Lifetime Basketball 71526 | Basketball Backboards

"Your basketball backboards look funny when you get them out of the box. What is up with that?"

We get this question from time to time and so let me just cut to the chase and say our basketball backboards and rim combos look exactly how they are pictured on our website. With that said, certain packaging precautions are taken to help prevent damage. Allow me to illustrate the confusion with a paraphrased version of a conversation I recently had with a customer who had ordered the 71526 Basketball Backboards.

Basketball Backboards Complaint:

The customer complaint went something look this:

"I received your Lifetime 71526 backboard and rim combo, but the backboard does not look a thing like it is shown on your website. The website picture looks very professional and nice and see through, but this one looks faded and you can barely see through the material. Your site describes this unit has clear; clear to me means glass, but this looks more like a heavily tinted window. Also, there are a bunch of scratches all over the unit. Wasn't this product supposed to be brand new like it says on your website?"

At first I did not know what to say. I had never heard such a complaint before and so I referred it to a coworker who had been working here longer. He started off by telling me that this was a common misconception with Lifetime Basketball Backboards and that the fix was easy. My coworker than told me what to advise.

Basketball Backboards Solution:

Here is what I advised the customer:

"Sir, your system is most likely completely fine. Please go to your system and feel along the edges for what will feel like a bump; this is a plastic covering. If you will peel that covering away you fill likely find the unit to become 'clearer' and that the 'scratches' will disappear."

I waited on hold for bit while he did this. Momements later he returned to the phone and confirmed what my coworker had suspected. When Lifetime Products packages their basketball backboards they put a plastic covering of the unit to help avoid scratches, scuffs, and puncture damage while it is in transit. As soon as you remove the covering everything will look picture perfect.

Basketball Backboards Related Links:

Portable Basketball Hoops.
Lifetime Basketball Hoops.
Basketball Backboards.
Lifetime Basketball | Spalding Basketball.

$1500 Free Shipping Offer and Select Items

What does this cheaping offer mean at Competitive Edge Products?

This is an offer we have had in place since the beginning of our site as an incentive to have more high volume buyers. The wording, in the past, has apparently caused some confusion as to what qualifies for this offer. It essentially means that if you meet 1 of 2 criteria your order will receive free shipping:

1. Your order must exceed $1500 in product; i.e. if your order totals $1499.99 you will still be responsible for shipping charges, if any.

2. The select items on the site that have the free shipping offer are either pallet loads, where we are offered shipping discounts by the shipping comapny, or MAP (minimum advertised price) priced and there exists a sufficiently large margin that we can offer to pay the shipping costs.

In both cases we are offered discounts with shipping that we wish to pass on. In overwhelming majority of instances if either of these criteria are not met we are not getting any kind of price break for shipping that we can pass onto you. In the rare occassions we are able to get a shipping discount, there is no real way to foresee it otherwise we would offer the discount in those instances. We at Competitive Edge wish to be as competitive as we can in our pricing and will continue these same offers to help keep prices low for our customers.

If you have any questions about this offer or any other policies of Competitive Edge Products, Inc., please leave your questions in the comments section.

Lifetime Folding Chairs | 2804 Review

How well do Lifetime Folding Chairs hold up in a church setting?

This was submitted by a working associate of Competitive Edge Products, Inc.

"Lifetime chairs have been around for quite some time, but it was not until a few months ago I finally saw some in a church setting. Previous to this, my church had only had flat, cold, metal folding chairs and I never would have suspected a change would ever happen. It was a pleasant surprise however, because I had sat in one before at a friend's home a few years back and found them to be fairly comfortable.

If you have not seen a Lifetime Chair before they might look a little weird than what you are used to. The 2804 model, the folding chair my church had purchased, is very bulky. Both the seat and the back thickness must have been a little over 2 inches, probably triple that which the metal chairs I had previously used measured. They are, however, very attractive in both color and appearance. When we sat down to start the meeting, we would remain seated for 2 hours.

Some people, I am sure, would expect a plastic folding chair to begin to hurt your butt and back after a few minutes, but it was not the case with these chairs. In the metal folding chairs the church had previously used you would have to shift positions in your chair the entire meeting long so as to keep your legs and butt from going to sleep. Once again, this was not the case with Lifetime Chairs. I believe this is because both the seat and back are contoured to fit around the parts that are supposed to be round on your body, and support the parts of your body that are supposed to be supported. The opposite of this would be the metal folding chairs, which I would compare to sitting on a the bleachers at a football stadium. The chairs were sufficiently comfortable that several of the congregation fell asleep, much to the dismay of the preacher, which I of course had seen before but not to the extent I saw with these chairs.

