Posted by Rick Denney on November 19, 2002 at 17:42:03:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Expensive Mouthpieces vs. Old Standbys posted by Joe Baker on November 19, 2002 at 16:37:13:
We aren't disagreeing. I did say that the cost must be low enough to allow the market price.
And I suspect that the main reasons horn mouthpieces are cheaper is because horn players expect them to be, for whatever reason. Different market.
I don't think Monette (or the like) limit production to raise prices, I think they raise prices to limit demand, because they've run up against some capacity (either the capacity of the machinery or of the owner to keep up). If 100 people want a mouthpiece tomorrow, and you can only make 10, then you'll have 90 upset people complaining at you. But if only 10 people are willing (for whatever reason) to pay the high price you charge, then you'll never have to say no to anybody. It's a fine line, of course, and variable with the vicissitudes of the market. It's amazing how prices drop when the pendulum swings away from a boutique brand; if the costs were really that high, they would just disappear from the market.
Competition, of course, it supposed to sort all this out. But with something as subjective as mouthpieces, competition doesn't work that well. A Bach 18 knockoff is half the price of the Bach, but Bach doesn't stop making it because many still buy on the strength of the brand. The subjectivity is, I think, part of your point. Some people allow their perceptions and expectations to be manipulated by exclusivity and high price, but it's the exclusivity and high price that is driving their willingness to pay in many cases. That's how Starbucks stays in business selling $4 cups of coffee.
Rick "who determines the price point and demand even before calculating the cost of any new product development" Denney