There is several style of markering a product. The most common is the one we all already know: one exact product is cheaper than the other just a different name and a different manufacture. The second strategy is to convince or to prove the consumers the advantage of paying a premium for a specific product. The reason for this 10% or 15% premium is because the product may offer a direct advantage over the other.
The truth is that those organizations are monopolizing the industry and I dont really care how cute do you put it; 150 hours of labor (not true at all), engineering effort,
stainless steel, we
work hard for you, and more and more
cheap market strategy. The fact is the one that loses is (us) the consumer.
Competition forces a company not only to strive for exellence, but also to change their
marketing vision and eventually prices will go down and it is NOT based only on demand and supply. It is also about competitiveness and the quality of the final product.
If you are the owner of the only bicycle shop in a town, let's say with a population of 20,000 people, for sure you are going to monopolize the industry. I see it happen all the time. However, as soon as bicycle shops start opening withing 20-25 miles of that city prices start to decline immediatelly.
The poor reason for their ridiculous price is " our engineering team works countless hours to give you the best possible product" "we make this product out of
Stainless Steel 306 to make it tough is all
weather conditions"
OH woow!!! tough in all
weather conditions? Well, I hope so is going to be mounted on a sailboat. Dont you think that should be standard? OH woow is made of Stainless
Steel. Really? Well, I work with Stainless
Steel, brass, titanium,
aluminum T-6061, 7075, and several types of plastic every
single day of my life and ours engineers work hard to provide fast turn around at a afforable prices. We even hold tolerances +/- .0001. I dont tell my my customers this "this is made of Stainless Steel therefore you have to pay me for this Hydraulic Valve for your dental chair $ 2,5000.
Unfortunately that is not going to cut it for me. As a business major and a CNC machine shop owner with many years of experience I'm convinced that product is way over priced and big time. No one can argue the fact. The fact is that America start with an (A) and that is unarguable.
Bluewater1