Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Mr. Curious
The whole 50 cal business has Mr. C. flummoxed. He's so confused. He doesn't know where to begin. Before one question gets answered satisfactorily somebody else is making a new claim about the benefits of the 50 cal ball and the whole process starts all over again. Mr. Curious isn't an unreasonable guy and he's willing to consider a product with some potential trade-offs but all he wants to know right now, today, is what the price of a case of 50 cal paint is gonna be. Up front, not whispered to some likely dealer with nothing written down. Disseminated to the public at large in black & white because if the 50 cal paint isn't going to be decisively cheaper for the consumer the rest of the conversation is a waste of breath.
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9 comments:
It will be interesting.
Speaking as a field op on this side of the world, the price my general consumer will be paying won't be changing dramatically - I'm charging what the market will accept, and it's generating the margin I need to create a viable business.
That's if we move to .50cal anyway. Still waiting to see if it's going to be as prevelant a change as some people are predicting. And what it's going to cost to convert all the markers we're currently running.
For my regulars/tourney guys - yes, I can see the price shifting downwards. Again because market forces are going to dictate that - but more because I expect to make a slightly lower margin on that segment of my business.
Again only rumors here, but I hear talk of MAP pricing on the 50 cal paint to keep the fields from killing the margin on the product and the price is expected to be about the same as current paint. The idea is that if the stores and fields are making 30% more on the small ball they will grass roots push the shit out of it.
The only people who make decent marhgin in this game are the field operators.
It seems they are also going to be the only people who allegedly gain margin with 50cal.
Stores can't charge more for it, and nor can distributors. Those guys just have YZ% less overall revenue.
I can't believe 50cal isn't already dead. Cooked figures? conflicting data? independant testing totally discrediting published result statistics? People being bribed with free gear, just to be 'pro-50cal'
What's next? Will I get home to find 50cal in bed with my wife?
It will be interesting to see if they put an MAP on .50 cal? As far as I know, there is no MAP on any .68 cal now, so that would be a big change.
If no MAP, if it's 30% cheaper per ball for the retailer, it will no doubt end up 30% cheaper for the consumer at stores and fields that are not FPO.
Should .50 cal ever be sold at our field, I doubt that the price will be any different than current .68 cal. We're strictly recreational though, so we have no incentive at all to offer lower prices to increase the volume shot. That would just deter more people from coming AND we would make less per ball. Double whammy! Don't see any point in doing that.
Actually, I believe most paint manufacturers, excluding XO, all have MAP pricing policies. KEE, Diablo, and Valken all have them as part of their dealer agreements and conspicuously list the cost and MAP price of their paint on all their fliers.
Interesting. I buy our paint froma secondary supplier, and have never been informed of MAPs. Of course we are nowhere near MAP, so it doesn' affect us anyway.
Of course MAP's don't mean much in paintball retail with the possible exceptions of on-line retailers. B&M's and fields rarely ever "advertise" outside of their place of business and once inside, any price can be used.
MAP pricing is different from MSRP. I've seen fliers that show MSRP and Cost, but I have never hear of paint having a MAP price. If there is MAP pricing on paint I know that its not being enforced.
OK, someone humour me with the MAP on a common KEE or Draxus paintball. Not sure if they are supposed to be private of not, so you can email me at tntpaintball@shaw.ca if you wish.
A little update about pricing. Laurent Hamet - Millennium, Sup'Airball and Facefull owner announced on a french board that the .50 cal box will be 50% cheaper than the actual .68cal. Yes you got it, 50% cheaper !! It means that tournament players could buy their high grade tournament paint at a range of 24€ to 30€ ($36 to $45)
Since few weeks now, the french market is suppressed with the whole .50cal marketing process. L. Hamet claims that the .50 cal is the only way to save paintball, Profusion - official GI MilSim dealer in France, broadcast tests about accuracy and new range of products, Kingman, Dye and Eclipse also joined the party.
Oh ! And last but not least, L. Hamet let us know that the Millennium Series could feature both of caliber on his fields in the upcoming season.
I'm back after several weeks off, and I feel like it has been for ages.
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