Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!Classic_-_Concepts From: Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: An issue for the entire Amiga Community. Message-ID: <30762@cup.portal.com> Date: 14 Jun 90 02:51:53 GMT References: <20930@snow-white.udel.EDU> <1990Jun3.163532.12083@ameristar> <1990Jun5.231451.422@ameristar> <141@cbmcel.UUCP> Organization: The Portal System (TM) Lines: 34 > I even bought one eminently playable game for $15.00 early in my Amiga's > career .... except for profits, the cost of getting that game to me was > the same as the cost of getting that $45.00 game .... I have decided to > start focusing my attention on the $30.00 and under market. If enough > folks did the same ... Sorry, so many logical flaws here I feel rather compelled to respond. How can you possibly assume that development, research, packaging, distribu- tion costs are equal from one situation to another? There are wide diver- gences in development time (a year, 2 weeks, 3 years). There are wide divergences in support costs (1-800, long distance, upgrades, etc.). There are wide divergences in manufacturing costs. A company with a dozen products can get volume discounts on labels, diskettes, boxes, etc. A small company with one product cannot. Packaging can cost them 2 to 3 times as much as the cost to a large, established company. You also made a very large unsupported assumption. You assumed the $15.00 game was commercially viable and therefore that everyone could sell products in this price range. Bzzzt, wrong. The low price tag could reflect poor business practices. It could reflect a company not viable over the long term. It could be a loss leader to get people in the store, or to notice the company, or ... Go ahead and concentrate on the under $30 market. That's your prerogative. There will always be mispriced products, or poor products, or cheap products or fledgling companies who haven't learned all the hidden costs. But don't expect, in this instance, for it to make much difference. On a $30.00 product, the wholesaler only gets $12.00. This has to pay long distance, rent, salaries, diskettes, labels, manuals, packaging, advertising, upgrades if there are bug fixes, bad debts, defective merchandise returns, future r & d and a whooooole lot more. Under normal commercial conditions, $12.00 doesn't go very far, and it definitely won't cover salaries and office space. Julie Petersen (LadyHawke)