I have moldy sheers in my back bedroom. It’s from last winter before I realized I have to leave the windows in there open all night or I get condensation on the windows, the sheers touch the window, and voila, mold. I bought bleach back in July, and I’ve had on my to-do list ever since to unhook the sheers and soak them in bleach, dry the fuckers, and put them back up. That’s a lot of spoons. Hence why I still haven’t done it.

My mom pointed out to me an ad in the newspaper (the newspaper, isn’t that adorable?) for this stuff called Curtain Magic, which is, according to the website,

• Spray on curtain mould remover.
• Suitable for ALL colourfast: curtains, blinds, nets, drapes, thermal curtains and fabric linings.
• No scrubbing.
• No taking curtains down.
• Mould vanishes in minutes in front of your eyes.
• Product comes ready to use.
• Contains +/- 1% sodium hypochlorite and a number of non-toxic ingredients

“Right,” I thought. “I am sold. Let me give you all my money!”

The four litre pack comes with a free sprayer. I do not need four litres. I only need it for curtains on two small windows. I do not care that bulk is cheaper, I only want a one litre pack. That’s fine. I’m more than happy to pay for the sprayer. Or a spray bottle.

No.

There is no sprayer for sale on the website. No spray bottles. I cannot buy the equipment to use the product, even though they obviously supply it.

If I order Curtain Magic I will still have to go to a hardware superstore and buy a spray bottle. So I might as well just get some stuff – of whatever brand – when I’m there, as I’ll have to make the trip anyway, instead of waiting for a delivery, and possibly missing the courier.

This is how businesses with good ideas lose sales.

If you buy from the online Apple store, you might not want to get their iPhone cases, or laptop bags, because there are much better aftermarket options out there, but you sure can. If all you want is to Get It Sorted and not think about the problem again, Apple will handle that for you. You get it all in one shipment.

Don’t make it hard for customers to buy your product. When selling a spray-on product, sell the goddamn sprayer. (Also, seriously, maybe consider updating the website design. Design is something worth paying for too.)