My opinion is that FS products are priced exactly where they should be in that they, like everything else, is priced as high as the market will bare. Any more and the consumer base starts to drop off making it less profitable, any less and it becomes, well, less profitable. Sales has a tendency to do that if they are adjusted in a way to continue supporting itself over the long term.

 

Having said that I find a certain amount of irony in the argument that the customer is supposed to factor in time and effort in the development of a product when assigning their own personal value to the equation. Is that what we're supposed to do when making any purchase outside of the FS environment or is that a special case for the FS add-on developers? Do we factor in the overhead of Kenmore for example when deciding how much is too much for a refrigerator? In most cases I would think the answer to that is no. We see an item that interests us enough to part with a certain amount of cash, and based on our own practical evaluation of that value we assign an arbitrary number we think is "not too expensive". That usually does not take into account how much time and effort Kenmore put into building said refrigerator.

 

Why are we expected to look at FS add-ons any differently? Emotional attachment? Friends in the industry? I'm struggling to understand this particular angle. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to build a refrigerator from scratch myself just so I can personally relate to what it takes to build one before deciding how much is too much to spend on one.

 

Cash is not easy to come by, and when balancing the spending of that cash on "luxury" items after paying for all the essentials, I don't think it's any surprise to see threads of people finding some of these items to be too expensive.

 

Why are we expected to look at FS add-ons any differently? Emotional attachment? Friends in the industry? I'm struggling to understand this particular angle.

 

I'm not suggesting you look at it differently?  But you should look at the intended audience/market differently as they will NOT be the same from selling a Kenmore to selling 3rd party FS add-ons.

 

One's financial state has no relevance to the price of a product or determining "value".  Value of luxury items is a personal opinion/statement that really can only be applied AFTER the purchase of the product -- and that value will vary from person to person.  

 

Can you go to Ferrari and say, I think the value of your 458 is $10,000 not $300,000 because that's all I can afford on a luxury item?  I agree, luxury items are just that, luxury items, it's not food/essentials -- but all that is likely to do is affirm a higher price because of the smaller target audience.

 

The original XBOX was sold at an operating loss for 2 years in order to gain market penetration - long term goal of profit.  That model wouldn't work for FS products.  

 

Understanding the time/resources/material that goes into making a product will give you a better understanding of what costs are involved, then factor in the target market, sales history, and more -- that will at least give you some indication of minimum price point to make the effort worthy.  It will not solve a "value" equation because that can only happen post purchase.  

 

Look at PMDG $80, their product pricing has gone up, as quality improves and time/money invested in making a better quality product, the prices will continue to increase.  If the product doesn't sell at a given price, the developer stops making the product(s) because they're either operating at $1/hr or losing money.

 

 

 

I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to build a refrigerator from scratch myself just so I can personally relate to what it takes to build one before deciding how much is too much to spend on one.

 

Exactly, so at what point can you define the vendors/sellers price, their marketing strategy, and their ROI?

 

Rob

My opionion, firstly i would not know the cost involved in making sceneries or aircrafts and stuff.

 

You show me the jazzy stuff and I will say wow I want it. (HECK I HAVE NEVER BOUGHT AN ADD ON AS YET I AM ON THE FREEWARE  STUFF    ).

Is that what we're supposed to do when making any purchase outside of the FS environment or is that a special case for the FS add-on developers? Do we factor in the overhead of Kenmore for example when deciding how much is too much for a refrigerator? In most cases I would think the answer to that is no.

Do we ask Kenmore why they price their refrigerators at the price they do ?

 

If we did, we'd probably get an answer along similar lines. They'd probably tell us about their manufacturing , shipping and marketing costs.

 

The reason this is being currently discussed here is because someone asked why. Not because people actually factor why it costs what it does into their buying decisions.

Once upon a time there where three Bears,...

 

...one was overpriced,

 

....two was underpriced,

 

...three was just right.

 

...And they all lived happily ever ever.

 

All shapes, all sizes, all prices, all qualities just like every other hobby out there, from skating to tabletop gaming to fishing (EDIT might as well add in actual real life aviation here too, GA market is fierce!). Use your spending power as a consumer and choose what is right for you.

Once upon a time there where three Bears,...

 

...one was overpriced,

 

....two was underpriced,

 

...three was just right.

 

...And they all lived happily ever ever.

 

All shapes, all sizes, all prices, all qualities just like every other hobby out there, from skating to tabletop gaming to fishing (EDIT might as well add in actual real life aviation here too, GA market is fierce!). Use your spending power as a consumer and choose what is right for you.

I like this response best. If you are satisfied with a purchase then for you it was a good purchase. Someone else might view his or her purchase totally differently. They may or may not have paid the same price. Timing and sales prices have a tremendous impact on prices even in add ons and refrigerators.

 

Get ready for some shakeup this next week. Any excuse for a sale, but Black Friday is the annual big one, especially online items.

 

Regards,

 

Ray