- Nov 4, 2003
- 9
- 0
- 0
PART 1 of 2
Interview by: theRenegade
therenegade: Hey bro thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. I know your well respected as is the IP name. A lot of guys are really going to want to read this simply because your name is so synonymous with gear.
IPGear: The honor is ours. We really enjoy AnaSCI, it brings back memories of the old boards from the 90's before everything became commercialized. Also these newsletters are great. Every article and interview filled with information that even us older guys can learn from.
therenegade: I know you're really busy so I'll try to make these questions as painless as possible. I don't want you to have give away any of your really private secrets.
IPGear: Our biggest secret is who we are, lol. Other then that we will try to be as open and honest in our answers as we possibly can be.
therenegade: Okay so the number one thing I always ask sources is "how did you get started?".
IPGear: It was a combination of factors really and I guess the biggest one was I began juicing and needed to support what was going to become quite a habit. In addition, IP who has been a friend now for many years was willing to front me to get started. So I started selling hardwood and then added post cycle supplements. But the real money has always been in the juice, and so after a year or two, I began to sell the whole IP product line.
therenegade: You've been around a very long time. How do you stay so competitive in a market that has really changed and gotten more competitive over the years?
IPGear: Treat people as you would want to be treated whether supplier or customer. Maintain your integrity, never accept money for product you don't have on the shelf, continually access your exposure and minimize it wherever possible, stay positive, and when the shit hits the fan, own your own shit.
We just continue to do what we always have, provide a service and a
product that has been around for about 20 years now. We work our assess off on the boards and in the accounts. Ultimately it does not matter what you do as it is the customer that decides a sources fate in this business. After over 12 years of doing this we have been fortunate and blessed enough to gain a great following of loyal customers. And God willing we will be able to continue to do what we do for a long time to come.
therenegade: IP has been around so long and has seen so many changes what do you think is in store for the AAS community in regards to new products in the comings years? Not to long ago it was simply AAS and GH, then pro-hormones came and now its peptides. Do you see anything new coming into the community? I know you guys are on the forefront.
IPGear: We have never seriously deviated from gear and do not sell GH today simply because we do not have the insight into the manufacturing or the product itself to be able to sell it with confidence. In a program like ours, it was not a big enough revenue producer to warrant dealing with the negatives that invariably pop up when you are selling GH these days. Now after 18 months we are confident that, for us, that was a good decision. As far as pro-hormones and peptides, in a gear program, there's not enough money to warrant the additional exposure created as you market and sell these items while associated with a program like ours. When you
got guys out there who not only understands these products, their value, their use, but also has a good program in place to produce and meet the demand, breaking into that market even if there is potential
money to be made would be challenging to say the least. The greater money and the greater risk appears to be where its always been, in the roids.
therenegade: Speaking of being around so long...sources like you guys don't stay around as long as you do by being stupid and careless. Tell me a little bit about what kind of precautions you guys take to protect yourself and your customers? With LE all over these boards now you can never be too careful.
IPGear: The only chance beyond fate, luck, or God, to stay around is a
continual re-evaluation of exposure and a minimizing of risk wherever
possible. In the beginning we all handled gear, we all received money in the mail, we had many friends? on the boards, and over-confidence and greed often blinded us. Most busts should not occur, but when does, it pays to critique them and identify what they did to contribute to their own failure. Or what someone else did to contribute to their failure. There are no friends in this business and few people can ever be trusted to the inner workings of your program. The guys that have their assess out there are the shippers and they should be well compensated and everything that can be done to minimize their risk should be done. But you can lead a horse to water, but unfortunately you cant make him drink. Therefore we have our share of busts, and again, when they are critiqued, they generally reveal serious, costly lapses in judgement. In theory, the only thing a shipper should ever get popped with is a few unopened packs that he has no idea what the contents are. Finally, there are few people that have much of a value to a program after they have been popped and where ever possible, no one associated should have a criminal record.
therenegade: Now on the other flip side...what do you do about customers you feel are info collectors or out to do something shady? Do you have any instances you can share where you have had customers do some shady things that you had to cut them loose?
