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  1. #31
    Senior Member wisenber's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mud__Bone View Post

    maybe some folks are not going to make as much profit margin on their "cottage" items being sold. My opinion is many hiking/hammocking/camping items are WAY over priced to begin with. who wouldn't want to be able to triple their output of funds? look at cottage makers of hammocks. how did they price their items? seems they took hennessy price and undercut them by 20 to 40 dollars. Quilts be they top or bottom seemed to follow the same formula as they cost in a big way. makes big profits. as evidenced by the numbers popping up selling their stuff.

    I think you are confusing HH overseas outsourced production model with custom made cottage. While a cottage manufacturer may earn a decent living, they're not going to get rich by any means. As an example, try calling North Face to see about a single custom made sleeping bag, then try the same with any of the vendors on here. To me, there is no comparison to the quality and service provided by a cottage maker versus mass manufactured. For that superior quality and service, I am more than willing to pay more without worrying about their profit margin. If their effort was not worth their while, they would not be providing us these valuable alternatives.

  2. #32
    Senior Member pisanodc's Avatar
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    Good Bye Objectivity

    I think it is great to see many vendors selling similar items, and that is exactly what continually pushes the development of gear forward. I have been biting my tongue about the lack of objectivity that has been brewing on the forum. So many times when a member expresses his or her frustration with a current vendor, be it with their product or customer service, the vice squad comes if to defend that vendor as if they have some personal interest vested. Just because some vendors have been on the forum for a long time does that make them infallible? I love the forum and all of the knowledge I have gained from it, but let's not forget is some of these original cottage gear vendors had to start somewhere and I find it hard to believe that each one of those vendors had designs that were unique to them and them alone. For crying out loud how many different types of quilts could possibly be made? They have been making wearable quilts for over 100 years. The only difference is the use of newer materials. I mean, maybe I will start making quilts with packing peanuts as insulation just to be different. There is no coincidence that vendors are using down and 0.9 oz nylon, because it's the best stuff for the job.

    angelo

  3. #33
    New Member Mud__Bone's Avatar
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    I appreciate the reply but I'm not confused. I think you just missed my point. my point was it seems cottage makers of any gear related to hiking and camping base their prices off of mass produced items. Also overall its all to expensive. so lets imagine your 230 dollar mass marketed hammock, quilt{sleeping bag}, backpack were actually priced at 130, do u then think the cottage maker making a similar item would sell at 180? I think not.

    need another example? whoopie slings, since Opie has sold them, others sell them too. now the interesting part, look at whoopieslings site and look at the sites of others who also sell whoopies. now tell me how they are priced..... same thing I said before they take the base price of the original seller and undercut his cost . mind you at such low price an item its not so drastic as a 200 dollar item.

    I hope this has made my view a little more clear.

    you also see cottage items, very similar in price for very similar items. why? whats the term, profit margin. why make 20 dollars profit on one item when u can make 120 dollars profit. monkey see monkey do.

    same shite happens the world over.

    supply and demand. dollars and SENSE :P

    I ain't here to get anyone PO'd I'm just sharing my take of things as I have seen them happen. again it comes back to patent, if you don't have it, too bad for you. I do believe someone had troubles with HH patents. and why was it trouble ? because the ideas were, you guessed it, patented. no patent you can do as you like, no matter how "close" it seems to another product. it takes time and money for patents, I'd imagine most cottage makers forgo the patent process fro the time it takes especially. by the time patent is approved the market hay have passed you by.
    come to think of it, I can't recall one cottage maker that mentions patents on any items they make. not saying there are not, I just don't recall any.

    I seen a gal that makes wraps for a dog [male] so he don't pee in the house, its two pieces of fleece with velcro on the end. cheap to make and brings a her a good profit, why? because there are buyers willing to pay for it.

    who outside the outdoor [camping backpacking] world would believe you can make 100 percent profits selling used beverage cans in the shape of a stove at 10-20 bucks, or more, a pop? same things buyers willing to pay for it. or not inclined to make one, or don't have the tools needed to make item.


    ok I'm done rambling

    Peace

  4. #34
    Senior Member BrianWillan's Avatar
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    1 man shops vs, factories

    Mud_bone

    Take into consideration that the cottage makers are 1 person shops for the most part. I have read that the Jacks contract out their production to local sewers. Making quilts are labour intensive, I know, I've done simple syntheic diy quilts and know how much time each one of those took. Factor in material costs. 800 - 900 fill down is not cheap and neither is the 1.1 ripstop nylon that is used. Gone are the $1.50 per yard Walmart buys. Then there is all of the extra items. for the suspension of underquilts and on and on.

    I don't begrudge the cottage businesses a reasonable hourly dollar figure for their labour on top of their product costs. Hammock underquilts are a specialty item. The goods ones have a differential cut and that adds to the complexity.

    As you said it comes down to supply and demand. If no one was buying the gear that the cottage makers are providing at a given price point, then we would see a corresponding price adjustment. It's a fact of life that high quality lightweight / ultra light gear costs good money to buy.

    This thread is really getting to be off the original topic at this point.

    Cheers

    Brian

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