View Single Post
Old 08-25-18, 09:54 PM
  #19  
Gresp15C
Senior Member
 
Gresp15C's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 3,893
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1062 Post(s)
Liked 665 Times in 421 Posts
I run a side business, selling a specialized gadget that I manufacture, not bike related. Granted, I add value to the product by assembling it, so it's not like being a retailer of ready made goods. I can add up what I pay for the parts that go into a gadget, and how much I sell it for. I try to keep the ratio somewhere above 4x, and preferably 5x. I suspect that anybody who tries to undercut me at this rate, is probably not considering all of their costs.

A retailer approached me to sell my gadget, and we realized that there was no middle-ground price that would be worthwhile for both of our businesses. So I continue to sell direct to the consumer myself.

I think it's hard for anybody to guess how much profit a business is making. It's different than mark-up, because a business has a variety of costs, including labor. I'd say it's "fair" if the business is paying a decent wage. Unfortunately, wages have stagnated in the US for decades. I don't see a good solution to the declining-wage problem that doesn't involve fairly extensive redistribution, which I support.

Some businesses have phenomenally low margins, such as supermarkets and gas stations. Others, very high. It's hard to be in any business where consumers are doing aggressive price comparison shopping.
Gresp15C is offline