IPGear: Honestly, Gear users are good guys and so losses to scammers like busts are actually rather rare. They do occur and most recently, these couple of phucks from Texas who were loyal customers for some time that decided that they were going to go a head and scam us. They took our program for about $10,000 in a series of orders that we were not able to detect in time. We figured that we owed it to them to provide their personal information here for any source viewing the newsletter to see and take note of:
--------------------
JOSH BLACK
4406 Bobbie Ann dr
Granbury,tx 76049
--------------------
Daniel Taranova
4407 Nolan creek ct
Granbury,Tx 76049
--------------------
Richard Ulsup
1011 W Chestnut #10
Denton. Tx 76201
--------------------
RANDALL BOILES
2156 SAN FERNANDO ST
BEDFORD, TEXAS 76021
--------------------
MEGAN JACOBS
1232 CAVENDER DR
HURST, TX 76053
--------------------
We have however evaluated and implemented protocol to keep something like this from happening again. Something like that hurts our truly loyal customers more then us because it we can easily recoup the loss but our customers are the ones that feel the sting of the new protocols put in place.
You can eliminate all scamming, but sometimes the controls required
negatively affect delivery times and in this business delivery times are
about the top of the list of what's important for success. Whether its a
supplier who phucks you or a customer, or an offshore company, anytime your losses are less then 10% in a year you are doing pretty good.
therenegade: How do you guys feel about all these new sources popping up? Seems not too long ago it was almost impossible to find a source if you hadn't been on the boards shorter than 6 months. Now you can find them at the click of a mouse. Doesn't that seem like such a huge security risk to not only the community in general but for other sources?
IPGear: In general we believe two things about other sources. It never pays to call them out as its rather unprofessional and none of us are perfect. And also, we all were new once and we all needed support initially to overcome the resistance that's inherent in the market place starting out. But the reality is that most don't know how to protect themselves let alone anyone else and but for rare instances, they aren't bringing any product that's been proven over time to be good.
therenegade: What do you think about so many sources offering raw materials now?
IPGear: We have never been a big fan of dealing in raws. Not only are you taking the chance in getting hit with a manufacturing charge, which ultimately can hurt everyone in our program and essentially end it but you also have to deal with making sure that you are producing sterile product that isn't going to kill your customers.
therenegade: What about the sources that are not only taking all the risk to import them into the states but then to turn around and list them and sell them domestically.
IPGear: We believe that is foolish on many levels. One being you take
enough risk trying to import finished product without even mentioning the risks associated with importing raws. Second you are only hurting the sourcing market because that is where all of these new sources are coming from. Anyone can buy some raws now easily and start brewing gear in their parents basement. Buy a label marker from Office Max and there you go a new source with their own brand. They can sell the product dirt cheap because it cost them phuck all to buy, they didn't occurring any of the risk in having to receive the product, so it is essentially pure profit.
With the way the forums are now you do not need to be known to get an advertising spot out there, as long as you pay your ad fees you are good to go. You brew your gear, throw up a banner, list your 'new' brand of product $20+ cheaper per vial then any source on there and you have the orders rolling in. The sad thing is 90% of the time the customer's wallet will dictate where they go and they will jump on that 'awesome' deal without ever considering how that product was made, who it was made by and where did this new found brand come from. They only see the bottom dollar figure.
therenegade: And ultimately this is where the scam ends up happening.
IPGear: Correct. As you can easily see on the boards, after some time
people posting up saying they are not receiving responses to their emails and they never received their orders. Because that 'new' source ran out of raws and products and their source may not have them available at that time to replenish, so the 'new' source says phuck it, let's go out with a big bang and make another quick $10-20k before going under again. And we see this coming all the time and just sit back and shake our heads. That source is already not filling orders so what do they do, jump on the forums and tell everyone that things are being taken care and all emails have been answered. Right after that they create a thread stating a Huge Blow Out Sale going on for a couple of days. Just like that they scored another big chunk of cash to go out with!
therenegade: Yes I think to myself all the time when I see it, how can
these members be so careless with their money? I mean they are already complaining that they don't have the money to spend on higher priced gear that the long time sources offers yet they just give their money away to these new guys without a thought and in the end receive nothing for it?
IPGear: It is an expensive life style we are living in so we understand
that people want to save and get the most for their money but at what cost? The cost of their health on products that they do not know how they were made? The cost of their money, not knowing if or when they are going to get burnt? It is a crap-shoot no matter how you look at it every time you make an order. There is always that chance that the source is going to go down, turn scammer or get burnt themselves. Like has been said for countless years now, never spend more then you can afford to lose.
Of course everyone wants to get the cheaper roids but any source,
especially domestic that is dropping their prices so low only to corner
the market and make the quick sale is not in it for the long haul and to us that means that they do not truly respect or appreciate the risks that their remailers and shippers take. These guys are the ones that make it happen and they must be compensated well for their risks.
therenegade: Well on that note, let's end this first part of the interview there. Give the reader something to think about regarding sources and safely investing their money in their orders.
I appreciate the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to answer some of our questions and look forward to continuing our conversation again. Thanks!
