Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/03/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Kit, > With all due respect to everyone who has posted to this thread, I think it > is difficult to compare the products that Tom makes to those that Leica > makes in terms of cost, because they are two different products Are they VERY different? They may be different, but I believe hardly "very"... > with very > different business models. Why should that matter, as far as why I should pay more for it? Another thing to consider is warranty. Tom stands behind his for life, no matter where you bought it...and that avoids the Leica "warranty fuss fest". > Though both are hand-made, the infrastructure > that is bringing these two products to market is very, very different. Why? Tom sells his through Leica dealers as well...and doesn't Leica do so as well? > Not > only that, but even if Tom's overhead is lower than Leica's because he > operates a smaller operation, the cost of creating each individual unit is > how you have to compare--and again, that's only if the two are identical > products. I disagree. I don't CARE how much it costs anyone to make what they make. I know that I will absolutely not pay a premium of 1.5-2x for something with a Leica name on it, over Tom's superb product, unless there is some advantage to the Leica unit, which there does not appear to be. > One would think that a large company that can take advantage of > economies of > scale by using its existing manufacturing capacity and whatever else can > make a larger company more efficient at making something in quantity would > be able to do so with a price that is competitive. Correct... > But we are basing our > idea of a competitive price on Tom's current price for his product, which, > and I know I may get a faceful of rotten tomatoes for this one, may very > well be underpriced. But that's his business, not ours...and knowing what I do about the manufacture of products, I doubt his is underpriced as far as him making a FAIR profit from it. > Then again, maybe they are priced just > right. If that's > so, then I think--and I may get a faceful of rotten wienerschnitzels for > this one--that the introduction of the Leicavit-M may in fact help Tom's > business. Well, yes and no. I believe he produces all he can sell...and doesn't want to produce more...so in reality, they won't help his business, unless he decides he wants to make more. The Leica winder may take some sales away...though I doubt it. It almost looks to me like it's another "collectors item"... Regards, Austin - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html