personal experiences with online vendors

I think it's kind of funny how the forum group gets so jaded about this stuff.   However rarely does any of them have any experience running a shop.  They wonder why a brick and mortar has the audacity to charge so much when the online guy can sell it for so cheap.  And they wonder why the manufacturer prices MSRP so high on a product that couldn't cost them that much to build; right?  Well I don't mean to be rude, but those are very ignorant points of view.  For instance, does anyone know how much money JL paid for tooling costs on the W7?  I'll bet you the baskets alone were in the 200+ thousand dollar range.  That's not to buy all the baskets they need.  That's just to tool up the mold to make them.  Most of the parts on the W7 are not off-the-shelf items.  JL had to pay tooling costs for almost every part of that sub design.  Also keep in mind that the pole piece is machined to get the cooling holes in it.  That costs a great deal more.  Plus there are quite a few innovative inventions used on that sub, many of them holding a patent.  R&D to get those designs, as well as apply for all those patents can be very costly.  And all of this must be added to the price of the sub.

Now I know that there are a lot of shop owners on this forum.  I'd love to have them comment on the "overpricing" they apparently do.  I'll bet you guys that they aren't making a "steal" like you guys think.  After all they have to pay for things like their install shop and store front, knowledgable/skilled employees, and quite a few other things that most of you wouldn't expect.  Also keep in mind that they are in business to make a profit.  And you guys also forget the many benifits that they offer that you just don't get by buying unauthorized.  For instance, most people don't know how to install their own stuff.  This includes many of the people on the forums, even though they won't admit it (even to themselves).  Being the person that heads up the warranty department here at Adire, I have personal experience with that.   I personally think it is a huge gamble to purchase product from these places.  And I work way too hard for my money to throw it away like that.  This thread wouldn't exist if it wasn't a gamble.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

So you can seen when one is paying a distributors price but selling at a retailers price it easly doubles or triples the margin

Thank you, Steven, thank you! You indirectly answered the challenge that I layed out to these guys some time ago and not one of them answered.

Any time someone complained about price (which invariably meant they were bashing JL Audio, in most cases), I challenged them to tell me why JL Audio gear cost so much. Not one person has ever responded until now. Companies have to pay for many things, from tooling costs, materials, labor, patents, rent, engineering, etc. etc. Some companies have to pay more than others depending on how they run their business and make their products. As Steven points out, JL Audio and a few other audio companies go the extra mile to provide some of the best audio products that you can buy. But providing these "high-end" products comes at a price. If you're willing to pay for it, good for you. If not, that's fine too, but don't make that the basis for trashing a company that others piggy-back off of so they can sell at a cheaper price. And believe me, this happens more than you would think.

I'll give you an example - I work in the automotive industry with one of the Big 3 as a salaried employee. Our salary structure is higher than the foreign competitors. Because of that (although certainly not the only factor), the cost of a vehicle that we make is going to be higher than a foreign-made vehicle. Which is one reason why people buy foreign versus domestic - they don't want to pay the money for a vehicle that is just as good and does exactly the same things, it just costs more. Some people just aren't willing to pay more money for two like things. And some people are willing to take the hit on quality or innovation or what have you compared to how much money is going to have to come out of their pockets. Just something to think about...