Transcript of Video Titled “Massage Chair Industry Update – January 23, 2019”
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Alan: Hi, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com’ and today is our biweekly massage chair industry update for Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019.
[SCREEN TEXT: My CES Visit in Las Vegas]
Alan: There is, I had quite an eventful time at the Consumer Electronics Show two weeks ago in Las Vegas, where I was able to visit with – and by the way, you can see the video of my visit to the CES and my interview with Cliff Levin from Furniture for Life, and the chitchats I had with the reps from Human Touch – or not Human Touch, sorry, I didn’t get to see Human Touch, but Health Mate, and Luraco, and DreamWave.
[SCREEN TEXT: My Interview with Cliff Levin About the New DreamWave Massage Chairs]
Alan: But anyway, you can check out the video on my YouTube channel, but when I went to CES, I had a chance to interview Cliff Levin about their new line of chairs called DreamWave. Now, it’s a little complicated because most people know the name DreamWave to be the Inada DreamWave chair, which has been a top-selling model ever since it was introduced to the market, back in like 2009, or whenever it was, but anyway, the name DreamWave was always owned by Cliff Levin, the president of Inada USA, and now Furniture for Life, which is the parent company of Inada USA, Panasonic USA, Positive Posture, and now the DreamWave massage chairs. But they’ve taken that name, the term DreamWave, and they’ve attributed it to an entire category of chairs. So, they’re coming out with a whole new line of chairs called the M Series, M as in Mary, that M, and they’ll have, they’re beginning with the M.8 model, and then there’s the M.8 Deluxe, and the M.8 Special Edition, and we talk about that in the interview. But the whole new DreamWave line is an L-track chair with the assembly and testing and some of the build, some of the components built in Japan. There are, of course, some Chinese-imported components, which most chairs do have to some degree nowadays, but these chairs are very nice chairs. They’re going to be priced in the $9500 to $10,000 price range, with their Special Edition model being priced at $15,000. But what makes it kind of unique is that it has the side armrests actually open like doors, so if you have, if you’re like maybe older and have trouble getting in to the traditional massage chair, which has the ottoman out front, which is a little tough to negotiate, or if you have a lot of low back pain, and you can’t move really easily, and believe me, I’ve had that, I know how that is, you can open the side armrests like doors, and you can slide in from the side. And I point that out on the video, even though the audio, when I showed the video, my audio is real bad, and so it’s not as, you probably can’t hear it, but you can see it, even though my recording is also pretty bad, but there’s a new DreamWave series.
[SCREEN TEXT: Inada DreamWave Now Called the DreamWave Classic]
Alan: So, oh, and here’s where it gets a little bit confusing, now the Inada DreamWave, which has been a very, very popular chair that I talked to you about already, and that I mentioned already, that chair now is, their name has been changed to the DreamWave Classic, and that chair will be moved to the new DreamWave category. So, you will not find the Inada DreamWave under the Inada category anymore. Under Inada, you’re going to have the Inada Nest, and the Inada Flex 3s.
[SCREEN TEXT: Inada Japan at CES]
Alan: Speaking of Inada, while I was there at the Consumer Electronics Show, Family Inada from Japan had a booth there, a small booth, with a new model called the Lupinus, and it’s L-U-P-I-N-U-S, and don’t get too crazy with that name, but it’s a very interesting chair, very interesting design. It has like, it has, well, you’ll see, take a look at the video, and you’ll see. It’s got arm and calf massage that looks like big hands, big fingers, massaging the muscles. It’s quite interesting, I never got a chance to sit in it, but it looks pretty dang cool. Anyway, you can see that, and I don’t know if that’s going to be distributed in the United States, I don’t know, Inada USA is not going to be bringing it in, so there may be another distributor that might do it, and I think maybe that’s why they were at CES, to see if there were possible potential partners for that chair. Anyway, so that new, the new DreamWave line, you’re going to see that soon. We have been asked to change our category, or add the category DreamWave to our massage chair categories, brand categories, a brand called DreamWave, and then the M.8 will eventually be a part of that. I understand there’s some stores that will be having some at the end of this month, but for most of us, I’ve been told that we have to wait until probably May, May or June to be able to get a floor model, and be able to give it a review, and do videos, etcetera, etcetera, but we’ll see what happens when we get to that point in time.
