20 Years - A Story Of Success
Unbelievable: We celebrate 20 years of Magnetladen - and we are one of the 'dinosaurs' of raw magnet retailers in German language countries.
2003 Exciting Gift Needed
It is just a gift for a friend which starts the whole process: Neodymium magnets have to be bought from the USA because in the early twothousands they are under license in Europe. So do two friends - and give part of them as an outstanding gift to another friend. Some magnets are left - and Thorsten Seiler tries to offer them at e-bay.
2004 From Gifts To Goods
Selling these magnets runs fast so Seiler does it again. And again. And again. At the same time licenses run out so neodymium magnets can be sold regularly. Seiler decides to expand and open a regular company. He starts his business in 2004 although nearly all people around call him a dreamer (or even worse). Buying and selling magnets is a livingroom-company first.
2005 Founding A GmbH
Business grows and it becomes necessary to think about future. Seiler founds a German GmbH - approximately the German variation of a Ltd. Seiler's livingroom changes to a storage - magnets everywhere.
2006 How To Get Into Contact To Chinese Partners
The way is clear: Looking for Chinese business partners is needed to be successful. Neodymium is produced in China only so if you want to be successful you need partners in China. Seiler writes many, many e-mails to convince Chinese companies to work together with this little German company doing strange things in selling magnets all day long. Normally a company buys one or two types of magnets in bulk orders to build motors or whatever - but this German guy wants to buy 100 pcs of this, 500 pcs of that type, long lists of different magnets all in quite small amounts. Chinese companies have never heard of such a business before so it takes a lot of time and explanations but at the end Seiler reaches his aim and is allowed to order his first shipment - of course against pre-payment and with a lot of sleepless nights until the first delivery reaches Magnetladen.
2008 First Visit From China And How A Company Moves
Since 2006 many shipments from China come to Magnetladen, and in 2008 Seiler needs to expand and find new rooms for his growing business. The family wants to get their livingroom back, and the guest room and cellar and all other places which are covered by magnets and magnets and magnets. Seiler finds company rooms - offices and a large store room. And he needs first employees to do order processing and packaging. In the same year a very special honour comes to Magnetladen: A delegation of the first Chinese Magnetladen-partner comes to Detmold and wants to visit this interesting business. The guests from Ningbo are impressed, and business is much easier after.
2012 Peak Of Neodymium Crisis and Moving To Schlangen
Sometimes changes come faster than expected: About 20 km from Detmold, conveniently located on the B1 just outside Paderborn, there is found a commercial hall whose capacity is many times larger than the Detmold warehouse, and is located on a plot of land with a residential building in a mixed residential-commercial area. Think big!? In spite of neodymium crisis Seiler and Voßkamp take the risk of thinking so big - they buy the property and decide to move. And again they are called crazy - as in the beginning - because a lot of newer magnet companies do not survive the crisis and price increase rates of 400 to 500 %. The competence of Seiler and Voßkamp and the whole team is asked: Explain to all customers why magnet prices are rising incredibly and delivery times are longer than ever. Find solutions when deliveries have delay. Suggest alternative ideas while magnets are not deliverable. At the end of the year the situation relaxes a bit, prices get stable at a higher level, delivery times decrease. Magnetladen operates now from Schlangen and a new member joins the Magnetladen team: Paul, an Appenzell mountain dog, whose job is security.
2014 Export Loves Exchange Development - Import Not
After stabiliation of raw material market Magnetladen has one year to expand, widen range, doing business 'as usual'. But one year after there appears a new problem to solve: Magnet prices rise again, this time it is caused by tremendous exchange rate problems between Euro and US-Dollar. A rise in the exchange rate of the US-dollar raises the purchases prices of raw material of about 20 %. And again: Explain, find alternative solutions, watch exchange rates every morning, find good words for nervous customers.
2015 Attractive For 10 Years
Most people from the beginning had big doubts - now they are quiet and wonder about 10th anniversary of Magnetladen. Whatever people doubted Seiler is successful. 10 years of success make thankful and proud, both, and Seiler most appreciates that his first manufacturer in China remembers and sends warm congratulations.
2016 Specialist For Science And Education
Magnetladen has developed a wide range of products for industrial need, for craft business, private customers, and especially for science and education. Magnetladen now provides the widest range of 'school magnets' of all raw magnet shops and develops magnet boxes for schools in cooperation with the universities of Münster and Gießen. Magnetladen also realises custom made magnets for science and research.
2018 Our Colleague in China
In the beginning of the century simple neodymium disc magnets were a sensation. 10 years later everybody has heard of these supermagnets and the requirements become much more demanding. To cover these requests and to be sure of special expertise Magnetladen finds an agent in China: Mrs. Anna Zhong starts her work for Magnetladen searching for special products and ensuring technical expertise.
2020 Crisis Again
Unbelievable - so many critical times... And now Corona is knocking out everything everywhere...
Our workers have to be tested once a week, a lot of customers have to stop deliveries, Chinese ports are closed, everything is out of order. We are glad to have enough magnets in stock, and we take our time and work on our patience.
2022 War
March 8th, 2022. Eight women and children come from Chernivtsi and Kiew, Ukraine, to live in Seiler's and Voßkamp's house. Putins horrible attack has caused help for the Ukraine - and all members of Magnetladen and families do. The Magnetladen team helped refugees before, and so they do for Ukrainian people. After a few months one of the women, Yana, starts to work at Magnetladen. The Magnetladen team becomes more international again. Since now we offer support not only in German, English, French language but also in Ukrainian and Russian language and in Dari also (spoken in Afghanistan). Our Magnetladen 'microcosm' is international, interreligous, intercultural. We live together, laugh together, learn one from another, have respect. Build peace instead of war.
If regarding business life it goes again complicate. Shipping is influenced by Russian war, transportation prices increase again.
2023 Another War
October 7th, 2023: Terrorists of Hamas attack Israeli people who celebrate a music festival. They torture and murder more than 1.300 men, women, children, even babies. They shoot about 2.000 rockets against Israel only during one day, and they kidnap more than 200 Israeli people to hide them as hostages. We are stunned by what is happening. And all employees in our company - regardless of their background - agree: We stand with Israel. At the beginning of Russian war the Ukrainian flag flew on our company flagpoles - the Israeli flag is flying there now. There is no place for anti-Semitism in our company; we find it appalling that anti-Semitic and racist speeches are being made in Germany again going their way through society like acid. The following still applies to the Magnetladen: We remain interreligious, intercultural, international, we live together and value each other. Jewish people are welcome here, anti-Semites and racists are not. And again political developments infected business - Red Sea was not shipable so shipments had delays of at least three weeks - but Magnetladen coped this situation anyway.
We are happy about our 20th company anniversary - despite and also in view of the difficult conditions, despite all the wars and crises, we think we can be grateful and also proud that our small, fine specialist retailer in the Teutoburg Forest has customers in Germany, in the German-speaking area, throughout Europe and beyond, have been working together well and in some cases for a very long time. We have helped to develop countless exciting projects, have also visited customers on site and will be happy to provide our expertise in the future. Thank you to all the people who have walked with us through these 20 years. We wish you to remain loyal to us in the future - we will be happy to continue to be there for you!