The coming "quality bubble"

January 19, 2021 (AKA, December 50, 2020): In the post-pandemic, post-Queen's Gambit explosion of chess popularity it's unavoidable that the manufacturers (especially carvers) are under tremendous pressure to increase their output.  Because high-quality carving is an art that doesn't respond well to time pressure I think we're about to see a noticeable increase of quality problems, especially with mid- to high-end pieces.  Thoughts?

[Edit]: this is NOT intended to be yet another crab session about customer service.  If it turns into that I'll scrub the thread completely.

In fact, the production of chess has gone down substantially because of Covid. As Covid virus stays on objects for 10 days and handling of shipments also transfers the virus, many people avoid risking imported chess products. The problem may go away once coronavirus is cleared from earth.

This will be hard to track or prove. Over the past year alone, some people have been ecstatic with their direct-from-wherever purchases, there have been some who are satisfied with the "good enough" reproductions, and there are those who have been downright disappointed.

Only time and online feedback will be able to guide online buyers to spend their money and manage their expectations accordingly.

I have purchased sets from HoS, SC, Noj, CB, OS and Chesshouse. This was between 2018/2019 and September 2020 or so. I can say the quality has been consistently good across the board for all of the sets I received. Some of the sets had some issues but the issues were always addressed by the supplier within a reasonable time frame.

The best ones were from Noj, SC, and Chesshouse. I can say that the quality from Noj has been exceptional. There have been zero quality issues from Noj from day-1. The set from SC had zero quality issues. In fact, other than Noj it was the best one. There wasn't any dings, scratches, burnt plastic, cracks, or anything else negative. It looked like no one ever touched it. The only issue was Mandeep sent me the distressed version when I ordered the antiqued version. He addressed my issue above and beyond my expectation. The two sets from Chesshouse were also ok as well. One was a small magnetic set. This one had a terrible odor from the glue. This went away eventually and I used the set without issue. The other one was a 3.75 inch French Staunton set. Both were fine quality-wise.

The sets from HoS, CB and OS all had similar quality issues. All of the pieces with problems were all replaced without question or issue and was to my complete satisfaction. I know what I just said is hard to believe given all that is being said about all of the suppliers I mentioned. However, it is 100% true. Please keep in mind I bought all of these sets prior to the release of the Queen's Gambit.

It is my opinion that the quality will get back to normal eventually. Obviously the demand is high and the system broke down. I believe the suppliers will correct all of the issues moving forward. They have to get through the backlog and then they will correct the issues after that. It will just take some time.

I was a little concerned about this when ordering a set from SC just after Christmas. I needn't have been: I checked over every piece carefully on arrival and had no complaints whatsoever.

@MCH818 I did not see any problems during the pandemic in quality. However, there have been problems with the Post Queens Gambit explosion as carvers can not keep up with demand as you can see by the "out of stocks" on many wooden chess sets at chess sellers sites. 

I have recently seen youtube videos pop up with people trying to take advantage of the new boom selling chess pieces and boards that you have no idea the quality and who made them and no reputable chess site to back up your purchase. 

I would be very careful about who you order from these days. Just my opinion. 

@GrandPatzerDave this is a very good topic. When you increase the production to try to keep up with demand, you either have to ask your carvers to work overtime maybe work faster or hire new carvers. New carvers will be brought into the fold I am sure and then will quality suffer? Well, common sense says yes. It takes a while for someone to "master" the craft. I wouldn't be in a rush to buy a new wooden set these days. 

@TundraMike I definitely agree with you about the quality during the pandemic. My experience was excellent. I remember HoS had a constant coupon on their site up from January until the fall. I don't remember this occurring in 2018 or 2019. This definitely did not indicate the chess business was good. In the fall, the coupon was replaced with a message that said we're doing our best to get orders shipped out.

I did not know about the pop up of videos. Thanks for the info. Personally I would not buy any off the shelf chess stuff from anyone reputable or not these days. I will wait until the backlog clears and then only buy from the well known people.

@MCH818 Same thought here.  You also noticed how the discounts dried up when the QG Hollywood mania set in.  One site in particular who shall remain nameless, I do not like to post vendors names unless necessary, ..............during the pandemic right up to the QB mania had 20% off with no minimum, it was the right time to get a chess set or even books if you wanted to.  Now I do not even see 10% off. Supply & Demand.  Nothing I See except for one wooden set that I wish to purchase this year, and that set is not one of the "major" vendors. And the site manager told me he will personally check over every piece when he gets them. I do believe they were in the making well before this rush. But I will call him and check on it when the time comes which should be in the next 7 days. 

It is indeed a simple case of "supply and demand." And if anyone has learned something with the dot-com and real estate bubbles from the past, it's all about timing.

Because of the huge demand, the problem will start at the manufacturing level.  Yeah, this seems pretty obvious.  This is where the demand for more product in the same or less time hits.

If there is a retailer like The House of Staunton or The Chess House, for instance, they will be dealing mostly with the consumer demand and might not have the time to inspect each piece for problems.
Yes, I am in no hurry to order and will wait for things to quiet down.

@TundraMike Good luck with that set. I think you will have a good chance of having no issues if it was produced before October. Let us know how it goes with it. Hopefully it will be one of the positive reviews in a sea of negative ones.

I think plastic sets might be ok. I considered buying the Ultimates from Shelby. I have not done so yet because I won't be playing anyone OTB anytime soon due to the pandemic.

At this point in time, I would much rather purchase from a reputable retailer from my home country rather than dealing with a wholesale manufacturer directly in another country 8 thousand miles away. I mean, you can literally call and wake up Poor Shelby at 2:30am in the morning and demand to know where your replacement knight is and he'll get to the bottom of it on the spot in his PJs. How's that for a visual? Do you REALLY need that chess set at this moment? Give it a few months for the manufacturers to catch up. I know waiting is hard. But they will make more. I promise you. Not really. I can't promise you that. 

ALSO.. it's not just about quality skilled artisan man-power to carve more sets. It's also wood supply. If the manufacturers are in a rush to pump out chess sets and boards at a much faster rate than usual, they might not have enough properly dried and 100% seasoned wood to use resulting in leans, warps, cracks, and blemishes. I am currently dealing with a situation like this.

There's always ebay for those who do not mind buying used, quality, "pre-QG" chess sets.

This beautiful 90-year old Austrian set just sold today for $310 on eBay. Compare this to any modern repro chess set manufactured today. $310 was just out of my reach. Must be disciplined to save for that NOJ set