IPGear: Our pleasure. We look forward to it.
Interview by: theRenegade
therenegade: Hey bro thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. I know your well respected as is the IP name. A lot of guys are really going to want to read this simply because your name is so synonymous with gear.
IPGear: The honor is ours. We really enjoy AnaSCI, it brings back memories of the old boards from the 90's before everything became commercialized. Also these newsletters are great. Every article and interview filled with information that even us older guys can learn from.
therenegade: I know you're really busy so I'll try to make these questions as painless as possible. I don't want you to have give away any of your really private secrets.
IPGear: Our biggest secret is who we are, lol. Other then that we will try to be as open and honest in our answers as we possibly can be.
therenegade: Okay so the number one thing I always ask sources is "how did you get started?".
IPGear: It was a combination of factors really and I guess the biggest one was I began juicing and needed to support what was going to become quite a habit. In addition, IP who has been a friend now for many years was willing to front me to get started. So I started selling hardwood and then added post cycle supplements. But the real money has always been in the juice, and so after a year or two, I began to sell the whole IP product line.
therenegade: You've been around a very long time. How do you stay so competitive in a market that has really changed and gotten more competitive over the years?
IPGear: Treat people as you would want to be treated whether supplier or customer. Maintain your integrity, never accept money for product you don't have on the shelf, continually access your exposure and minimize it wherever possible, stay positive, and when the shit hits the fan, own your own shit.
We just continue to do what we always have, provide a service and a
product that has been around for about 20 years now. We work our assess off on the boards and in the accounts. Ultimately it does not matter what you do as it is the customer that decides a sources fate in this business. After over 12 years of doing this we have been fortunate and blessed enough to gain a great following of loyal customers. And God willing we will be able to continue to do what we do for a long time to come.
therenegade: IP has been around so long and has seen so many changes what do you think is in store for the AAS community in regards to new products in the comings years? Not to long ago it was simply AAS and GH, then pro-hormones came and now its peptides. Do you see anything new coming into the community? I know you guys are on the forefront.
IPGear: We have never seriously deviated from gear and do not sell GH today simply because we do not have the insight into the manufacturing or the product itself to be able to sell it with confidence. In a program like ours, it was not a big enough revenue producer to warrant dealing with the negatives that invariably pop up when you are selling GH these days. Now after 18 months we are confident that, for us, that was a good decision. As far as pro-hormones and peptides, in a gear program, there's not enough money to warrant the additional exposure created as you market and sell these items while associated with a program like ours. When you
got guys out there who not only understands these products, their value, their use, but also has a good program in place to produce and meet the demand, breaking into that market even if there is potential
money to be made would be challenging to say the least. The greater money and the greater risk appears to be where its always been, in the roids.
therenegade: Speaking of being around so long...sources like you guys don't stay around as long as you do by being stupid and careless. Tell me a little bit about what kind of precautions you guys take to protect yourself and your customers? With LE all over these boards now you can never be too careful.
IPGear: The only chance beyond fate, luck, or God, to stay around is a
continual re-evaluation of exposure and a minimizing of risk wherever
possible. In the beginning we all handled gear, we all received money in the mail, we had many friends? on the boards, and over-confidence and greed often blinded us. Most busts should not occur, but when does, it pays to critique them and identify what they did to contribute to their own failure. Or what someone else did to contribute to their failure. There are no friends in this business and few people can ever be trusted to the inner workings of your program. The guys that have their assess out there are the shippers and they should be well compensated and everything that can be done to minimize their risk should be done. But you can lead a horse to water, but unfortunately you cant make him drink. Therefore we have our share of busts, and again, when they are critiqued, they generally reveal serious, costly lapses in judgement. In theory, the only thing a shipper should ever get popped with is a few unopened packs that he has no idea what the contents are. Finally, there are few people that have much of a value to a program after they have been popped and where ever possible, no one associated should have a criminal record.
therenegade: Now on the other flip side...what do you do about customers you feel are info collectors or out to do something shady? Do you have any instances you can share where you have had customers do some shady things that you had to cut them loose?
IPGear: Honestly, Gear users are good guys and so losses to scammers like busts are actually rather rare. They do occur and most recently, these couple of phucks from Texas who were loyal customers for some time that decided that they were going to go a head and scam us. They took our program for about $10,000 in a series of orders that we were not able to detect in time. We figured that we owed it to them to provide their personal information here for any source viewing the newsletter to see and take note of:
--------------------
JOSH BLACK
4406 Bobbie Ann dr
Granbury,tx 76049
--------------------
Daniel Taranova
4407 Nolan creek ct
Granbury,Tx 76049
--------------------
Richard Ulsup
1011 W Chestnut #10
Denton. Tx 76201
--------------------
RANDALL BOILES
2156 SAN FERNANDO ST
BEDFORD, TEXAS 76021
--------------------
MEGAN JACOBS
1232 CAVENDER DR
HURST, TX 76053
--------------------
We have however evaluated and implemented protocol to keep something like this from happening again. Something like that hurts our truly loyal customers more then us because it we can easily recoup the loss but our customers are the ones that feel the sting of the new protocols put in place.
