Custom Gradient Home IPL Devices: Two Color Teams, One Prototype, 500 Units on the Table

An inquiry that couldn’t wait

A few days ago, an inquiry came in for a home IPL hair removal device with a custom gradient finish. The category is growing fast, and most units on the shelf look alike. A housing with real visual impact gets noticed in that crowd.

The buyer was a sourcing agent in Hong Kong. Let’s call him Michael. His colleague Joona, who speaks Mandarin, handled the calls. Michael was in a hurry, and he made that obvious. The same request came through our website form, our inbox, and a phone call from Joona at the same time.

We asked the tooling engineer first

I didn’t quote on the spot. Before replying, I went back to our tooling engineer and asked whether the gradient effect could actually be produced. He was serious on the phone. We would need two color-technical teams working in parallel, racing each other, because he wasn’t sure the effect could be achieved at all. I took that in, and the reply email started taking shape in my head.

One hour to reply

On the call I told Joona the email would be in her inbox within an hour. She was visibly relieved. After hanging up, I picked the model closest to the reference product Michael had sent, and had our art designer develop the gradient look. The result was genuinely beautiful, blue melting into pink like a summer ice cream. It went beyond what the client expected. Joona wrote back that she was glad iShine had put together a visual demo for them.

The price talk

She was happy about the demo but direct about the price. Too high. I didn’t dodge it. Yes, I said, we use more material than other vendors, and better material. The capacitors, the xenon flash tube, the optical filter, the power adapter, we pick higher-grade parts and pay more for them. A higher price needs an explanation, and the explanation has to reach the buyer.

Features in the quotation, and a cost-down version

Joona asked for two things. List the material features in detail in the quotation, and see whether we could offer a cost-down version. Both were manageable. The feature list was already written down. For the cost-down, we agreed on a middle path, keep the same manufacturer and the same parts, and dial the MAX energy down to around 12 joules. For a home IPL device, 12 joules stays within the safe and effective range, and the cost comes down a notch. The safety and efficacy of home IPL devices are documented in peer-reviewed literature, for example this systematic review of home-based dermatology devices published in Archives of Dermatological Research in 2022. Electrical safety is covered by the same standards, home beauty devices fall under skin and hair care appliances, assessed against the general requirements of IEC 60335-1 and the specific requirements of IEC 60335-2-23. The client accepted the cost-down version.

One week to a prototype

Prototyping took one week. As soon as the unit was ready, we shipped it. Joona and her team were happy with it, and they forwarded the sample to their US office, presumably for the end customer. Now we are discussing a bulk order of 500 units.

Why two color teams

In her reply, Joona mentioned that she hadn’t expected us to put two color teams on their sample run. Two teams working side by side each show their best, and if one hits a wall, the other covers. That’s how we handle risk. We cut out as much of it as we can. We may not make a perfect product, but we make sure the client’s risk stays inside what they can afford to carry. Excellence comes after that floor is set.

The sample is in the US office now, and the order is being discussed.