[SCREEN TEXT: Upgrade Luraco Legend to Luraco Legend PLUS on 2/1/19]
Alan: But anyway, the new DreamWave line, the new Family Inada chair, which I don’t know if it’s going to be in the United States or not, and then we also visited Luraco, and they’re upgrading their Luraco Legend to the Luraco Legend Plus, very similar to what they did with the iRobotics, and the Luraco Legend Plus will be introduced on February 1st, but I will tell you that the price is going to jump from $6990 up to $7990. So, if you want the Luraco Legend, which is the first non-Chinese L-track, and still to this day, is the only L-track without any Chinese components, you have until February 1st to be able to get that chair, you know, the current Legend, for still at the old price of $6990. And here are the main differences, the chair is going to look exactly the same, the remote control is going to be very similar, but the Legend Plus will have the Bluetooth capability, so you can pair your phone with your chair, and play your music over the speakers, or you know, laptop, or iPad, or whatever, but you know, most people use their phones. Also, the roller track is going to go up the neck three centimeters more, and so, the chair, typically in the past has been ideal for people up to 6′ 2″, even though we have found that some people that are 6′ 2″ with a longer torso, the roller still didn’t get to the top of the neck, but now with three centimeters more in the neck, it’ll be able to fit taller people. They are saying in their specs that it can fit up to 6′ 5″ now. So, and that remains yet to be seen until, you know, until we have the chair in our showroom, and we can try it out, but also, they’ve improved the armrest airbags for a more comfortable and effective massage experience. Now, I’m not exactly sure what that was, or what that is, but I know they have the elbow massage, which is very cool. It’s the only chair that has that kind of a massage, where there’s arm airbags that compress the extensor and flexor muscles of the elbow, the wrist flexor extensor muscles at the elbow, where they originate, and that is where, you know, golf and tennis elbow originally, or typically, have symptoms in that area. So, I don’t know what they’ve done exactly to those airbags, but they have, they say they have, it does address those elbow airbags to make it a little easier to get in to it, and get in and out of those airbags, and use them. And that’s the Luraco Legend that’s coming out February 1st, and again, at an $1000 price jump. So, if you want to get the Legend now, before the price jumps, you know, do it, because the cost of the chair goes up as well for us, but anyway, just thought you’d want to know.
[SCREEN TEXT: I’m Going to the Las Vegas Furniture Market Next Week to See and Try Out the New Infinity Overture]
Alan: Now, I’m going to The Furniture Market this next week, on Monday and Tuesday, to see the new Infinity Overture chair, which is going, which apparently is similar to the current Infinity Presidential, but it’ll have calf rollers, air ionizer, let’s see, what else has it got, it has a voice recognition feature, the airbags in the calves will knead, or what they call oscillate, and it’ll have a wireless remote. So, and well, heated rollers, that one also has, but it’ll also have a USB charging station. So, that is the new Overture, and we plan on having that in our showroom as well, probably to replace the Presidentials, which will be the chair that we will, we won’t discontinue it, but we will not be selling it in our showrooms when the new one, when the new Overture comes out, but will go this week, and see how that chair looks, and how it feels.
[SCREEN TEXT: New & Improved Infinity Chair Warranty!!]
