[Todd R]

It's not just Monster, lots o stuff is expensive at the "shack".

Saw a Ti calculator there once for $24 and the very same one was $9 at another store.

The Radio Shacks are usually located in high rent places like shopping malls and strip malls. Considering that, plus the fact that their main business seems to be selling cell phone service now makes it a very expensive place to shop for any kind of hardware.

 

[Team]

I think we're all being naive not to suspect manufacturers of "audiophile" equipment of marking up their products exponentially. Successful companies carefully manage their brand image, and for many of them exclusivity is of utmost importance – that is, making sure only a few people own it by pricing it out of the range of the other 99% of the population. Starbucks built an empire out of convincing people to pay $5 for a $1 cup of coffee, and companies like Bose, B&O and Nakamichi have done the same for audio equipment. Keep trying to convince yourself that your $500 headphone cable was worth the cash – I'd be surprised if it cost $50 to make. The only reason that $500 cable sounds better than a $50 one is because you know you paid $500 for it; no one else will be able to hear any difference.

 

[hempcamp]

I'm a cable skeptic, but I am totally unopposed to cable companies charging whatever markup people (naive or not) will pay. That's how markets work.

What bothers me isn't the markup or even the marketing, but the *misinformation* that goes a little beyond what I would consider to be fair marketing practices.

I'll gladly pay a high markup on Bluejeans or even mass-market brands with durable build quality so long as I don't have to read through pages of fluff to get to the checkout. Simpler than building my own, and leaves me more time to beat up on the dishonest cable companies!

(sarcasm)

--Chris

 

[infinitesymphony]

Quote:

Originally Posted by markl /img/forum/go_quote.gif Who is charging the mark-up? A. Monster Cable B. Radio Shack C. The evil gnome who lives inside every audio cable

A., Monster Cable. If you visit their website, you'll see that they list MSRPs for every cable. Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc. are then "forced" to sell at MSRP, unless there's some sort of clearance sale. Of course, this MSRP allows the stores to have a huge cut as well, so they don't mind, but it's clear that Monster is using its money-making power as incentive for store workers to recommend their cables. It's a cycle that benefits both companies while the customer gets to finance their business deal.

 

[fordgtlover]

Yep - gotta agree with the position that the actual mark up is largely irrelevant.

You might think that 200% mark up on a cable is highway robbery, but it is a discretionary purchase.

The audio industry doesn't hold a candle to some others.

How does a mark up of 569,958% grab you?
Xanax


Value is relative to your needs & wants.

 

[ast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fordgtlover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yep - gotta agree with the position that the actual mark up is largely irrelevant. You might think that 200% mark up on a cable is highway robbery, but it is a discretionary purchase. The audio industry doesn't hold a candle to some others. How does a mark up of 569,958% grab you? Xanax Value is relative to your needs & wants.

Well, pharma companies are a different story. Almost ALL cost are associated with R&D, clinical trial, and all the QA,validation,procedure,..... mandated by Federal Government, FDA in this case. The hidden cost is mind boggling. I am talking about "true" pharma co which develop new drugs and hold patents, not the copy cat generic drug makers.

For example, there are three stages in Clinical Trial alone. Phase III trials easily involve thousands of patients and hundreds of clinics/docotors... You don't want to know the cost there!!!

Yet, a company spent multimillions in R&D+clinical trial on multiple potential new drugs, but only A FEW actually went through and marketed as commercial medicine, most of them failed to show final efficacy in humans or shown too much toxicity in Phase III human trials, all the millions down the drain then. So if you add up all these, you will understand why commerical medicine cost so much.



.




....

 

[fordgtlover]

^

Yep - I sure wasn't suggesting that running big pharma is a cheap business. Just illustrating the point that mark up % are largely irrelevant. Value (perceived or real) is the key.

For someone who likes Monster Cable, a few hundred (or thousand) % mark up is not a problem. For most people here it is though.

 

[Bigjppop]

You gotta love when you can get a mini Econ 101 lecture at Head-fi! Sign me up for 102!

 

[clarke68]

I don't really see what the big deal is. The article says:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Article The worst part isn't really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200%

So...Monster Cables aren't marked up any more than any other gear in a typical chain store.

Fine if you don't like Monster Cables...I'm certainly not a fan, but I got a pair for free years ago and they still worked just as well the last time I tried them as when they were fresh out of the blister-pack, no problems with the build quality/soldering/etc.

Markup in a typical high-end boutique shop is around 40-50%. A typical manufacturing multiplier is 5x (things sell for 5x the price of the parts) for electronics, but that number goes up dramatically with mass-production. In short, you usually get much better value (parts cost:retail price) in the high-end than the mass market, even though the prices are significantly higher.

 

[themyst]

Welcome to the world of retail. Everything's marked up about 70-80%. Do you honestly think any retailer out there can cover overhead, wages and still make a profit netting $20 dollars for an item that cost them $150 wholesale?

 

[infinitesymphony]

Stores aren't marking up Monster Cables. Monster has fixed the prices by forcing stores to sell at their MSRP--Monster is the one marking up the prices. So, don't blame the store, blame the manufacturer.

Apple and Bose are two other corporations that share this idea.

 

[soul05]

i talked my friend out of buying a monster hdmi cable today. 80 bucks! what a rip off.

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soul05 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i talked my friend out of buying a monster hdmi cable today. 80 bucks! what a rip off.

Oppo sells 3 Ft HDMI-HDMI cables for $6. For 25' Ft long, just $36:
OPPO Digital Products