When the meeting was done, I got up from my chair and expected that feeling you get from sitting for long periods of time where your lower back feels tight and your legs wish you would have stood up an hour ago, but the feeling never came. It was very refreshing. The chairs were very easy for everyone to pickup and put away since Lifetime has also designed a folding chair cart built to the specifications of the folding chairs. It was by far the most physically comfortable church experience I had ever had."

Related Lifetime Folding Chairs Posts:

Lifetime Chairs.

Please also view our website for product details on Lifetime Folding Chairs.

Portable Basketball Hoops

How well do Lifetime Portable Basketball Hoops stack up with the Lifetime Products name on them?

Having grown up with a Lifetime Portable basketball hoop I feel I have at least some expertise in this area. We had a 44" polycarbonate backboard that is now about 13 years old. Living in Utah, our basketball hoop has been through a lot, anything from blazing hot 100+ degree days in the summer to sub-zero temperatures during the winter. It has been blown over 3 different times, snowed on, hailed on, and rained on during countless days. We have played basketball on it for thousands of hours, dunked it, and raised and lowered the hoop. Through all of this, we still have no problem with it and is fully functional. The only rust that has formed on it is on the screws that attach the backboard frame pad to the backboard, and a little between the bottom pole piece and the middle pole piece. Now that is durability.

Portable Basketball Hoops Maintenance Tips

Portable basketball hoops from Lifetime Products are warrantied 5 years through the factory, but as you can see from our experience, there is plenty of life to be had out of the system beyond that warranty period. While we did not do anything overly special to maintain the system, we did take precautions to help keep it from being damaged. For instance, the 3 times it was blown over we were caught off guard, the many other times we had high winds, we knew the winds were coming and we could go out and lower the backboard down using the sliding mechanism Lifetime Products has installed on their units. When we played, we never hung on the rim, especially since Lifetime Products will not honor a warranty claim if there is evidence of damage due to hanging on the rim or other unnecessary abuse of the unit.

All and all hopefully this has given you some better understanding of what portable basketball hoops can offer. If you take even the most basic precautions, you can see many years of life out of your system.

Related Posts:
Portable Basketball Hoops.
Lifetime Basketball Product Comparison.
Portable Basketball System Review.

Lifetime Chairs

Lifetime Chairs Product Review for Full-Size, Costco, and Accent Models

We often receive questions about folding chairs we carry about their quality, durability, and other concerns. We regularly refer them to our Lifetime chairs as a solution to their needs. Lifetime folding chairs feature contoured seating and back rest. By contouring the seat, as opposed to the flat seat and somewhat rounded back of traditional folding chairs, your back and buttocks rest more comfortably and experience better support. This qualities make Lifetime Chairs great for churches, schools, and other situations where people must sit for extended periods of time. We also carry a new Costco model of Lifetime Products folding chair that we are looking for reviews. Please leave your comments below if you have purchased this model, or any other model of Lifetime folding chair for others to see.

Related Postings:
Lifetime Folding Chairs.
Lifetime Tables.

Lifetime Picnic Tables

Lifetime Picnic Tables - Outdoor Pation Furniture

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, Lifetime Products had an 8 ft. folding Picnic table. This table fit 8 people comfortably and was the premier product for many campgrounds and church groups. For some reason, this Lifetime Picnic Table product was discontinued and was nowhere to be found unless you were looking for the 400 lbs. enormous, industrial style picnic table. For most people, that is probably not the case. Then about 2 months ago Lifetime Products suddenly brought it back. In the past, this has been a great selling product for us, and with this new model Lifetime appears to have made some improvements, which has allowed them to extend their factory warranty on this model to 10 years, instead of the 2 year warranty offered on the 6 ft. models. The new model number is 80123.

What we are looking for now is for customers to submit reviews on this model when the purchase it. We want to see what people think of this model compared to the original 8 ft. model, the current 6 ft. models, and / or what people think of it overall. Please submit your reviews in the comments section of this post.

Related Links:
Lifetime Picnic Table.
Kids Picnic Table.

