Hello Everyone:
The cost of any adaptive equipment is prohibitive because the government,
notably in the United States and most other developed countries, pays for
it! Very few blind folks have enough funds to pay out of pocket for these
equipment. Every adaptive technology company wants to MILK AS MUCH MONEY AS
IS POSSIBLE from the government.
In some industries, the government SETS ITS PRICE--that is, it tells you
what it will pay!! So if a product costs $2,000 and the government wants to
pay only $500, it won't pay anything more. You can certainly go ahead and
sell the $2,000 product to the individual for whom the government is making
the payment, but you won't be able to charge back the difference to such an
individual because in the agreement you sign, you shall have consented to
accepting whatever the government pays you as the final settlement.
I know this for certainty in the United States because I am in an industry
where the government SETS A FIXED price and won't pay anything more than its
fixed price. Each year, I write off huge uncollectable debts!
If the government begins to set the price for these adaptive technology
companies, there will be a lot of noise making, but, in the end, I believe
that the price of their product offerings will drop significantly.
Another thing worth noting is that adaptive technology companies DO NOT
FLOAT OR PROMOTE their companies on the stock market. As such, they
sometimes find it hard to raise sufficient capital from the market. If they
somehow agree to float their companies and anyone who wants to can buy
stocks in them, the price for their products ought to drop some.
Their distribution channel is severely limited. I can't walk into WalMart
and expect to pick up a copy of Jaws. If I could, I'd be able to compare
WalMart's price for Jaws to that of Bestbuy and choose where I want to make
my purchase. The resellers barely make any money hence the reason why they
PUSH SO HARD to get you and me to buy. Some of these adaptive technology
companies make you commit to selling at least 20 or 30 items from their
product lines each month. Resellers probably only get paid between 8% and
15% on each product sold. They have to offer other services in order to
make ends meet and, for the most part, most resellers operate from their own
homes to cut down costs.
Sincerely,
Olusegun
Denver, Colorado
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