The price of plastic !

[BigKev67]

Can anyone explain why plastic accessories are so expensive. For instance a Mudsling, £139. Totally plastic held on by 4 plastic cable ties. Think of the wonderful chrome vanadium tools you could buy for that price, etc etc. It just dosnt make sense. I suppose we are to blame for buying them

 

[Paul S]

Buy a 1290 KTM - it already comes with the appropriate bit of plastic (Part no. 60304050000 SPLASH PROTECTION) so you do not need to buy a mudsling in the first place

..........and if you somehow broke it would only cost you £21.90 to replace it - so yes you must be mad to buy a Mudsling at that price

 

[Traffic893]

Buy the cheaper Chinese copy, works just as well.

 

[oddshapedballs]

Can anyone explain why plastic accessories are so expensive. For instance a Mudsling, £139. Totally plastic held on by 4 plastic cable ties. Think of the wonderful chrome vanadium tools you could buy for that price, etc etc. It just dosnt make sense. I suppose we are to blame for buying them

Easy, if people will pay £139 for something that costs a few pounds to make in bulk then they'll keep churning then out at that price, great business model for the owner a complete rip off for everyone else. Humans are a greedy bunch, want always over-rules need in our sad narrow-minded minds and we play right in to the hands of greedy business owners.

 

[Mr Bean]

If everyone buys the knock-off's who's going to do the research and development for new products?

I know of a fair number who have bought knock-off mudslings and had them rubbing the tyre and swingarm.

 

[zoltan]

Can anyone explain why plastic accessories are so expensive. For instance a Mudsling, £139. Totally plastic held on by 4 plastic cable ties. Think of the wonderful chrome vanadium tools you could buy for that price, etc etc. It just dosnt make sense. I suppose we are to blame for buying them

Don't buy it. When somebody is telling me that my fee is to high I just tell them to go somewhere else cheper or carry out the task themselves.
The Chinese version of Mudsling is ok, you have to make sure it fits perfect and you may need to trim it. In comparison the original is a quality item. Been a cheap fuck I have the fake version.

 

[Santa-2512]

Its a balance of costs

Not just Mr manufacturer ripping us off lol

First off you have the dev costs

That plastic widget didn't just appear out of nowhere

Then you have the mould tools - Big money - anywhere from £5000 to £500,000, and they don't last forever

Then you need an injection press, and materials, and someone to operate it

Once you have the part produced boxed and ready to sell...

To distributors or retail shops

Now the costs start

Mr Manufacturer, has to have a price that covers his costs to dev and produce the part, with some profit in it for him

However he has to balance over how long that part will be in production for vs how many he thinks will sell

To cheap and he's running at a loss - to expensive and he cant sell them

So the distrubiter takes them and adds his cut - he has to supply to the retail shops

Wages nad transport costs come in here


The shop gets them and adds it's cut

Stocking , premises , advertising, wages & postage costs ( and some profit)


and there you are a part that costs pennies , now costs pounds


Rough rule of thumb , thirds


One third of the retail price is profit, one third costs (wages transport etc) and the last third is the price they buy it at


Thirds is conservative BTW some retailers run at 50%

 

[Traffic893]

If everyone buys the knock-off's who's going to do the research and development for new products?

I know of a fair number who have bought knock-off mudslings and had them rubbing the tyre and swingarm.

I have read that Mr Bean so I was fully aware when fitting it, and luckily perhaps, no issues. I would imagine even the cheaper ones have different quality.

 

[clutchspring]

Some of you on here make me laugh, you spend how much on a new gs !, then you start penny-pinching.
A bit like one of my friend's buys a new expensive car then drives miles to fill up because the fuels .00001 of a pence cheaper , he's already lost the saving on the fuel by the time he's home ,
Like some one's already said don't forget the costs involved from the person who designed it & probably put their home & savings at risk to patterned it etc.
Then you find out some tow rag is doing a rip off of your product .

 

[trebor]

I've had a Chinese version in the past, yes, it does the job, though doesn't fit quite the same, quality of finish on plastic is generally worse, looks shabby very quickly.
I agree with the other posts regarding costs (including design) and tooling, if everyone buys the rips offs eventually those that get ripped off will stop producing, hence no more product.