Lifetime Table Fold in Half Information

Lifetime Table - Fold in Half Tables from Lifetime Products

Lifetime Products designs many new and very original products. One of those is their fold in half Lifetime Table. This table creates a whole new convenience that never has been seen in a Lifetime Table and not yet really duplicated in the folding table market. The idea with the fold in half table is to make the table even more mobile and easy to store than a traditional folding leg table. This is done by placing some hinges along the center and creating a seam so the unit can fold in half. By doing this, the folding width is doubled, but you also lose the other half of the table top surface area jutting out in case it needs to be fit in a smaller area like a closet or in the back of a vehicle.

With this new design also comes some set backs. Some customers have mentioned to us that the fold in half Lifetime Table is uneven long the seam. We asked Lifetime Products about this and they did acknowledge that this is possible, but only when the legs are on uneven surfaces. If you are experiencing this, you should attempt to even up the ground it is placed on so that the table top is as level as possible, and that should eliminate the problem.

The other concern we have heard about from customers is that on the round 60 inch fold in half units, the legs stick out when it is folded in half, thus you do not have just the half moon table top shape, but the legs sticking out about a foot on either side. This is not a design flaw. We have been told by Lifetime Products that this is because the size of the unit that the legs must stick out in the folded position. The old round 48 inch fold in half table allowed the legs to fold into the table top, but this was just because of the smaller size. A customer that had brought this to our attention also asked about this 48 inch model, as she has not been able to find it at either Sam's Club or Costco. We inquired about that to Lifetime as well, and we will be able to offer the 48 round fold in half Lifetime table again in about 2 months. We will keep you posted.

Lifetime Table Related Links:
4428 Adjustable Tables.
2123 Lifetime Picnic Table.

Maintaining a Competitive Edge

Competitive Edge Products, Inc. Customer Service Statement

It has been a long time since we have posted to this blog, so we figured this would be as good a time as any to give our customers an update on the happenings at Competitive Edge. In the past year, and very recently, through continuing to provide excellent service, we have exceeded 15,000 positive feedbacks on eBay. This was a great accomplishment, as eBay has continued to incorporate more and more changes to their seller accounts making it more and more difficult and competitive to maintain high seller status. By having as much support from out customer base as we have, we have been able to maintain high seller status, which minimizes our fees, and thus allows us to sell our product lines at a cheaper price to you, our valued customers.

Beyond the eBay changes, Competitive Edge Products, Inc. continues to simplify the ordering process and automate the outcomes so you are provided with the same service every time in a timely manner. We welcome any feedback and input from our customers that would better enhance your shopping experience with us. Thank you.

Competitive Edge Related Links
Competitive Edge.
Competitive Edge New Items.

Holiday Tables

View our Holiday Tables listings for additional specs and information.

With the beginning of the holiday season right around the corner, many people will be looking for some tables for their parties. There are a few different choices from a couple of manufacturers that you might consider.

Lifetime Products offers probably the most versatile and economical of choices for folding tables. There tables are made with polyethylene plastic, which will not fade, crack or peel in the sunlight. This makes the suitable for indoor and outdoor use. The steel is powder coated and therefore rust resistant. Also, they are sufficiently sturdy and well constructed that Lifetime offers a 5 year warranty on all of their tables. They are relatively lightweight and therefore are easily stored and moved. The have choices of square, rectangular, and circular tables to choose from. There short comings most likely lie in sturdiness. While they are very well constructed they are made of lightweight material.

Another option would be to go with the rectangular melanine folding tables from manfucaturers like Correll, Inc. These are very sturdy tables. Melanine is a material like particle board, but is very high density. You also have a choice of having a laminate top as well. These tables are darker colored than the Lifetime folding tables and therefore would be very suitable for children coloring, painting, or doing other potentially messy activities. Some these tables are foldable and others are a adjustable in height. The foldable ones are overall less sturdy then the adjustable height tables, but you obviously would get added convenience with a foldable table.

Folding Card Table

Lifetime Products offers a large variety of folding card tables. There used to be many different varieties available, including tables that had grooves for playing cards. These have since been discontinued, which has limited some of the use. Nevertheless the 37 Inch Lifetime Folding Card Table is a great product for many uses.

View Folding Card Table selections.

Folding Card Table comments from customers who purchased these products:

Just [received]. Couldnt believe eyes. Never seen tables so sturdy. Fabulous. Thanks
warcrm

Great Table. As described, very sturdy. Good communications from seller.
sdchet

Great tables, fast ship. Thank you
pcm2001

Great product, price, & service.
lovebird03