Price Disparity

[Angel Barracks]

I was just having a chat on Facebook messenger about resin scenery and it made me think about something I have not mentioned in a while.

 

Price differences between like businesses.
If you look at 6mm resin buildings the prices between companies can vary massively.

There are the raw material costs for one.
Not all people will use the same resin, and even those that do may pay different prices even if buying from the same supplier. It is normal to get bulk discounts on such stuff.

So a company that buys a lot of resin can buy it cheaper and can pass that saving on.

There are factors like master costs, how much did the master cost to make, how long did it take? These costs need to be considered when setting the selling price.

How mould friendly is the model, will you get loads of casts from the mould, or will it deteriorate quickly due to the shape etc? The business model too, is it a stack them high and sell them cheap business model that relies on selling at a low profit but selling a large volume as  a result, or does it expect to sell less models but at a higher profit margin?

For me though there is one main reason why costs vary as much as they do, there is no science behind my conclusion it is merely anecdotal, but I reckon it is a big old factor.

Does the manufacturer need the money from the business to pay the bills?
If not, then they can sell the models very cheaply with little profit. They can put all the profit they do make back into the business and make more models.

If they need to use their profits to pay the bills, then the chances are that the majority of the profits will be used to pay their own wages. As such they may well charge more per model.

Oh and the size, don’t assume that Bobs small house at £1.50 is the same size and Johns small house at £2.00, Bob’s may be cheaper as it is much smaller.

As Angel Barracks I take out about 80% of my profit to go toward household bills.
The other 20% goes into making replacement moulds, new models, and other consumables like resin, silicone, webhosting, plasticard, knives, greenstuff, glue and all that stuff. Plus the costs of the metal side of the business, but that is another story.

If this was not the case then I could sell my models a good bit cheaper, or keep them the same price and bring out new models a lot more often.

Back when I was a plumber, there was one local guy that used to massively undercut all the rest, he would annoy the normal guys as it made them seem like rip-off merchants, when in fact they were charging the going rate, which was what they needed to charge to pay the bills.

So, my rambling is kind of saying, don’t assume that some companies are expensive when it could just be they are a sensible price for a self-employed profitable business, it may just be Bobs Models is very cheap, too cheap in fact!

 

Ramble over, I hope you get my jist though.
 

 

 

https://cromsanvil.co.uk/

[Whirlwind]

Sure, I think the argument has been made before – was it by Wargames Foundy, IIRC? Basically saying that wargamers had become accustomed to “amateur” production standards and prices and for there to be sustainable (i.e. professional) companies putting out better products, then prices needed to be at the top-end of what gamers had been accustomed to pay beforehand.

https://hereticalgaming.blogspot.co.uk/

[Alan Millicheap]

I didn’t know you were a plumber?

[Angel Barracks]

Alan Millicheap wrote:

I didn’t know you were a plumber?

Back in the day of my late teens.
Though I specialised in leadwork and flashing  😉

 

https://cromsanvil.co.uk/

[Les Hammond]

Cheap buildings are usually pretty bland looking. Price and quality of product should be comparable to maintain sales (gamers will want to buy nice terrain they see in use on the tabletop or in blogs). You could never sell an overpriced piece of junk if there’s an image in your webstore but a nicely sculpted imposing landmark building (a generic chateau or something based on an actual historical location) or even a regular town or farm building would have more scope for tweaking profits upward on it.

If I have got everything other building I need then I invariably start acquiring the special expensive pieces. When I have done that, unless I get into another period or genre then the manufacturer is going to have to bring out new models (unless I decide to have bigger towns & cities). So there might be an element of having satisfied your existing customers they don’t buy a lot more.

6mm France 1940

http://les1940.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/386297688467965/

[Les Hammond]

As for charging more because you have expensive tastes I don’t think that would work for very long. Price has got to be part & parcel with product quality and/or consumer demand. Maybe if it was only a paying hobby you could get away with charging a lot but what would be the point of that? You might as well charge less and make more gamers happy (may have to do a little bit more casting in that case ), you would sell more and the overheads would be covered just the same.

If it gets “too big” have a small staff to do the legwork and you still have the satisfaction of being part of the hobby.

6mm France 1940

http://les1940.blogspot.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/386297688467965/

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