I would also just like to chuck this out there, to show how competitive the market actually is at the moment: (please note this is BEFORE the Finfolk scheduled price rise and I will make a new one once it's been announced)
Looking at this you can see how close the prices actually are among SOME of the tail makers. If you take out Flip tails and Mermaid creations you'd probably get a more accurate expectation of what things cost and what is 'expensive' vs 'cheap', but I thought I'd include them anyway. But looking at the prices, I think it's unfair to say that Mernation is the only one not trying to make a financial gain from making tails. I will also acknowledge that their simple tails are the cheapest full silicone tails on the market without a doubt (Jesse's from Mermaid Creations coming in a close second with his).
Let's try this, I wanted to order a tail with a fairly elaborate paint job, 2 sets of fins (because who can have just one?), a dorsal and a monofin upgrade (because I live near the ocean) here's how much it would cost me:
Mernation: $3150 (Tail: 2500, Monofin Upgrade: 200, Extra fins: 100x2, Dorsal: 250, Elaborate Paint: Included)
Finfolk: $3375 (Tail: 2500, Monofin Upgrade: 150, Extra fins: 175x2, Dorsal: 175, elaborate paint: 200)
Merbella: $3200 (Tail: 2600, Monofin Upgrade: Included, Extra fins: 150x2, Dorsal: 300, Elaborate Paint: Included)
Mertailor: $3490.58 (Tail: 2729.50, Monofin Upgrade: Non-Optional, Extra fins: 168.50x2, Dorsal: 371, Elaborate Paint: 53)
So as you can see between all four of the current (in my personal opinion) major tail makers, a fairly standard order there is only about $350 between the lowest and the highest, with only $50 standing between the bottom two. So I once again say that if we are talking prices then I'd say Mernation is in it for dream making AND profit just as much as any other tail maker. THIS taking into account that Mernation only sculpts the exterior side of their fins (as seen in Mermaid Dottie's unboxing video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJiu...k69Qh8nE4lFZNg at 17:00 min in.) and whilst they are highly praised for their resilient body of the tail the fluke seems to be a weak spot in that aspect:
After 3 months:
3:20-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru4l...k69Qh8nE4lFZNg
After 2 Months:
4:24-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btlx...M4xwe5B-zTTVcg
I will acknowledge that they are really up there in terms of their customer service and response times, probably Finfolk are the only others close to their quality from what
I've heard, however I think Finfolk also have a much higher order intake than Mernation does, so Mernation has the time to spend. They are known to be sturdier than most other tails, once again Finfolk seem to be close to them in terms of how well the extra fins are attached (based on videos I've seen). However as Raina stated they haven't been around as long as some other tail makers like Mertailor or Merbellas so it's impossible to say how their tails will hold up in the long run.
But in saying that in my personal opinion (please do not attack me for this I've been mostly fact orientated up until this point but I think this is something that I need to say as well) Mernation isn't as up there with their sculpting abilities and painting. I'm not saying their bad, I'm just saying that from what I've seen in videos and pictures that compared to the other tail makers their designs aren't as detailed or advanced.
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