Alan: Speaking of Infinity, they have upgraded their warranty now, which is fantastic. Their warranty used to be pretty typical for a Chinese chair, one year parts and labor, a second year of parts, and a third year of structure, and then their extended warranties were one year of parts only, or two years of parts only, or a three year parts-and-labor extended warranty, but they’ve changed all that now. Now, their warranty is one year, parts and labor, in home still, three years parts, and five years structure. So, it’s very similar to the Human Touch warranty for their premium chairs. But their extended warranties have, the parts extended warranties have been dropped, so now you have, you still have the three year, parts-and-labor, in-home warranty for $399, and now they’ve a five year extended warranty option for $599, and that will, and then that’s parts and labor, in home. So, anyway, interesting to note that there are these changes with their warranty, which is better for you, the consumer.
[SCREEN TEXT: Check Out our Pre-Owned Directory for Fantastic Deals on Returned, Open-Box Chairs]
Alan: I also just thought I would mention that the pre-owned, our pre-owned directory still, if you’re looking for good deals on chairs, I know these chairs keep going higher and higher in price. Now, the DreamWaves are going to be out with, you know, a $10,000 price point, the Panasonic MAJ7, which we have added to our, or are adding to our site this week, that chair is $9999, and we’re seeing these chairs go up, and up, and up, and up in price, and there are still less expensive chairs out there, but you know, we’re looking at a difference in quality for the most part, and you know, with higher failure rates, maybe a lower mortality rate, if you will, for those lower priced chairs. But you can still get some decent chairs in the $3000 to $5000 price point, brand-name chairs, brand-name chairs that have good, you know, customer support, that we can help you with, if you do need any support after the sale is over, and for which we also apply our Peace-of-Mind-Lifetime-Labor warranty. But what I wanted to mention was that we have like – well, let me take a look at it right now while I’ve got you on, while I have your attention, but some of the chair deals that we have right now on our pre-owned directory – and these are popular chairs, because certain chairs that we sell a lot of, like the Maestro, or like the Human Touch Novo XT, or like the Osaki Ekon, and these chairs, you know, the more we sell, the ratio of returns is the same for those, so again, more returns. So, right now, we have the Infinity Presidential, and the Infinity Presidential for $5999, that chair is listed at $9999, and a new one, we usually sell for $7999, so $5999 is a good price. The Ekon, listed at $7999, and we have it on sale for $4999, and we have it an Osaki Maestro, which is an extremely popular chair, and that one is listed at $8999, we have one for $4999, and most of these are anywhere from one to three months old. So, you get a great chair. Oh, and we have a Human Touch Novo XT for $5999. So, we have lots of chairs. Oh, I should mention, we just put for sale our floor model Osaki Japan Premium 4.0, which is a Japanese-made chair, regularly, what is it, $5999, or $5499, and we have it on sale for $2999, that’s our floor model unit at the California showroom. But anyway, if you want a good deal, if you’re looking for good deals, and you don’t want to spend all the money that’s being asked for these chairs now, go to our pre-owned directory, which is on our website, you can see it under the ‘Current Deals’ tab on our header, and go to see what we’ve got, and it changes day to day, because we sell chairs, and we bring new chairs on, if we’re selling a floor model or a return, it comes in, we’ll put it there. So, anyway, just be aware of the pre-owned chairs, they come with warranties, they come with, we still give our Peace-of-Mind-Lifetime-Labor warranty, and we include free shipping. The sales are final on the pre-owned, but most people that buy them already know what they want, they just were looking for a better deal, and those are good deals, and these chairs have all been inspected. They might have a little scuff, or a little, scuff is the best word I can use to describe it, like a little scuff, or a scrape, if it’s plastic, but it’s so negligible, and so insignificant that you may not even notice it, but the chairs look great, and they function perfectly. And of course, you have the warranty, so if there’s something that goes wrong with the chair, you can always get the warranty coverage to fix it. So, anyway, I just thought I’d give you that plug about our pre-owned directory.
