nckeith
Ten Pointer
This would explain all the discounts recently.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ement-in-rtic-coolers-lawsuits-300401752.html
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...ement-in-rtic-coolers-lawsuits-300401752.html
Well I guess RTIC did lose to yeti
- Thread starter nckeith
- Start date
yeap, steal someone's idea/concept and pay the piper - all for that
oldest school
Old Mossy Horns
at least now the "mystery" is solved.
alt1001
Old Mossy Horns
'Lose' may be relative here. RTIC is counting this settlement as a win in their press release but that could just be PR. What I do know here is that RTIC had counter-sued YETI for interfering in their business relations and the fact that they're both only indicating a monetary settlement and both have agreed to say nothing more and RTIC agreed to the terms without a judge or jury having to make the final determination, this truly may be the outcome RTIC was seeking. They knew YETI was going to have a problem with their design, I can't assume they're that dumb. However, if they could sell as many of these units as possible while this thing was tied up in litigation, they could make a killing, and they did to the tune of nearly $250 million in revenue if I read it correctly. When you make $200+ million in revenue only to agree to payout penalty after the fact, I could see why RTIC counts this as a win. We won't know for sure without knowing the exact payout amount but I highly doubt if it wasn't favorable, they wouldn't have willingly agreed to it.
FishHunt
Old Mossy Horns
Rtic in agreement with the settlement will have to redesign some of their products. I'd bet it is the products currently on sale.
Whatever brand you like Rtic was a win for consumers.
<>< Fish
Whatever brand you like Rtic was a win for consumers.
<>< Fish
I chuckled when I read that. I was trying to figure out what product wasn't copied.
wolfman
Old Mossy Horns
Looks like you can still order coolers on rtic website. I need to get one of the soft coolers before they make changes. And before the wife figures out I ordered another cooler.
bshobbs
Old Mossy Horns
Tells me YETI could come off the price of their products. Rcti 20oz tumbler 7.99 and Yeti 29.99. . ...more or less.
oldest school
Old Mossy Horns
yeti has just a little more marketing expense to cover than rtic. 
nckeith
Ten Pointer
Also solves the mystery of why they reduced the warranty also. In one regard i'm envious really. They grabbed an idea, had the early consumers float the financing with ridiculously long lead times, then once things get rolling you reduce the warranty, blow out the remaining inventory and then settle up with yeti. If they were smart enough its probably enough for a bunch of the owners to ride off into the retirement sunset.
alt1001
Old Mossy Horns
They built too big of a brand, too quickly, in a red hot market, to just ride off right now. I have a feeling they're going to be around a while.
wolfman
Old Mossy Horns
yeti has just a little more marketing expense to cover than rtic.
and rtic went direct to the customer and cut out the middle man. that's how you can cut prices in half.
Last edited:
Exactly and buy copying Yeti they were able to sale a lot of product by word of mouth after some of it got on the streets by people saying "they are identical". RTIC has proved that they can make a quality product at a much better price point and I would bet that the redesign will sale well also now that they have a decent following. Pretty brilliant actually. I still say Yeti and RTIC are in cahoots together and this is all smoke and mirrors and lining pockets on both sides. More so than ever now that a settlement was reached "outside of court".
alt1001
Old Mossy Horns
It's actually a little more than that. They already had the infrastructure in place. I watched a video some time ago from one of the owners about how he started RTIC. The very first company they started years ago, was a company called 'Cheap Cheap Moving Boxes'. He said they quickly became the largest direct to consumer moving box company in America. They built warehouses for shipping large bundles of moving boxes and was able to get factory contracts on creating the boxes cheaply. He said they didn't have any innovative ideas on coolers. They just saw a market that need a cheaper option and he knew he had experience in being direct to consumer, had the infrastructure to ship large packages, and had the contracts in place for packaging. It was cheaper at nearly every corner for them. Win-win-win.
It's the same reason they copied the 'Casper Mattress' formula with their 'Velky Bed'. They're just really good at being able to produce, package and ship large box items, for much cheaper than their competitors.
alt1001
Old Mossy Horns
Yep. The owners credited social media with being their biggest asset in building RTIC. 1.1 million Facebook followers in a matter of months. If just half of those bought a $100 cooler, that's $60,000,000 in their pocket.
wolfman
Old Mossy Horns
It wouldn't surprise me either. And their press release states they are continuing to sell coolers on their website. So it sounds like they'll still sell products named in the lawsuit until they are out of stock. And I bet any redesign will be minimal. There are a lot of roto-molded coolers on the market these days it probably wouldn't take much change to set them apart from Yeti and maintain quality. Yeti will still be the status symbol of coolers.
alt1001
Old Mossy Horns
I was thinking about that earlier. What you do you think they'll change? My guess would be latches and handles to start. Maybe the name placement? There are subtle differences. One being the indention on the front. YETI's goes all the way up to their name, RTIC's stops near the bottom.
It won't take much.
Justin
Old Mossy Horns
Are we missing the fact that Yeti was a knock off in its infancy?
Icey-tek was the papa if I recall correctly
Icey-tek was the papa if I recall correctly
Dolfan21
Ten Pointer
wow, I had never heard of them before that comment but just looked them up and Yeti's definitely look alot like them.....that name though.....terrible. They have got to be pissed about Yeti's success.
Gilly
Ten Pointer
Just ordered softpak 30 and a roto 45. Was going to order a 65 for $139 but they are sold out. Within 15mins of ordering it has already shipped!
FishHunt
Old Mossy Horns
wolfman
Old Mossy Horns
I guess the details of how far off they have to be from each other will forever be hidden in the settlement. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.
wolfman
Old Mossy Horns
I had never head of them either. Just shows what a good product name and marketing program can do for a similar product.
Triggernosis
Ten Pointer
Anyone that will spend the kind of money that Yeti is asking for those coolers ain't too financially savvy in my opinion. Yes, they're nice coolers - but I'll bet 90+% of the people purchasing them are doing it so they can say they own one and ride around in their low-azzed truck with a Yeti sticker in the window.
just have to look at K2 coolers or the Igloo sportsman series to see how minor changes are "new designs",,,,,,,,I like the extra large drainage spout of the Sportsman,,,,,runs out water FAST,,,,,,,,I have Yetis, K2, and the Sportsman,,,,,,
and yes, Icey-Tek, Frigid Rigid etc were before Yeti but have enough design differences (from what I have seen) to be different,,,,,,,,
buy USA,,,,buy Frigid Rigid,,,but they ain't cheap buy a long shot,,,,,,but read the testimonials,,,,,,
I love my Orion Cooler. Looks a little cooler than the Yeti and RTIC. The tracks on each side was a big selling feature. They allow any ram mount to pop right on.
btsharky
Twelve Pointer
Regardless of how it played out, I got a helluva deal on what seems to be an awesome 65 quart cooler 
Harpoon
Guest
Check out Frigid Rigid if you want to see expensive, but man what a product line.
witler
Eight Pointer
They are still taking orders, hope they ship. I was online and placed order, 5 minutes later I received email that my order had shipped, with tracking numbers.