Kent, I am going to have to expose my lack of knowledge of marketing even more and ask the following. In any industry there are companies and products that survive by making a quality product at a fraction of the cost of the competition. They do quite well in the marketplace and are often found in the mid level retailers and some high end retailers stores. They somehow bridge the perception gap of being lowend junk even though their price is low and move up to a middle end or lofty middle end in the consumers mind. How do they survive and why do retailers bring them onboard if the profit margin is lower? For example, I play acoustic guitar a lot and currently own two very expensive Taylor guitars. One cost $3500 and one cost $1700. I love the sound, they look great and I feel confident that I made a good investment. Yet for my next guitar, a camping guitar if you will, I will be purchasing a Seagull guitar made in Canada. It isn't all solid wood like my Taylors are but the top is solid wood which is where most of the tone comes from. The guitar is rather plain to look at but it sounds great. As good as my Taylors? Well no, but it sounds a lot better then most guitars at 3X the price. How much does it cost? $300. Professional guitarist and beginner alike rave about how good these guitars are for the money. Another example is that I do a lot of hunting. You can purchase your Leupold scope for around $300+. They are one of the best, no question. Yet Simmons puts out some very comprable scopes for about 1/3 the price. Again, they won't have all the features of the Leupold but they contain all of the critical ingrediants and for all your common hunting experiences and work great in the rain, snow, fog. The best example I can think of in the fly fishing industry is the St. Croix rods. They match warrenties, offer a good number of models etc. They won't have the exotic wood reel seat on them till you hit their high end rod and in my opinion, they don't dampen the vibration from casting as well as my Sage, yet I am looking at paying 1/5 to 1/3 the price of a Sage depending on the model I go with. Not trying to add fuel to an arguement but your input got my wheels a turning and I am one of these people who likes to ask "Why?" all the time. Guess I never grew out being a 3 year old, haha. Mike
