Improved Trunk lighting - Is there demand?

[RDoc]

Just ordered 4 from Amazon for f/trunk. Thanks very much of doing this.

 

[Madartist]

I did not want to break the origin lights, so I used a pair of large pipe pliers to squeeze the tabs wile pushing the light through the opening. That worked well, and the lights could be reused if I ever need to put them back (not sure why I would, but just in case).

I do not own a pair of pliers large enough to do that, but that certainly works as well.

 

[Andyw2100]

Just ordered 4 from Amazon for f/trunk. Thanks very much of doing this.

I imagine you ordered from Amazon instead of from Pete directly because with free Prime shipping it appears you may get the lights a day or two (or even three) faster than with Pete's free standard shipping, which is understandable. I'm not posting to criticize that decision.

I do want to point out, for anyone else considering doing the same, that Pete ships extremely quickly, so the difference between Amazon Prime shipping and Pete's standard free shipping (not even talking about his Priority Mail shipping) may be pretty insignificant, or even non-existent in some cases. And while I don't know what kind of arrangement Pete has with Amazon, I imagine when he sells on Amazon he does not make as much money as when he sells directly. I'm sure Pete has his products on Amazon so that people who don't know about them can find them. My point is that I would encourage TMC members who already know about Abstract Ocean and know about Pete's products to order directly from Pete, and allow him to make a few extra dollars, rather than letting Amazon take some of Pete's profit. Pete works really hard and provides excellent products at fair prices. I know most of us want to support him as best we can. I think waiting an extra day or two if need be for product to arrive, by ordering directly from Pete is one way we can do that, in addition to purchasing his products, of course.

All this said, I want to add that other than having purchased from Pete, and corresponded with him a bit on TMC, etc., I do not know him at all. I'm just a happy Abstract Ocean customer who wants to see a fellow TMC-er's business supported in the best way possible.

 

[Cyclone]

I did not want to break the original lights, so I used a pair of large pipe pliers to squeeze the tabs wile pushing the light through the opening. That worked well, and the lights could be reused if I ever need to put them back (not sure why I would, but just in case).

This is what I ended up doing for the frunk light. The rest of the lights were trouble free, but I did help the trunk lid light have a bit of a push from behind to help wedge in the spudger.

 

[pedriscoll]

I imagine you ordered from Amazon instead of from Pete directly because with free Prime shipping it appears you may get the lights a day or two (or even three) faster than with Pete's free standard shipping, which is understandable. I'm not posting to criticize that decision.

I do want to point out, for anyone else considering doing the same, that Pete ships extremely quickly, so the difference between Amazon Prime shipping and Pete's standard free shipping (not even talking about his Priority Mail shipping) may be pretty insignificant, or even non-existent in some cases. And while I don't know what kind of arrangement Pete has with Amazon, I imagine when he sells on Amazon he does not make as much money as when he sells directly. I'm sure Pete has his products on Amazon so that people who don't know about them can find them. My point is that I would encourage TMC members who already know about Abstract Ocean and know about Pete's products to order directly from Pete, and allow him to make a few extra dollars, rather than letting Amazon take some of Pete's profit. Pete works really hard and provides excellent products at fair prices. I know most of us want to support him as best we can. I think waiting an extra day or two if need be for product to arrive, by ordering directly from Pete is one way we can do that, in addition to purchasing his products, of course.

All this said, I want to add that other than having purchased from Pete, and corresponded with him a bit on TMC, etc., I do not know him at all. I'm just a happy Abstract Ocean customer who wants to see a fellow TMC-er's business supported in the best way possible.

I agree totally. I received my lights in 2 days with Pete's standard free shipping. I would prefer to support him than Amazon.

 

[Victor Liu]

Same with me. The emergency truck lid release cap was the only way to remove the light from the trunk lid. Cracked the led with the spudger but still would not come out.

 

[pete8314]

I imagine you ordered from Amazon instead of from Pete directly because with free Prime shipping it appears you may get the lights a day or two (or even three) faster than with Pete's free standard shipping, which is understandable. I'm not posting to criticize that decision.

I do want to point out, for anyone else considering doing the same, that Pete ships extremely quickly, so the difference between Amazon Prime shipping and Pete's standard free shipping (not even talking about his Priority Mail shipping) may be pretty insignificant, or even non-existent in some cases. And while I don't know what kind of arrangement Pete has with Amazon, I imagine when he sells on Amazon he does not make as much money as when he sells directly. I'm sure Pete has his products on Amazon so that people who don't know about them can find them. My point is that I would encourage TMC members who already know about Abstract Ocean and know about Pete's products to order directly from Pete, and allow him to make a few extra dollars, rather than letting Amazon take some of Pete's profit. Pete works really hard and provides excellent products at fair prices. I know most of us want to support him as best we can. I think waiting an extra day or two if need be for product to arrive, by ordering directly from Pete is one way we can do that, in addition to purchasing his products, of course.

All this said, I want to add that other than having purchased from Pete, and corresponded with him a bit on TMC, etc., I do not know him at all. I'm just a happy Abstract Ocean customer who wants to see a fellow TMC-er's business supported in the best way possible.

