audio lead pricing

[anthony]

I had to get a new lead from my venerable Thorens TD126 Mk2 turntable
to my Quad amp, and got my hi-fi guru to do it for me while he was
also rejuvenating a Quad 66 pre-amp for me.
The lead connects to the turntable with a moulded 4-pin plug so it's
a bit tricky to find. My guy finally found a lead for an obviously
extortionate (he agreed) $67. But he reported with glee that one
supply shop quoted him $350 saying "you really shouldn't have to pay
more than that".
When my fellow mentioned he wouldn't pay anything for obvious snake-
oil (comparable to the super-speaker-cable rackets), the supplier
mentioned that he found that most buyers needed to pay a steep price
to get perceived value. If the lead was priced reasonably, most of his
consumers would think there was something wrong with it.......
Anthony in Woodend, Victoria, Australia

[Iain Churches]

"anthony" <anthonyj...@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:fc579c53-37f5-42ee...@g4g2000prj.googlegroups.com...

When I was involved in a small bespoke tube amp manufacturing
company, we were asked by a local dealer to make up ten shielded
mains cables, for which he had been asked frequently in recent months.

The plug, socket, cable, woven screen and thick polythene outer
came to a total of Euro 10 per cable. They took only minutes to
make up, so they could have been offered to the dealer for Euro 40.

He laughed out loud, and said, "They have to be priced at Euro 400
+ VAT at least to have any credibility. The dealer price was set at
Euro 240 and he put his cut of 40% plus taxes on the top. They
were quickly sold. He subsequently found a far eastern source
(probably Euro 2 each for bulk purchase) and continued to sell these
at Euro 400.

Iain