Quote:
Originally Posted by Cmike2780
 Also, I think manufacturers should meet the consumers half way and make these parts more affordable. Some of these kits for example, don't need to be priced so high, even if its of a higher quality. It might deter replicas if the price difference was a lot less significant. Most people would likely pay a little more for the real thing. Its a different story when the real thing cost double the replica. |
Sure... but that would be a case by case basis.
You know, a lot of people don't realize how and what it takes to actually MAKE a very high quality part.
For example, in order to design and aero part, (I'm sure a few companies processes are different) but for the most part it follows:
1. Determine what the main focus of the part would be (visually, funtional,ect)
2. Determine who to sell the part to (consumer base, cars, regions, ect)
3. Determine a target MSRP and profit margin (make it worth it to sell and make money to FUND OTHER innovative products)
4. Design and draw rough sketches / ideas (pay an artist)
5. Review and narrow down ideas (pay employees)
6. Take remaining ideas and model them on the car (pay engineers / artists / employees)
7. Determine if the models can be manufactured easily and within steps (1&3)
8. Develop a working prototype for testing (pay employees / engineers / manufacturers)
9. Address any issues / possible redesign
10. Produce a limited number of parts for testing with production quality fitment
11. Check fitment and if the product meets company standards
12..ect ect
Those are just a few main steps that companies have to go through to determine what and how to make a part. It's actually much more complicated than that if you are coming up with innovative and original ideas.
Just as an example, someone had to take ALL of those steps to bring a new product to market... With a large company, think about all of the resources and people it takes to do that. I can promise you it isn't one or two people.
With that being said, because of the amount of time that those people spent doing all of those things to create something, it must be WORTH it for them to sell. Simply spending all of that time making it and selling it to make $100 isn't going to help them, nor anyone else trying to buy and resell those parts. (ie, dealers and markups,ect)
Paying for something nice is going to be expensive. And while I understand that spending $500 on a shift knob made of the same stuff the $80 one is made from, just because of the name is a little ridiculous, paying for something that has value is important to some..
Just think about it...
10-15 years ago, you didn't see knock off companies selling HKS, Blitz, Amuse, Nismo sh*t for cheap.. because they didn't exist.
Put your money in the places that have experience, the ones that started and have supported the industry. Everyone supported them then... now that you can buy cheap crap, it's cool to tell them to get lost?
*EDIT*
I just wanted to point out... in addition to what I said above, but companies that base their businesses OFF of copying other stuff doesn't have all of that overhead, they don't have to go through all of those steps to copy something. They merely get a part (in this case is a bumper) and send it off to a comapny in Tawian or China, they make a mold of it, and then have people pop them out of a cheap mold for 1/100th of the original MSRP.
They buy a ton of them, and sell them to people all over the world. End of story.
again...