It's a little bit like when people moan about cost of dealer services and criticise those that buy new bikes. If no one bought new bikes, there'd be no 'bargain' second hand bikes, if no one used dealer servicing facilities or bought new bikes then dealers would not exist. Those shiny showrooms with free coffee and biscuits have to be paid for somehow.

 

[stolzy]

Can anyone explain why plastic accessories are so expensive. For instance a Mudsling, £139. Totally plastic held on by 4 plastic cable ties. Think of the wonderful chrome vanadium tools you could buy for that price, etc etc. It just dosnt make sense. I suppose we are to blame for buying them

The only real factor in determining the price is what you can get customers to pay. Someone will be doing linear programming to work this out.

If you can make it for £50 and can get customers to pay £200, why would you sell it for £100?

 

[Big Si]

Its a balance of costs

Not just Mr manufacturer ripping us off lol

First off you have the dev costs

That plastic widget didn't just appear out of nowhere

Then you have the mould tools - Big money - anywhere from £5000 to £500,000, and they don't last forever

Then you need an injection press, and materials, and someone to operate it

Once you have the part produced boxed and ready to sell...

To distributors or retail shops

Now the costs start

Mr Manufacturer, has to have a price that covers his costs to dev and produce the part, with some profit in it for him

However he has to balance over how long that part will be in production for vs how many he thinks will sell

To cheap and he's running at a loss - to expensive and he cant sell them

So the distrubiter takes them and adds his cut - he has to supply to the retail shops

Wages nad transport costs come in here


The shop gets them and adds it's cut

Stocking , premises , advertising, wages & postage costs ( and some profit)


and there you are a part that costs pennies , now costs pounds


Rough rule of thumb , thirds


One third of the retail price is profit, one third costs (wages transport etc) and the last third is the price they buy it at


Thirds is conservative BTW some retailers run at 50%

On top of all this is the raw material shortage in the plastics industry (which I'm in albeit in the agric. sector) The raw material manufacturers (cracking factories) occasionally engineer a shortage by limiting production volume or increasing demand in certain sectors of the world using price which again creates shortages and higher prices in other areas of the world. Our raw material costs have increased by 40% this year cf. last year. You have to pay it or close the factory down.

 

[malcopopolo]

You have purchased a premium product and comes with it premium prices for aftermarket bits.
£150 for an oil and filter change... Is that not a blatant rip off. 1 drain plug to undo and 1 cartridge to unscrew re-filling with oil as required.
At least the book is stamped

Its a bit like going into a car dealership and spending over £75k and asking what the mpg is?

Jap bike parts are half the price.

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

The only real factor in determining the price is what you can get customers to pay. Someone will be doing linear programming to work this out.

If you can make it for £50 and can get customers to pay £200, why would you sell it for £100?

Quite right, and if there's no profit in it because someone is letting you do all the research, development, advertising etc and then just copying your product and knockign it out more cheaply, development of new products will cease.

Applies to bike parts and new drugs equally, I'd have thought.

 

[Paul S]

Pity BMW did not design a bike that did not need one in the first place - only been a problem for 8 years now

 

[Alwaysawayround]

Easy, if people will pay £139 for something that costs a few pounds to make in bulk then they'll keep churning then out at that price, great business model for the owner a complete rip off for everyone else. Humans are a greedy bunch, want always over-rules need in our sad narrow-minded minds and we play right in to the hands of greedy business owners.

Good points. I was watching a video from one of the head guys at Touratech recently and his views were spot on. He explained the type of customers have changed and how it used to be about having functionality first.
He said the clients particularly for the oil heads 1100/50s 1200s sought products that served a purpose, the riders then wanted it so enhance their bike and riding not to just look good, compared to the modern catalogue on these £18k plastic fantastic electrical wizardry bikes with £1300 Chinese TFT screen that costs buttons to manufacture. He said its about bling these days, the look, which is not necessarily wrong but sad in an egotistical way and nothing to do with purpose and I think he nailed it.

With PCP you now have people passing their test and riding bikes that could be a deposit for a home, there is a lot of ego and social status and the marketing is aimed particularly at that type of consumer with obsolescence built in from day 1. It baffles me why some people spend close to £20k on an engine and two wheels then to accept the seat is shit, the screen is shit, the battery needs to be lighter, the exhaust needs to be louder and expensive, pay extra for 'modes', suspension changed for some, on top of the required servicing that also adds a fortune. Barmey!

Right, I gtg fit some carbon parts to my bike I got off ebay. See ya.

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