I often ask people I meet where they bought their garden trampoline from. Running a trampoline business makes me interested in what people consider when they are looking to buy a trampoline and why they pick a certain supplier over another one. How important is quality of the product against price? What about speed of delivery or the range of sizes and accessories that a supplier can offer? How often do people rely on a recommendation from a friend or buying from a brand name they already know and trust?

I’m never critical of other suppliers as I know we operate within a competitive market place and it is up to us at Atlantic Trampolines to make sure we set out what we offer in the most attractive way possible. If a potential customer has chosen to buy elsewhere then we have not managed to communicate well enough to them why our offer is better than the rest. We continually strive to improve and appeal to even more customers. When we started Atlantic Trampolines back in 2005 I said I wanted a trampoline business where there would be no reason someone wouldn’t buy from us – we would tick ALL the boxes. We would clearly be the best supplier around. I think we are well on our way to doing this, but……..

What really sends a shiver down my spine is when someone tells me they bought their trampoline second-hand. I normally say nothing but the alarm bells are ringing very loudly in my head. This is not for the reason you may be thinking, that I am just interested in selling new trampolines and this has done us out of a potential sale. That could not be further from the truth. Those who know me will know I am the first one to try and recycle something. The problem is that all trampolines are designed with a weight loading limit. The Atlantic Trampolines have a limit of 16 stones but like most trampolines they can withstand much greater weights bouncing on them without failure. BUT when you buy a trampoline second-hand you have absolutely no idea of knowing if it has been overloaded in the past and received structural damage that is not visible to the human eye. This damage is most likely to occur in the frame or the joints. If the frame is welded this is often the most likely point of weakness. Many older trampolines have poor quality welds which are easily damaged by excess weights. This will not usually be visible to the naked eye. The Atlantic Trampoline makes use of a patented clamp that avoids the need for a weld and consequently the potential for damage in this area. However, this is not true for most other manufacturers so beware.

If the trampoline you have bought second-hand does have some structural damage then the first you might know about it will be when it collapses when someone is bouncing on it. That could lead to very serious injury indeed. I wonder if that risk is worth the small sum you have probably saved?

I would point out that the trampoline in the photo above is certainly NOT an Atlantic Trampoline!

Author: Bob Bounce