The Flat Earth and parallel times
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:36 pm
Back in the Flat Earth dominance of the industry the UK market, these companies didn't export that much relatively. In the early 80's the split uk v export was about 80 to 20 %. The export market was growing though as British hi-fi established more of a name and following and disposable income got higher (especially in the Far East). Prices were still reasonable, the slurp hadn't started.
I and a couple of other companies that were being denied access to the UK dealers (well the good ones who paid their bills) went almost entirely export to the point that in the early 90's I was 90% export.
Now the situation has reversed, the UK market has died and the export market has blossomed. So now we get the influence of the slurpers on prices, everyone wanting their margin (slurp), so prices have gone daft. A company has to keep retail prices the same all over the world, and they are having to give bigger and bigger margins to the distributors in export markets to force retain of market share. So not only 50% of price to retailers, but also 30% of price to distributors, leaving 20% for the manufacturer. So it is easy to do the sums, on top of that the most successful of the ex Flat Earth companies who's owners are getting old are just building pension pots. So you end up in the UK was stupidly over priced product for the small amount of UK business left, as it is no longer an important market.
So small companies for a small market mostly created by enthusiasts and audio designer, like the good old days are beginning to appear, but they still make the mistake of relying in retailers - it is simple folks, retailers are fickle crooked money slurpin knob heads largely, rely on them at your peril. We need more direct sellers. I make back over 80% of my retail prices over a year accounting for about 10 - 12% for ebay and paypal, and accounting for discounts (like black friday) and 2nd stocks, it should be obvious my prices are a fraction of the competition that does the now polluted traditional way to market. Obviously most of my 80% goes in costs and materials. Who gains = you!
Someone tell me where the future and the common sense lie, as because ebay is worldwide my split export v UK is now 50 / 50 (approx).
I and a couple of other companies that were being denied access to the UK dealers (well the good ones who paid their bills) went almost entirely export to the point that in the early 90's I was 90% export.
Now the situation has reversed, the UK market has died and the export market has blossomed. So now we get the influence of the slurpers on prices, everyone wanting their margin (slurp), so prices have gone daft. A company has to keep retail prices the same all over the world, and they are having to give bigger and bigger margins to the distributors in export markets to force retain of market share. So not only 50% of price to retailers, but also 30% of price to distributors, leaving 20% for the manufacturer. So it is easy to do the sums, on top of that the most successful of the ex Flat Earth companies who's owners are getting old are just building pension pots. So you end up in the UK was stupidly over priced product for the small amount of UK business left, as it is no longer an important market.
So small companies for a small market mostly created by enthusiasts and audio designer, like the good old days are beginning to appear, but they still make the mistake of relying in retailers - it is simple folks, retailers are fickle crooked money slurpin knob heads largely, rely on them at your peril. We need more direct sellers. I make back over 80% of my retail prices over a year accounting for about 10 - 12% for ebay and paypal, and accounting for discounts (like black friday) and 2nd stocks, it should be obvious my prices are a fraction of the competition that does the now polluted traditional way to market. Obviously most of my 80% goes in costs and materials. Who gains = you!
Someone tell me where the future and the common sense lie, as because ebay is worldwide my split export v UK is now 50 / 50 (approx).