks. If I hadn't been in the Air Force in chemistry and communications/computers, I would have liked to be a mining engineer, though I seriously looked at the Navy before going Air Force. The Navy had similar technical career fields, but as a newly married young man, spending 6 months out of the year did not appeal to me. Also my Dad encouraged me to go Air Force. Did you spend one of those two years at sea?

A mining career--no wonder you often have great suggestions you offer here. I sometimes am curious about how things would have been like if I had gone to Colorado School of Mines....

 

[arizau]

Thanks. If I hadn't been in the Air Force in chemistry and communications/computers, I would have liked to be a mining engineer, though I seriously looked at the Navy before going Air Force. The Navy had similar technical career fields, but as a newly married young man, spending 6 months out of the year did not appeal to me. Also my Dad encouraged me to go Air Force. Did you spend one of those two years at sea?


A mining career--no wonder you often have great suggestions you offer here. I sometimes am curious about how things would have been like if I had gone to Colorado School of Mines....

There is a wealth of information on this and other sites as you know. My input runs more towards the technical side and often bores most readers.

About two years as an assault boat coxswain/deck hand, and later on as a storekeeper, on an old freighter that had been converted to be an Amphibious Group Command ship during or just before WWII. I came aboard after it's last major cruise before its class was replaced by a new class of ships. Mostly in Norfolk with some 15 to 30 day joint training exercises at sea.

I started in Physics but switched to Business Administration after a bad first semester. No fails but my only decent grades were in AFROTC (ROTC was a requirement at the time for land grant colleges and I didn't go advanced knowing I could not fly) and PE, which was also a requirement. It took a long time to dig out of that hole. In retrospect, I should have toughed it out and became an engineer as that is where a lot of my interest really lies. My longtime employment (mostly accounting related) at a major open pit copper mine* facilitated the asking of many questions from a large source of Engineers, Geologists, Metallurgists, Chemists/Assayers and grunts. Those along with a lot of research, observation, pondering on how things work, the various aspects of mining, some local prospectors and my Dad and other relatives (for underground mining) are my sources of knowledge. I'm still learning. I'm still trying to figure out the math/science on stream speeds (head pressures) and the differing resulting volumes of water introduction in a zook.

CSMines could have been a good (or bad) choice for me. Great school, Coors brewery across the street. What more can you ask for?. I might not have done so well there either.

Heavy pans.

*I started working for the mine just a couple of months after stripping began and watched it develop along with the crushers mills, etc. being built. The pit is over a mile in diameter and probably well over 1,500 feet deep now. Mill throughput was/is about 90,000 tons per day and non milled waste removal was about half that amount per day for a total of about 140,000 TPD actually mined. Daily production of copper metal contained is about 375,000 pounds and Molybdenum about 35,000 pounds if I remember correctly. We were paid for Silver (about 2.5 OPT in the concentrates) but not enough Gold value to be payable from our particular mine. There is a small historic gold placer on the property but it is not accessible to the public and ignored by the mine because of low commercial values. Bummer.