CaseLabs Announces It Has Been “Forced into Bankruptcy and Liquidation”

[alxlwson]

No offense, but for all we know you watered the plants.

Yep, I water the plants. And by water the plants, I mean I'm a field service technician for the equipment that moves around 500t of molten metal.

 

[cdr_74_premium]

Welcome to {S}oft|OCP, where people bitch about how boutique PC cases are too expensive. Check out our new featured review of a refurbished Acer laptop we picked up at Best Buy as an open-box deal for under $300! And, wait for our upcoming retrospective: "640k: It Really Was Enough for Anyone!"

Nah, I am the |S|oftest around here and I am out of place too.

It's just that urge some people have to bash... well, everything and everyone.

Guy wants a shitty Acer? pfft, gtfo, that's not [H]ard at all.

Guy wants a shiny case? wat? why are you spending so much on that? grab a Rosewill or something and just go n00tz on v33d30 kard'z!

 

[Deleted member 184142]

they were not using local material, hence the "due to tariffs" part of their explanation...
doing it right would have been using American materials to back up that "boutique" price.

Why? So people could complain even more on price? Does everything right, but oh no, they got material from outside the country, SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Now lets go buy a case from a China based company that's completely made from cheap steel and plastic....

What boutique price? You know the super thin aluminum Lian-Li cases that are mass produced in China? Their mATX case is $180, or the SilverStone Fortress FT03B (not even full aluminum) at $200. CaseLabs mATX is $199. Yep, look at those boutique prices people!

 

[RanceJustice]

they were not using local material, hence the "due to tariffs" part of their explanation...
doing it right would have been using American materials to back up that "boutique" price.

The vast majority of their work including the design, fabrication, and assembly all took place in the US - a far cry from other "made in the US" companies that only bolt one last panel on when everything else is foreign etc. That said, I honestly don't know if their raw materials or bare processed assets were sourced from the US or otherwise. Lets not forget that even if they were, if the purchased from a distributor of some sort (its unlikely they were large enough to go straight to a company forging aluminum and buy direct for a small quantity, if the industry is like many others) that distributor';s prices could have been higher on all materials including US aluminum thanks to the ripple effect. Then again, its possible that even if they were buying aluminum arriving from another developed nation (ie Canada, various EU nations etc) tariffs could still be in place if there wasn't an exception etc. However, ultimately we don't know what options were available at all - much less fiscally feasible - for CaseLabs in terms of materials either recently or throughout the lifetime of their business.

CaseLabs did a lot of things to justify their boutique pricing independent of the raw material sourcing, I'd think. They still did a lot more than most when it came to design, fabrication and assembly and while I would have considered it ideal if they used US sourced (or at least from a developed country that makes Eco-friendly and high quality) aluminum if it was available, we're not sure what options were present in that regard. However, we do know that there are many other companies who don't do nearly as much local fabrication and/or use materials and designs of lesser quality.

 

[pendragon1]

CaseLabs did a lot of things to justify their boutique pricing independent of the raw material sourcing, I'd think. They still did a lot more than most when it came to design, fabrication and assembly and while I would have considered it ideal if they used US sourced aluminum if it was available, we're not sure what options were present in that regard. However, we do know that there are many other companies who don't do nearly as much local fabrication and/or use materials and designs of lesser quality.

I didn't call that into question.

Why? So people could complain even more on price? Does everything right, but oh no, they got material from outside the country, SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Now lets go buy a case from a China based company that's completely made from cheap steel and plastic....

What boutique price? You know the super thin aluminum Lian-Li cases that are mass produced in China? Their mATX case is $180, or the SilverStone Fortress FT03B (not even full aluminum) at $200. CaseLabs mATX is $199. Yep, look at those boutique prices people!

I wasn't the one using "boutique" which is why I put it in quotes.
their matx cases start at $220, they could use US material for that price, theres maybe $6-7 worth of aluminum in it.

 

[LigTasm]

When I visited caselabs long ago when I bought one, it seemed like they built cases for enthusiasts on the side in addition to a much larger fabrication business. I'm guessing that whatever that business is was the one that took the serious hit.

 

[Spaceninja]

The most I have ever spent on a case was $250 for this YY-0221 I bought around 2003.
I used it for about 8 years and then traded it for a set of Chevy Avalanche wheels with a friend. 2 years ago I was at a different friends house buying some PC stuff and saw my old case there.
He had gotten it from my other friend a year or so before in a trade.
Last year he brought it by and gave it back to me.
View attachment 95758

I had one of those and would buy another one if they were still made.

 

[Deleted member 184142]

When I visited caselabs long ago when I bought one, it seemed like they built cases for enthusiasts on the side in addition to a much larger fabrication business. I'm guessing that whatever that business is was the one that took the serious hit.

See post #130, they made enclosures for industry, servers and military as their main money maker. Their biggest client defaulted on payment, resulting in them shutting down.

 

[pendragon1]

See post #130, they made enclosures for industry, servers and military as their main money maker. Their biggest client defaulted on payment, resulting in them shutting down.

and tariffs, dont forget its trumps fault!

 

[TordanGow]

and tariffs, dont forget its trumps fault!

 

[Joust]

Tariffs used as a scapegoat. Not suprising.

 

[motomonkey]

Yep, I water the plants. And by water the plants, I mean I'm a field service technician for the equipment that moves around 500t of molten metal.

Wouldn’t happen to be visiting Eastern Kentucky soon would you? We just broke ground on an Aluminum mill....

 

[jhymesba]

At $500, the entire inside of the case should be chilled. I can get a nice looking glass-door mini-fridge for $100 new, so why not? And yes, I want the humidity controlled too, to prevent condensation.

Expensive cases are a rip-off not because of the profit margins, but because there is so much cool and useful stuff you could do for that kind of money, and instead we get MOAH RGB!

If you think it's possible to make a refrigerated case of that size for $500, then I invite you to try. I'm sure you'll find customers who would be willing to buy that.

 

[FrgMstr]

They are closed. If you did not but one by now, oh well.