You can eliminate all scamming, but sometimes the controls required
negatively affect delivery times and in this business delivery times are
about the top of the list of what's important for success. Whether its a
supplier who phucks you or a customer, or an offshore company, anytime your losses are less then 10% in a year you are doing pretty good.
therenegade: How do you guys feel about all these new sources popping up? Seems not too long ago it was almost impossible to find a source if you hadn't been on the boards shorter than 6 months. Now you can find them at the click of a mouse. Doesn't that seem like such a huge security risk to not only the community in general but for other sources?
IPGear: In general we believe two things about other sources. It never pays to call them out as its rather unprofessional and none of us are perfect. And also, we all were new once and we all needed support initially to overcome the resistance that's inherent in the market place starting out. But the reality is that most don't know how to protect themselves let alone anyone else and but for rare instances, they aren't bringing any product that's been proven over time to be good.
therenegade: What do you think about so many sources offering raw materials now?
IPGear: We have never been a big fan of dealing in raws. Not only are you taking the chance in getting hit with a manufacturing charge, which ultimately can hurt everyone in our program and essentially end it but you also have to deal with making sure that you are producing sterile product that isn't going to kill your customers.
therenegade: What about the sources that are not only taking all the risk to import them into the states but then to turn around and list them and sell them domestically.
IPGear: We believe that is foolish on many levels. One being you take
enough risk trying to import finished product without even mentioning the risks associated with importing raws. Second you are only hurting the sourcing market because that is where all of these new sources are coming from. Anyone can buy some raws now easily and start brewing gear in their parents basement. Buy a label marker from Office Max and there you go a new source with their own brand. They can sell the product dirt cheap because it cost them phuck all to buy, they didn't occurring any of the risk in having to receive the product, so it is essentially pure profit.
With the way the forums are now you do not need to be known to get an advertising spot out there, as long as you pay your ad fees you are good to go. You brew your gear, throw up a banner, list your 'new' brand of product $20+ cheaper per vial then any source on there and you have the orders rolling in. The sad thing is 90% of the time the customer's wallet will dictate where they go and they will jump on that 'awesome' deal without ever considering how that product was made, who it was made by and where did this new found brand come from. They only see the bottom dollar figure.
therenegade: And ultimately this is where the scam ends up happening.
IPGear: Correct. As you can easily see on the boards, after some time
people posting up saying they are not receiving responses to their emails and they never received their orders. Because that 'new' source ran out of raws and products and their source may not have them available at that time to replenish, so the 'new' source says phuck it, let's go out with a big bang and make another quick $10-20k before going under again. And we see this coming all the time and just sit back and shake our heads. That source is already not filling orders so what do they do, jump on the forums and tell everyone that things are being taken care and all emails have been answered. Right after that they create a thread stating a Huge Blow Out Sale going on for a couple of days. Just like that they scored another big chunk of cash to go out with!
therenegade: Yes I think to myself all the time when I see it, how can
these members be so careless with their money? I mean they are already complaining that they don't have the money to spend on higher priced gear that the long time sources offers yet they just give their money away to these new guys without a thought and in the end receive nothing for it?
IPGear: It is an expensive life style we are living in so we understand
that people want to save and get the most for their money but at what cost? The cost of their health on products that they do not know how they were made? The cost of their money, not knowing if or when they are going to get burnt? It is a crap-shoot no matter how you look at it every time you make an order. There is always that chance that the source is going to go down, turn scammer or get burnt themselves. Like has been said for countless years now, never spend more then you can afford to lose.
Of course everyone wants to get the cheaper roids but any source,
especially domestic that is dropping their prices so low only to corner
the market and make the quick sale is not in it for the long haul and to us that means that they do not truly respect or appreciate the risks that their remailers and shippers take. These guys are the ones that make it happen and they must be compensated well for their risks.
therenegade: Well on that note, let's end this first part of the interview there. Give the reader something to think about regarding sources and safely investing their money in their orders.
I appreciate the time you have taken out of your busy schedule to answer some of our questions and look forward to continuing our conversation again. Thanks!
IPGear: Our pleasure. We look forward to it.
