What’s the difference between a $50 crowd control post and a $100 crowd control post? It’s more than just the price. Find out why people who buy lots of crowd control posts usually choose the more expensive ones.
It’s all about the base.
Video Transcript:
You can buy a basic metal crowd control posts for around fifty dollars, and you can buy other posts that look exactly the same for around one hundred dollars.
Now, the fifty-dollar post may seem like the obvious choice, but our largest customers don’t agree.
Customers who buy crowd control posts on a regular basis almost always choose the more expensive posts.
In many ways the posts are the same, but in some important ways they are very different.
The retractable belts are the same high quality on both types of posts, and so is the metal finish. The post itself, the metal tube, is thinner and lighter on the cheaper posts.
The biggest difference, though, is in the base and how it connects to the post. On more expensive posts, like our QueuePro line, the base made from solid cast iron. A steel bolt goes up through the base and threads into an opening in the bottom of the post. This creates a solid connection that is strong enough to last for years of every day use.
On less expensive posts, like our QueueMaster line, the base is a sheet metal container filled with concrete. Again, a bolt goes up through the base and screws into an opening in the bottom of the post. The difference is, the concrete is just not as strong and durable as cast iron.
Most posts get put away and set out again every day when the facility is cleaned. If handled carefully, all posts will last for years. But most posts are not handled carefully, because they’re heavy and awkward to pick up, and difficult to set down gently.
So they don’t get put down gently, and this puts tremendous stress on that connection between the post and the base. A cast iron base can handle this treatment indefinitely, but the concrete-filled base can take this rough use for just so long. Eventually the concrete weakens around the bolt, and the connection becomes loose.
Another thing to keep in mind is how much your post will come in contact with people. If you’re using your posts to create a visual barrier to block off part of your space, there won’t be much contact.
But, if you’re using it to form a customer queue with people standing in line, your post will get lots of leaning and pushing and pulling, and posts with an iron base are much better in this situation.
So, to sum it up: an inexpensive post with a concrete-filled base is a good choice if you won’t be moving it around everyday, and you won’t be using it to keep customers in a waiting line.
A post with an iron base is your best choice if you plan on moving your posts on a daily basis, using them to form customer queues, or you just need them to last for years of heavy use.
Thanks for watching. In our next video I’ll talk about why crowd control posts are heavier than you think, and ways that you can move them around without carrying them, including one way in which you don’t have to lift them at all.
