Some years ago, my flagship product was pumping 80,000$+ months

I noticed competition coming in trying to sell knock off versions at a 1/3rd of the price of mine

I thought they looked awful.

Why would anyone buy these?

Early on they'd sell a few units and get destroyed by negative reviews until 3.5 stars, then another identical brand pops up in its place

They never stayed around or achieved proper rank or over a few hundred reviews

And my brand, I valued with quality, long lasting goods

So i refused to follow that trend, or even attempt a knock off

Fast forward a couple years and those brands had figured out how to get slightly better reviews and survive the 4 star cut off

With some enhanced product photos hiding the cheapness of the item itself and they were selling like crazy

Surpassed my product even

Took number 1 position on my keyword

Meanwhile my product became commoditized.

I became the center to what every brand tried to copy, with lesser quality

But enough that they'd take a piece of the market share too

If I had jumped on it earlier and created a spin off brand I would've beaten them to market and outcompeted them with the experience I had

Lesson I took is; always be innovating; on yourself, on your own product

Over time every market becomes commoditized and copycats pop up, eroding margins, higher competition etc

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Pause advertising, Profit more?