Time and money: the true cost of fire

Understanding firestarters BEFORE you buy.

Fire can be tricky at times. Many of us struggle to consistently get a good fire going or simply want an easy and hands free way to quickly get the job done. Whether it be for a camping trip or a tailgate weekend, fire is often critical to making it a success. No one wants to be cold, hungry, or frustrated waiting to get the fire or charcoal going. It should be easy. It can be easy if done properly. Better yet, it can also be very inexpensive and time efficient. 

Firestarters are the best way to safely start a fire quickly at a low cost. But, it requires a careful eye to make the right decision when buying a firestarter. We will look at this through the lens of two characteristics: Time and Money.

Here are some of the starters we tested. Some starters are of the same variety just with different brand names so it wasn’t necessary to get test every starter out there, more so every fire starter category out there.

At Starter King, we noticed the false claims and pricing schemes of our competitors and decided to put them to the test. Over several months, a comparison project was conducted. We bought as many starters as we could find and tested them one on one against Starter King. Here are the results: 

* An Important Note*: Every test and cost analysis was conducted based on the advertised recommended usage by the manufacturers. For Starter King, this meant one 1.5x1.5 inch piece (¼ of our 3in bars) because just one is all it takes.

Time

• Starter King gets to the critical 800F mark faster and maintains it longer

• Starter King outperforms and is safer because there is no thick black smoke, noxious odors, or waxy residue left behind

Money, Money, Money

• Starter King has the lowest cost per start/fire (not cost per unit)

• The disparity grows significantly when you factor in performance

Marketing Schemes: A Breakdown

Unfortunately, we live in a world where companies have forced consumers to always be thinking skeptically with the phrase “Is it too good to be true?” constantly floating in the back of their minds. Our markets are saturated and in order to compete, companies seem to claim just about anything to one up each other regardless of how truthful their claims are. 

With firestarters, the biggest buzz words and claims are: “all-natural”; “burns up to X minutes”; “lights fast”; “easy to use”; “works when wet”; “burns clean”. When we tested these claims, most were far from the truth.

However, this isn’t the biggest crime. The real crime lies in how they represent the amount of units in their package. Here’s what we mean: 

Many fire starter packages will say “24” or “75” starters or something along those lines. When that product is on a retail shelf, its perceived cost per unit is very low. Well, cost per unit and cost per start are not the same thing. These same fire starter brands will plainly state that multiple (2-4) starters are recommended to successfully start a fire. This means their cost per start is actually much higher than their cost per unit.

At Starter King, we took it one step further and read thousands of customer reviews for as many fire starters as we could find. Most customers will say you need more starters than what the manufacturer recommends to get the advertised results. 

So, not only is the cost per start/fire misrepresented by the high number of starters they put in each package, they also misrepresent the outcome you will get with their recommended usage. 

The Solution

At Starter King, we recognize that our own claims may sound too good to be true just like the rest. But, we believe in our product and its performance. We are always quick to give out hundreds of samples at events because we know that when people try Starter King for the first time, they will understand why we are so passionate about our product. 

So, in the coming weeks, we are launching a promotion where you can get a free Starter King sample (3 inch bar; good for 4 uses) if you pay a few dollars for shipping. That’s right, we will put our money where our mouth is and let you be the judge. Watch our social media for the release of the promotion!

In the meantime, you can find our fire starters here.