The brands that are showcased in a physical store are often those that offer more margins to the store and not necessarily be a good brand or a quality product. The specialty items found on the top shelf are generally chosen by local store managers based on its profit margin.

Sometime back we approached a famous Dubai based Indian Retail chain stores, headquartered in Bangalore to sell our balloons. we found some cheap quality locally made balloons on their shelves. When we pointed out this to the merchandising manager of the stores, this is what he replied “ we are not bothered about quality , we are only worried about our margins. Customers who walk into our stores always assume that we sell quality products and they blindly buy whatever we offer, assuming that this is the best quality available compared to other stores”. This is true as there is always a misconception that goods sold in big stores are of good quality. When we explained to the merchandising manager that our balloons are made from pure rubber latex, 100% bio degradable, comply with CE European Toy Safety Standards, Tested for hazardous chemicals at SGS TUV SAAR, Germany , he agreed with the quality but simply rejected stating the margin is low’

We then thought we, at bubbly balloons, will be successful selling on online market place like  amazon ,  flipkart, snapdeal and other e stores. Here we learnt a different story. There are thousands of balloons – unbranded or unknown brands that are listed on these market places. No information on where they are made, how they are made or certified. Most of them are self-certified with the words’ best quality’, ‘bio-degradable’, ‘ helium-quality’ and so on.  Here is why the balloons have to be certified:

A Toy is defined as ‘an object for children to play with’. Since balloons too are used by children to play with , balloons are classified  under the category ‘Toys’. Toy safety is the practice of ensuring that toys, are safe, usually through the application of set of safety standards. In many countries, including India, commercial toys must be able to pass safety tests in order to be sold. Many countries model their safety standards on the European Union’s EN 71 standards. The toys have to be tested safe as per the guidelines in accredited laboratories. On the 20.07.2013, the new European toy standard EN 71 part 12:  an amendment of the EN 71 part 3: migration of certain elements came into effect.  Our  balloons made by Gemar balloons, Italy are already tested regarding the new standards and passed. Our balloons have  also successfully passed TUV proof tests in relation to the new standards.

Getting back to what we were saying, when you search for balloons on these online market places, the results show some cheap locally made or Chinese balloons that do not comply with any quality. Then how do they manage to appear on the front pages? 1) The vendors list the products with very high unrelated MRP and then offer a huge discount. Thus highly discounted products are always given prominence in the search result. 2) some vendors manage to get a high customer rating by self - ordering the products among friends and relatives and who then give a 5-star rating for the product. These 5-star rated products always appear on the front pages 3) Your decision to buy based on the displayed image may not be wise, as often the images may not be the actual image , but some  downloaded attractive image from the internet that is remotely related to the product displayed.

It’s a challenge getting a good quality product at least standing shoulder to shoulder on the online marketplace with cheap quality products. The cheaper brands always find more favourable placement, particularly on online market places

With the hot summer days in full swing, we are all looking for new ways to keep our kids active outdoors, while staying cool AND having fun! Pick up some water balloons and try out some of these games for kids of all ages!

New Exciting Water Balloon Games:

1) Water balloon fight - Watch this youtube  video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz5z1hBxejg

( WARNING: Do not throw water balloons on humans or animals. It hurts. Also its illegal to have a water balloon fight) 

2) Water Piñatas- Hang your water balloons and grab a stick!

3) Water Balloon Toss- Stand directly across from your partner. Start off close, and with each successful toss and catch, take a step back. Continue until someone gets wet!

4) Water Balloon 3-Legged Race- Have each racer hold an individual balloon. Whoever wins, gets to throw the unbroken balloons at the opponents of their choice!

5) Water Balloon Catch- Use the belly part of your shirt to throw and catch the balloon.

6) Water Balloon Shot Put- Who can shot put their balloon the furthest?

7) Water Balloon Tag- Whoever is “it,” carries the water balloon. If you get hit and the balloon breaks then… “Tag you’re it!!”

8) Water Balloon Volleyball- 2 teams of 2 people stand holding each end of a towel. Use the towel to catch and throw the water balloon over the net!

9) Water Balloon Darts- Hang up some balloons (the smaller the easier), and see who can hit the target!

10) Water Balloon 500- You need one person to be the thrower and a group of people standing a good distance away to catch. The greater the distance, the older the kids. When throwing the balloon, the thrower announces a number value to the balloon.  If someone catches the balloon, they get the amount that was called out.  Continue this until someone racks up 500 points. To make the game longer, the thrower can call negative numbers. 

stay cool out there!!!

Note: We gratefully acknowledge the  valuable water balloon games suggested by  Kelli Kotowski, Founder President ‘Pashsitting.com’

Now available in www.snapdeal.com and also other leading online shops