Quote:
Originally Posted by e_lunatic
Can't tell you how many times I've had small business owners selling their products for way cheaper than they should because they felt if they raised prices people would never buy it. You want good materials, fabbed and welded well, and have a lot less issues with sourcing materials? Don't buy cheap stuff :shrug:
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Been there done that! Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. When we released our Holy Headers (321SS) back in 2010 the resounding response was 'no one is going to pay that price!' We sold 10 the first year (actually most we gave away to tester shops), 25 the second, but once track guys and dyno plots started surfacing it took off. 2021 we made just under 700 sets with demand only continuing upward, it's typically a 1-2 month wait, and a month+ additionally with a coating.
Similar roll out for the 2015-2021 FA20 WRX headers and they went down and down as cheap sets continued to hit the market. Went from several hundred per year, to less than 30 last year. We're at a point now, questioning if it even makes sense to continue, because at our reduce material volume our prices have started climbing. It's not a good direction when that market just likes budget products.
Our costs are what they are, and our margins are what they are to support the future; R&D, engineering/testing, and product development. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. It's risk for any company that develops and proves out their own stuff. For the ones that knock-off, there's price point, and no engineering or development cost-risk, which is one of the reasons they are so cheap. If you think developing a good product is cheap, it's not. In 2010 we spent a hair over 100K developing the Holy Headers and it took years to break even. Knock off companies don't have that. Every dollar you spend, buying from a 'header factory' that pumps out knock-offs, you're reducing future innovations for the platform. Some care, some don't.