Thanks Andy. It's a bit of a double-edged sword for us. On one hand, I don't mind at all that Amazon takes the brunt of packing and shipping; my wife and I have busy careers and annoying kids , so packing one giant box per week for Amazon is (arguably) less effort than individual shipments. Also, USPS are all over the place. For every great story about delivery, there will be another as to why it took 10 days to get from Dallas to Austin! So for that reason, the Amazon experience can be better for some. Also, as mentioned, being on Amazon get us a lot more exposure than any other mechanism (banner ads, Facebook, AdWords etc). Teslarati is the notable exception, advertising with them is generally great value.

The flip side is that Amazon are sometimes really difficult to deal with. Last week they pulled all my screen protectors from sale because a single customer claimed they were sent a used one. Obviously, with a little common sense it's easy to realize that screen protectors tend to be a one-shot affair, so there's not a big used market for them! And, obviously, I would never do that. But it took a total of 9 days to get them relisted, with email after email being misunderstood by their offshore 'seller performance team'. This kind of thing happens a lot, but during the busiest shopping season, it's significant revenue-impacting. There's another Chinese seller on Amazon selling silicone FobPockets (for twice the price) that copied my description text (and most of the design) verbatim, and Amazon will not take that listing down, even though they claim to have patent-pending, which is a complete lie (because they just copied my text).

So depending on the day of the week I either love or hate Amazon; the lack of control, and direct contact with my customers can be frustrating, but equally, even if they screw me in the process, they do look out for their customers.

So ultimately, whatever works for y'all works for me

 

[RDoc]

Sorry I got involved then.

 

[pete8314]

Sorry I got involved then.

Oh no, it's cool. More than happy to provide an insight into how things work

 

[tomp]

I installed one in the rear footwell (I do not have the premium lighting, and there was no light there). I had to dig around for a bit to find the connector. Then, I used 4 little zip-ties to attach the light to the horizontal metal bar. I have pictures and can post those at some later time, but briefly I attached two zip ties to either side of teh Abstract Ocean light. Then, I used two more zip ties to attach those zip ties to the metal bar. This one was the hardest to mount for me, but that's purely due to the difficult location.

The new light for the rear footwell was a big difference. As a test, I first mounted an OEM Tesla light there - and could not tell a difference versus no light at all!

 

[pete8314]

I installed one in the rear footwell (I do not have the premium lighting, and there was no light there). I had to dig around for a bit to find the connector. Then, I used 4 little zip-ties to attach the light to the horizontal metal bar. I have pictures and can post those at some later time, but briefly I attached two zip ties to either side of teh Abstract Ocean light. Then, I used two more zip ties to attach those zip ties to the metal bar. This one was the hardest to mount for me, but that's purely due to the difficult location.

The new light for the rear footwell was a big difference. As a test, I first mounted an OEM Tesla light there - and could not tell a difference versus no light at all!

That's great. I'm still waiting on the brackets from Tesla....latest ETA from the service center is early this week.

 

[shelbri]

Installed the lights for the Frunk and Trunk. Very well done Pete. Thank you.

One question for the two in the trunk carpet. Is there anything to attach them to as they wiggle a little in the carpet. There must be a way to make the installation sturdier. Should I electrical tape to the back of the carpet?

 

[jimtelsa]

I installed the frunk and trunk lights today
about 10 minutes worth of time great results
Will tackle the rest next weekend
had to watch football

 

[danielp]

My lights just arrived in Sydney, .au. That's not bad for USPS

 

[pete8314]

Installed the lights for the Frunk and Trunk. Very well done Pete. Thank you.

One question for the two in the trunk carpet. Is there anything to attach them to as they wiggle a little in the carpet. There must be a way to make the installation sturdier. Should I electrical tape to the back of the carpet?

I'm not sure. Electrical tape might be a good idea, maybe 'wrap' the part of the bulb that pushes into the cutout to provide additional friction?

 

[scaesare]

I do loves me some lumens.... the more the better.

Ordered.

 

[dan-l]

I ordered two sets of 4 and they arrived faster than I expected. I just got them installed and I am very happy with the results! I don't have the premium lighting package but I was able to use 7 and will keep the last as a spare. I replaced the hatch, the frunk, the two front foot wells and the glovebox. I also fished the wiring to add the two "premium" locations in the trunk. The driver's footwell and the hatch were the tightest fitting on my car, but both came out after a little encouragement.

Thanks for a great product Pete!

 

[BozieBeMe2]

Pete, I ordered the 12 pack and must say they arrived in record speed! Excellent looking product and was a great install. Beats the stuffing out of the original OEM
Question, you sell a kit of 4, times 3 for a total of 12, but the car has 13 units, counting the glove box. Have you considered selling just one for us that would like to "Do It In Style"?

 

[Cyclone]

Pete, I ordered the 12 pack and must say they arrived in record speed! Excellent looking product and was a great install. Beats the stuffing out of the original OEM
Question, you sell a kit of 4, times 3 for a total of 12, but the car has 13 units, counting the glove box. Have you considered selling just one for us that would like to "Do It In Style"?

Yes he does.

That's definitely the plan...from this first production run, there's only about 25% of the stock left, so the plan is still to fulfill the most popular quantities first, but as we get more it, I'll create separate SKUs for a single and double set...I'll need additional packaging for those too.

 

[BozieBeMe2]

Great idea! I just posted to Pete about purchasing just one single unit, for the glove box, now it looks like I will need Five Units!!