Here is an email I received from a reader named Jane. She was curious to know if the product sold on the website in her email was worth the price. I had seen the advertisement before but was turned off by the "Just one more thing" ad copy. I told her to give me a chance to check it out. I purchased a copy of the EBook and the bonus material. You can read my review below.
From Jane
I am new to using a Scroll Saw and wanted to find information to help me on the 'newbie' level. I ran across this website: Is what they are advertising worth it? I'm looking for a way to get started. Thank's for any info you give me.
The title of this EBook is "Scroll saw techniques and tricks to unleaseh the pro inside. Guaranteed!". The ad copy claims jaw dropping, never before seen, scroll saw techniques and templates that will have you creating profitable works of art in no-time. Guaranteed. They go on to say that your friends will think you are incredible when they see the quality and craftsmanship of your new woodworking skills adorning your home.
Okay the author has seen to many late night infomercials. It was hard but I tried to over look the Billy Mays approach to selling the EBook. The web is full of this type of ad copy and for some reason it works so you can't blame a guy for trying to make a buck. I held my nose and clicked the "Order Now" button. The price was $19.95 for the main EBook and the hundreds of dollars worth of free bonuses.
I was directed to the payment page where you can pay by credit card or Paypal. I used my Paypal account and purchased the product.
The ad said I would immediately receive the main EBook and two bonus items in a return email. One bonus was the Project Template EBook and the other was a woodfinishing EBook. After payment I received what they said in only a few seconds.
So far so good. They delivered the product just as described.
I decided to start with the main book. The forward introduces the two authors of the book in a some what witty approach similar to the "Dummies" books you see everywhere. From there they move on to the history of the scroll saw.
Here is the first paragraph from the scroll saw history chapter to give you an idea of the style of writing.
"What is a scroll saw? The scroll saw is a machine that consists of a
blade held by the top and bottom from two beams. The rise and fall of the
beams causes the blade to cut. Philosophers have wondered for centuries if
maybe the blade is stationary and the world shakes but, the idea was
abandoned for lack of proof. The scientists who studied this theory were
promptly shut down by the government. Their bodies were never found."
At this point I was starting to make up my mind about the book but I tell terrible jokes also so I moved on.
The next chapter is "Setting Up Your Scroll Saw". The most valuable information in this chapter was the explanation to loosen the knobs before you tried to install the blade. They also suggested re-tightening the knobs before starting the saw to reduce violent vibrations that might damage the blade or saw.
Oh boy, now I think you see where this is going. I have written some ridiculously bad post on this blog. My high school English teacher would put red marks all over this blog if she could but this EBook is starting to make me look like Mark Twain.
I'll be honest with you. At this point I could not continue to read the book. I started to skim the 93 pages to see if anything I saw would "unleash my pro inside" and find the "never before seen techniques and templates.". I'm still looking. Not really. I gave up.
The rest of the book is filled with tips that although valuable to a new scroller are not difficult to find online at many free scroll saw site. The shadow box templates are an interesting project idea. If the author had devoted the entire EBook to creating the Shadow boxes and included many more templates for them I think the book would have been worth the $19.95.
I have been a little harsh on the authors but I don't think they are trying to rip anyone off. I think they put in some honest effort to create a product of value. They just missed the mark in my opinion.
I would go on the review the bonus material but it's just not worth the time. There is some good information in the bonus material but it's poorly executed and did not hold my interest.
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