Originally Posted by
RPK79
Ah, I see you must have gotten hung up on the word "alone". You were attempting to justify the high price of this item with the cost of the molding process and the low run volume. That's simply not the case.
Context is important in comprehension - I was rebutting the assertion that the low production volume had NO affect on the price. Go back, re-read.
Originally Posted by
RPK79
Doing a cursory internet examination of carbon fiber manufacturing I see that the actual materials that go into these frames is actually fairly cheap
You should do more than a cursory search. It's not a case of 'CF is CF is CF' and Time is an anomaly in bike manufacturers - they weave their own tubes of CF as opposed to buying pieces of pre-preg.
Originally Posted by
RPK79
(although Taiwanese labor isn't all that expensive).
Time's manufacturing facilities are in France.
Originally Posted by
RPK79
I imagine there is less than $2,000 in materials, labor, and overhead going into each bike (and that's being conservative). So, if they make 1,000 bikes and $2,000 cost of the mold and $2,000 cost of the manufacturing get added together that comes to $4,000. $4,000/11,000 is a 36% margin which is pretty damned healthy, and that is using inflated costs.
The manufacturer isn't the distributor/retailer - they both need to make money and your model assumes direct-to-consumer.
Originally Posted by
RPK79
They wouldn't be buying an expensive bike they would be buying an expensive label.
There's no disputing that the bikes would cost less without the Hermes label, but the assertions taking place in this thread are ridiculous.