My lower expectations really didn't have to do with CardBuddy itself, more with other types of products I've seen similar to this. I expected a “phone store” holder and I got a “leathergoods store” holder. I hope this makes sense. It is always very difficult to show these tangible effects with a picture. It just can't convey the sheen, softness, finish, flexibility and quality. It is common to get things that are not quite as good as they seem in their picture, especially in this day and age of Photoshop. Very few actually turn out to be better than the picture and CardBuddy Deluxe was one of those.