cracked Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 I've never seen any avy beepers on sale. Why not? $300 is a lot for me. Quote
sobo Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 It's about normal for a good one. I've got an ARVA 9000 that I really like. Got it on discount (store closure) for only about $200. Try this Quote
snoboy Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 cracked said: I've never seen any avy beepers on sale. Why not? $300 is a lot for me. a few reasons probably... First of all, shops don't really make any money on them in the first place. Cost is pretty close to $300. There isn't a whole lot of change from year to year, so the "old" models will sell next year, and they don't take a whole lot of space in the stock room. Quote
JoshK Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 snoboy said: cracked said: I've never seen any avy beepers on sale. Why not? $300 is a lot for me. a few reasons probably... First of all, shops don't really make any money on them in the first place. Cost is pretty close to $300. There isn't a whole lot of change from year to year, so the "old" models will sell next year, and they don't take a whole lot of space in the stock room. Any speculation on why the manufactuer cost of beacons is so high? Is it due to the low volume sold of an item such as that? I mean, seriously, those beacons are really pretty low tech in terms of overall technology, I can't see why they should cost $300. Quote
Bronco Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 Cascade Crags had a ski clearance sale that put the Tracker down to about $225 durring the spring. I picked one up. Now if my goll dang partners would pony up I might be able to take it once in a while. Quote
snoboy Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 JoshK said:Any speculation on why the manufactuer cost of beacons is so high? Whole different question... No idea. I have wondered the same. I would guess some of the cost comes out of liability insurance and CE/ISO/whatever certification groups that are required. Volume is probably an issue too. Also probably higher than average QC costs... at least one would hope that to be the case. This is all pure speculation. Quote
Toast Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 Think about volumes... it's very much a specialty item that addresses a very narrow market. If manufacturers were cranking through several million of these a year, I could see the cost driven down to soemthing well below $100 (prob < $20.) However, how many of these things move off the shelf per season... a couple ten thousand maybe? Given that, $200 - $300 sounds understandable. Quote
cj001f Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 Toast said: Think about volumes... it's very much a specialty item that addresses a very narrow market. If manufacturers were cranking through several million of these a year, I could see the cost driven down to soemthing well below $100 (prob < $20.) However, how many of these things move off the shelf per season... a couple ten thousand maybe? Given that, $200 - $300 sounds understandable. There isn't that much QC work that goes into beacons (at least compared to telco or milspec equip) - the cost is more manufacture margin - which is directly volume related. I'm actually surprised that the retailer margin is so low - usually its 40-50%? Quote
snoboy Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 Sorry cj, I was wrong, cost isn't quite $300, but it is close to 40% markup, and that means the shop isn't making any money really... Thanks for pointing that out. Pretty cheap compared to all the rest of the gear needed for touring anyway, the "It's too expensive argueme t doesn't really cut it with me." Quote
cj001f Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 snoboy said: Sorry cj, I was wrong, cost isn't quite $300, but it is close to 40% markup, and that means the shop isn't making any money really... Thanks for pointing that out. Compared to clothes (or ski gear), 40% ain't much of a markup (and I imagine beacons move like molasses). If your looking for a cheap beacon - try these guys (who I know nothing about...)http://www.avalanchebeacon.com (After all, it's only your partners life). Is it poor etiquette to ask to swap beacons with a partner before a tour? Quote
snoboy Posted July 28, 2003 Posted July 28, 2003 cj001f said:Is it poor etiquette to ask to swap beacons with a partner before a tour? I think it is an excellent idea... except I would rather have them using one they are familiar with. The other thing I like the idea of swapping is the shovel, especialluy if they have one of those dinky plastic ones. Quote
Pencil_Pusher Posted July 29, 2003 Posted July 29, 2003 cracked said: I've never seen any avy beepers on sale. Why not? $300 is a lot for me. How about www.barrabes.es? Or bring avy poodles. Quote
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