Why do beacons cost so much.
- Thread starter Hemi
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CoyoteGirl
Well-known member
This resulted in a lawsuit against Ortovox. And last I heard, the widow won the lawsuit. However, she is still a widow.
That sums that up very nicely!!
Heaven Forbid! I'd rather be found alive with my beacon "ON" than dead with $300.00 in my pocket! Pretty simple logic I think.
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shortstop20
Well-known member
Even though it's safety equipment should they not be allowed to make a profit? I wanna see anybody make a top of the line beacon for $50. Understand how they work and you will understand why they cost the price they do. This ain't an NES.
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Tackbtch
ACCOUNT CLOSED
This answers my "liability " question very well. This is a sue happy world with very little "personal responsibility" thought ofThis resulted in a lawsuit against Ortovox. And last I heard, the widow won the lawsuit. However, she is still a widow.
I don't care how much beacons cost...having to dig our oldest son out of a avy shocked...scared me really really bad. Beacons, TRAINING , PRACTICE, probes shovels...useing your brain...well it seems to me that most 4M members know this. But we are a small percentage of backcounrty riders. I feel for the familys that have lost loved ones
...Dinoafter digging out a fellow sledder killed in a avy, is it not worth at least $250 bucks? this season i bought pieps freeride $256 cdn and i bought a true north adventures backpack with BCA probe and shovel which was $200. so to me to save my friends or even a stranger is worth 450 bucks, and not like you need to buy new equipment every season. after yesterday i am a firm believer in no beacon, no leaving the parking lot. i sure would like fellow sledders to be equiped to save me and i sure would be right in there again trying to save a fellow sledder.
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I think the intent of the post is if there is only $2 worth of parts, why are they so expensive? I agree that tech costs, liability and a terrible markup are the reasons. But saying my life is worth $250, so why not pay it. My life is worth a lot more than $250, say $25,000, no wait $75,000 so I should pay that. A seatbelt saves my life too, should I pay $500 for a seatbelt replacement? Stupid responses.
I think the intent of the post is if there is only $2 worth of parts, why are they so expensive? I agree that tech costs, liability and a terrible markup are the reasons. But saying my life is worth $250, so why not pay it. My life is worth a lot more than $250, say $25,000, no wait $75,000 so I should pay that. A seatbelt saves my life too, should I pay $500 for a seatbelt replacement? Stupid responses.
These beacon manufacturers need to charge a price that will allow them to stay in business for the long haul. If they charged $10 and the industry sells,,,, lets say 1,000 a year,,,,,,,,,,,,, not a whole lot of money for a competitive landscape where you presently can find over a dozen different models to choose from. Each competitor trys to make theirs better, thereby raising the "safety" bar higher and higher Which, by the way, we all benefit from).
If you take out the profit motive and competitive landscape, you would come away with something resembling two soup cans with a string attached between them.
Take that, and add in product liability insurance, and that is why these things are so expensive........
Excuses.......That is all they are, excuses. Look around the room where you are sitting, any room in the house. You will see many, many things that cost $250 or way more. It is simply an excuse to not spend the money to buy a beacon. Most of you probably have an Ipod, xbox, or a palm pilot that are not truly needed, you just wanted one and went to buy it. Our family had 4 sleds years ago and we rode with no beacons. It took a friend being almost completely buried to realize that avy equipment wasn't optional. I immediately went and bought 4 beacons for the 4 sleds that we had. No excuses here.
Edit: I also got probes and shovels as well.
Edit: I also got probes and shovels as well.
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IMO.. i think snowmoblie manufactures need to get on the bus with all of this.. if you buy a new mnt sled you should get a beacon for free.(well they would add it to the cost but still) just think ..if you have a beacon allready then you could give it to a buddy that doesnt or sell it to someone at a lesser cost of a new one... i dont have one..i know i need to.. i keep looking at it as ... i dont ride in places that i need one.75% of my riding is family trail rides. the biggest hill around may be 60ft up..25% is out with the boys..thats where and why i need it. if my new sled came with it..it wouldnt be something i keep putting off..its like helmets..years ago they would ride in cowboy hats..thats what looked cool at the time.. now do you know anyone that don`t wear a helmet? we need the manufactures to help make sledders aware..
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MPS
Well-known member
!Q
Boondock, give the guy a break. He has a valid point...they shouldn't cost what they do! I have seen this same issue over and over. Suppliers of a necessary safety product take advantage of people and groups over and over, since they know people know this item is necessary. As stated, I am in the military....a$$hole contractors drove up the cost of body armor because they knew it was necessary. Then what happened? F*cking parasitic politicians denied funding for body armor! ...and guess what they definitely didn't fail to give themselves big fat raises!
