Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #03532



To: richfile@rconnect.com
From: JVernonM@aol.com
Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 15:27:30 EDT
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Ya wanna lay off Solarbotics?


In a message dated 5/22/99 2:29:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
richfile@rconnect.com writes:

> It's expensive, but it's buisness! You realy can't do
> much about it. Dave needs to make something from this buisness. BEAM is
> NOT BIG!!! No one at my colege had heard of BEAM when I arrived! We are
> the minority and Dave has to get money from some where. When BEAM grows,
> his prices may drop, but BEAM isn't big enough. It's a shame Dave
> couldn't market BEAM at Walmart as the "Do-It-Yourself Robot"! If he
> ever pulled that one off, he probably be able to drasticly reduce
> prices.
Dave will never sell at Walmart or expand the ranks of BEAM with his present
methodology. Overpriced parts and kits actually limit access. It puts the
"hobby" beyond the reach of many young folks who could benefit. Every
business man knows that the way to open and expand a market is to drop
prices, not raise them. The idea is that if you drop the price you will
eventually make more profits from the increase in orders than you lost when
marking down. It is why Walmart is so huge now. If your pricing is high, you
actually limit your own growth. So, to say the kits need to cost more because
they sell less is a little backwards.
What bothers me here is that this price structure is part of a monopoly. That
in itself makes the issue more pronounced. But, it would seem that many of
you don't care that your only source of solar cells, motors, and other parts
is a little pricey. I've found this attitude rarely in other businesses.
Usually the market dictates price through competition. But, there's that
monopoly thing. Never mind, he sits at the right hand of Tilden, correct? And
God can do whatever he likes. Weird.
Jim

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