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Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

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Mangrove Cuckoo
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#31

Post by Mangrove Cuckoo »

So...

If materials are getting cheaper, and manufacturing technology is getting smarter, and China can bang out a line for $5... why are prices for standard name lines (SA, Rio, Cortland) in the catalogues and on the shelves approaching $100?

The "average" recent models in the shop is now around $80, and some of the "best" ones are $120.

Let alone... you really have no idea what you are buying as few are within the labeled standards for line weight.

It sure ain't because they are far superior to lines of a few years ago!
With appreciation and apologies to Ray Charles…

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Torsten
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#32

Post by Torsten »

Dealing with China is today pretty easy, there are enough platforms for this purpose. I'm a stakeholder of a small company and we have done this for PCBs etc. One of our students used to buy a lot of stuff directly from china, also customized electronics for example. 5$ sounds to me expensive, I've seen quotes as low as 1$ for standard WFs if you buy 1000. Sure, there is always the risk that they steal your IP, but to me the innovation height of a fly line design seems to me very low - I've spliced even my own lines.
Paul Arden wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2019 1:14 pm It’s a bit difficult dealing with China however because if you develop something you can quickly find that it’s available to everyone. That’s just how they work. Also if you go online you can find that they are selling direct at very low prices. Flavio for example bought some lines direct that cost less than 5USD.
daniel
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#33

Post by daniel »

Mangrove Cuckoo wrote: Sat Nov 30, 2019 6:40 pm So...

If materials are getting cheaper, and manufacturing technology is getting smarter, and China can bang out a line for $5... why are prices for standard name lines (SA, Rio, Cortland) in the catalogues and on the shelves approaching $100?

The "average" recent models in the shop is now around $80, and some of the "best" ones are $120.

Let alone... you really have no idea what you are buying as few are within the labeled standards for line weight.

It sure ain't because they are far superior to lines of a few years ago!
I'd like to know why this is the case too. Unbelievable prices for the Rio/SA lines when buying in the UK. An MED comp in the UK will set me back £84 plus delivery. I don't want to spend that sort of money on a line that's going to get mostly cast on grass. Considering switching to the much cheaper Barrio GT125 for my distance practice and only using the MED for competitions.
Torsten
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#34

Post by Torsten »

Well, there are a lot of pricing strategies, I don't think that the price is related to the manufacturing costs, I'd say that some line companies use the "Premium pricing" strategy, see also Wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricing_strategies):

"[..] Premium pricing is the practice of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the (not necessarily justifiable) tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation, are more reliable or desirable, or represent exceptional quality and distinction. Moreover, a premium price may portray the meaning of better quality in the eyes of the consumer. [..]"
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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#35

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Several brands spring to mind 😉

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Paul Arden
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#36

Post by Paul Arden »

They’ve always been expensive. I remember paying £35 for SA Ultra2 and Cortland 444SL over 30 years ago. Those were the top distance lines. Accounting for inflation that’s the equivalent of £90 today.

My running shoes cost £120/pair. Daylight robbery :p
https://sneakerfactory.net/sneakers/201 ... a-sneaker/

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Lasse Karlsson
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#37

Post by Lasse Karlsson »

Accounting for inflation, it adds up with mid 80`s 😉

I find it quite true what Torsten posted when you know that two very similar lines, made at the same factory, by two different brands ends up in more than double in price, you do get a nice cardborad box with one though 😉

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Lasse
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Flycasting, so simple that instructors need to make it complicated since 1685

Got a Q++ at casting school, wearing shorts ;)
Torsten
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#38

Post by Torsten »

From the entrepreneur perspective pricing depends on the value that the customer is willing to pay. That's capitalism :) as long as people buy this stuff, I'd try to set the price as high as possible. Still margins are quite high in my opinion, I'm impressed that this works for the fly fishing industry. E.g. in electronics business you have often only very small margins.
daniel
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#39

Post by daniel »

Looking at the Sportfish website on the wayback machine. The SA VPT line in 2013 was £59.99, current price is £79.99

Inflation calculator works it out at £66.42. I might be being naive here but what's changed during the last 6 years to make that line increase nearly £14 more than it should have done. Is it the same line? Has the technology or tapers changed to justify it?

I agree with Torsten and Lasse, I think its premium pricing aimed at the fly fishing industry.
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Paul Arden
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Re: Snowbee prestige XS line (treatment)

#40

Post by Paul Arden »

I think you also need to factor in the US dollar exchange rate Daniel. Back then it was about 1.6 now it’s less that 1.3 :(

Cheers, Paul
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