[SCREEN TEXT: Watch for my Video of my Visit to The Furniture Market Next Week in Las Vegas – Footage of New Overture and DreamWave M Series Chairs]
Alan: Now, on the next video, I will put up a video next week, after I’ve gone to The Furniture Market in Las Vegas, and by the way, The Furniture Market is a, it should be one of the seven wonders of the world. It’s enormous, it’s just enormous, and that’s where all the furniture wholesalers go to find distributors to see their products, and so it’s kind of by invitation, or if not by invitation, it’s for people that are selling their wares there, and they pay for a booth, or pay for a storefront there, but it is really an amazing place, just amazing. Floors and floors, and buildings upon buildings of furniture and things for the household, just quite remarkable. Anyway, I’ll put up a video showing my experience with the Infinity Overture, and I’ll see more of the DreamWave there. I think the DreamWave, the new DreamWave chairs are, they have a booth there like, and I usually visit them every year anyway, but I’ll go and maybe get some more video, a little quieter, maybe I’ll have the audio fixed a little bit better. I can do a better review on the, or you know, maybe not a full review, but you know, give my impressions on that chair.
[SCREEN TEXT: I Am NOT Compensated in Any Way for Any Video or Written Review I Do for Any Chair]
Alan: Oh, and that reminds me, I want to finish this off by talking about my reviews. I had a comment from one of my colleagues, another retailer that reached out to me, and it’s someone that I have a relationship with, a professional relationship with, where we, you know, talk about what’s going on in the industry, and she always has some good information for me, and hopefully I’ve got information for her, but she reached out to me, and said that one of her customers went to my website, but didn’t believe any of my reviews because they thought that my reviews were all paid for by the massage chair companies that I do the reviews for, and I couldn’t believe it because as you can tell, my reviews are not, my reviews are fairly unbiased, I mean, sometimes I’ll say something, which maybe I’m not keen about a chair, or that I really, really like about a chair, but my reviews, I do not get compensated at all for these reviews. As a matter of fact, every review I’ve ever done, every video I’ve ever done, every interview I’ve ever done has been on my dollar, on my time, and strictly for my own customers to, so they have information on how to buy a chair. The problem is there are so many models out there, and so many retailers, and so many marketing lines being fed to consumers that they really don’t know who to trust, or what to do, and that is why I started doing all the articles that I write, I do write reviews, I write in my blog, in my article library, I do video reviews, these are all on my, I don’t get paid by anybody for these things. So, if you think that, if you come to my website, and you think that I’m just a paid shill for you know, Inada, or Osaki, or for Infinity, or Luraco, oh, you are sorely mistaken. If I was getting paid by them, I’d probably make nicer, better quality videos, with nicer effects, you know, have it professionally edited, etcetera, etcetera, but they’re all just pretty bush league. That’s how I do my videos, they’re very bush league, and so please don’t think that because I’m doing a review on a chair that it’s paid, or that I’m being compensated, I am not. As a matter of fact, I’ll be honest, I have received pushback from some of the companies that I have written reviews on their chairs, or done reviews on their videos for, because they didn’t like that I was as candid, or as honest as I was about some of the things on the chairs that I maybe didn’t like, but of course, I always say the things that I do like about the chairs. But anyway, and I try to be fairly unbiased, and not try to, you know, step on any toes, or hurt any feelings, but sometimes I do, and if I was getting paid, I would not say anything like that whatsoever. So, anyway, I just wanted to throw those two bits in worth for you.
[SCREEN TEXT: Please “Thumbs Up” Like This Video!!]
Alan: But anyway, if you found this video helpful, please feel free to thumbs up ‘Like’ us on our YouTube channel, and of course, if you’d like to share this video, please do so on your social media platforms, and help us spread the word about massage chairs.
[SCREEN TEXT: 888-259-5380]
Alan: But if you have any questions, you can feel free to reach out to us at 888-259-5380, or through Facebook page, or through our YouTube channel, or through out chat feature, or via email. We’ve got lots of ways to reach out to us, and I get a lot of those communications, so I will be glad, quite happy and glad to respond to you, and help you in you decision-making process about chairs. Anyway, I’m Dr. Alan Weidner from ‘Massage-Chair-Relief.com’ and I will see you again in two weeks. Bye bye.
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