In the buyer beware department...

Some hardcore Dazzle, cleaning up trash in Patagonia, and it's funny how when I read this I found myself thinking of current trends in yacht design, boat building, and the cruising community...

Yesterday I came across someone who was selling a mounting bracket for a self-steering gear and asking $1000 for it as it was "new" and if you were to buy it from the company who made it you'd be out of pocket for nearly $1600.

I found the quoted retail price to be doubtful so trundled over to the companies site and lo and behold the part in question cost $1593... OUCH!

I then check my various materials catalogs and price lists to see what the actual cost of said bracket amounted to and came up with a number of around $150 for materials and labor so with a 100% markup let's say a fair price would be somewhere around $300. Of course, those figures are based with me going out and building one bracket and we really should factor in that a company building many gears would have the added advantage of bulk buying materials, labor saving tooling, and systematic production so the cost should really be a whole lot less...

Which tells me they're either inept, greedy, or a combination of the two. Pretty normal for a marine business in the year 2015.

I hear a lot of excuses on why marine businesses have to price stuff at silly prices... small market, niche market, and so on but every time I look at silly expensive products I still find that there's a certain aroma akin to five-day old mackerel festering in the sun somewhere in the mix...

That said, the fault is really not with the builders and providers of said gear because faced with consumers who will blindly pay silly money for gear simply because it's for a boat, even the most honorable person will be hard pressed not to take advantage and price their products accordingly.

Just something to think about while you're catching your breath from your Black Friday adventures,,,

Listening to the Battlefield

So it goes...