Quote:
Originally Posted by DylanJZA
IMO it doesn't look bland and cheap like the stock one, it's weighted, nicely made, is a factory accessory that's branded GR, and because $135 to me isn't a high price for it. Like I said however, you're likely not going to be able to level with me on this.
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That's a lot more of what I was looking for. Any idea what the weight difference is?
Again - to be clear - I don't think $135 is expensive. I think it seems expensive for a piece of metal wrapped in leather. The only part of it where precision really matters is the threads. Other than that it's a chunk of metal with some leather and a logo etched in.
No argument - it looks really nice and presumably feels nice in the hand.
Where the concept falls off for me is when everyone says "oh, it's great" and then I have to decide whether I think someone else's "great" without further explanation is equal to or greater than $135 I'd have to spend simply to get close enough to the end product to determine whether I estimated correctly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dragoontwo
You're not paying for just the knob when you buy it. You're paying for the manufacturing and every time it changed hand before it got to you. Plus any overhead.
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I'm aware of how economics works. For a $135 item of this size the sunk cost for materials/manufacturing is going to be probably $70-80, then you have shipping, shelf space, and all the other little things that eat into margin. It could be a bit higher or a bit lower, depending on the "need" for profit on the item, and I estimated low based on the presumption that as a branded item it doesn't expect close, direct competition for at least a little while. (Knockoffs take some time to make.)
Because this is a fairly simple object to create there's a decent chance I'll make my own. Again, part of why I ask what makes this one better than the original one. Part market research, part R&D fast-tracking. Maybe the answer would lead to premium material that would drive up the difficulty/cost of making something myself to the point that $135 does in fact seem like a bargain by comparison. But I don't know until I ask (and, eventually, get an answer).