Douche bags will always capitalize on this sort of thing. Capitalism...I love it, but it definitely has it's flaws!
Because they are WORTH it.
It has been posted many times, why is .25 cents worth of plastic and electronic to the manufacturer worth $250. to $499. to us the end consumer.
The answer I always get is "it's classified as recreational" Well change it's classification to "safety equipment" and sell it for $49.99
Rant over.
Boondock, give the guy a break. He has a valid point...they shouldn't cost what they do! I have seen this same issue over and over. Suppliers of a necessary safety product take advantage of people and groups over and over, since they know people know this item is necessary. As stated, I am in the military....a$$hole contractors drove up the cost of body armor because they knew it was necessary. Then what happened? F*cking parasitic politicians denied funding for body armor! ...and guess what they definitely didn't fail to give themselves big fat raises!
Douche bags will always capitalize on this sort of thing. Capitalism...I love it, but it definitely has it's flaws!
None of the beacon manufacturer's are making insane amounts of money on them. I'd say almost the opposite, I bet all the major companies are owned and operated by outdoors enthusiasts. If they were making huge profits you'd see a lot more companies making them.
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XC700116
ACCOUNT CLOSED
As info If you buy a new RMK it states in the owners manual the need for avy gear in the back country. The manufacturers are getting better. Also how many here have bought a new sled and received either a discount at the dealer or an accessory allowance. That's one thing right there where you could get your beacon either discounted or free.
Then there's the deal that REI had going and as to support our sport instead of the Greenies Snow Big Deal Matched the excellant price that REI was selling them at.
If you want to do the right thing by yourself or your family, friends and fellow sledders, Find a way to buy one.
Do any of you know what it costs to Research, develop, programming, manufacturing setup, parts, testing, and marketing. Heck, they might have $200,000 in plastic injection molds, and that has to be divided up among the 1000 units they sell a year. I don't know, seems like there's a lot of kids running around with $200 IPods, guess Apple deserves it though. You can listen to the tunes while your waiting for someone to find you.
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shortstop20
Well-known member
Good post Wade, and very good point made.
Who told you that? I have a VERY hard time believing that.
Who told you that? I have a VERY hard time believing that.
I have spent about $20,000 on two drunk driving tickets. $70,000 to $100,000 on two divorces, which is cheap. Another 400 bucks to up the odds of my survival isn't much, the way I see it.
These beacon manufacturers need to charge a price that will allow them to stay in business for the long haul. If they charged $10 and the industry sells,,,, lets say 1,000 a year,,,,,,,,,,,,, not a whole lot of money for a competitive landscape where you presently can find over a dozen different models to choose from. Each competitor trys to make theirs better, thereby raising the "safety" bar higher and higher Which, by the way, we all benefit from).
If you take out the profit motive and competitive landscape, you would come away with something resembling two soup cans with a string attached between them.
Take that, and add in product liability insurance, and that is why these things are so expensive........
If you take out the profit motive and competitive landscape, you would come away with something resembling two soup cans with a string attached between them.
Take that, and add in product liability insurance, and that is why these things are so expensive........
S
shwee
Well-known member
Heaven Forbid! I'd rather be found alive with my beacon "ON" than dead with $300.00 in my pocket! Pretty simple logic I think.
x3
You hit it right on the head pancake.
Factor in the cost of design, manufacture, molding, testing, marketing, etc... Then factor in the relatively small target market base, and there you have it. These things cost money because there is not a large enough market base to drive the price down through mass competition.
Pancake is totally right.
Expensive? I challenge you to develop a similar product, test it in every condition for all different backcountry users, bring it to market, package and market it for $49.00 and see how you do in your business. I find it odd how many people here have or created their own business and don't give away their products or services or want to be paid more by their boss however then they look at a company who has spent years developing a great product that saves lives and says they should do it for free. Beacons are cheap. The BCA Traker is 275.00 Canadian. One of the best beacons, easy to use and totally in expensive in my opinion.
Expensive? I challenge you to develop a similar product, test it in every condition for all different backcountry users, bring it to market, package and market it for $49.00 and see how you do in your business. I find it odd how many people here have or created their own business and don't give away their products or services or want to be paid more by their boss however then they look at a company who has spent years developing a great product that saves lives and says they should do it for free. Beacons are cheap. The BCA Traker is 275.00 Canadian. One of the best beacons, easy to use and totally in expensive in my opinion.
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