The "Most OVER-rated wheel thread"

[Jedidiah]

^ One of my main points here...... They have multiple designes in their cast line that sell very well, and it would make sense that their next step be, to buy the equipment to cast in house. And get a powdercoat booth for christ sake. That is a relatively innexpensive purchase that will pay for itself in about 1-2yrs.

Buying casting equipment is very very expensive.. The EPA would also have a field day if the equipment was located in Cali.. Even if Rotiform was selling millions of dollars in wheels, I don't think the justification would be there to risk the purchase of such equipment, never-mind the headache from the local government.

Run into the same problem with finishing wheels in house.. You need a bigger warehouse to allot space for a paint booth, equipment, man-power.. Then there is the cost of getting the license from the state, and again with the EPA non-sense. Just not worth it.

[Petis]

A booth to powdercoat wheels could be small and the fumes contained. Shouldn't be too difficult.

[Han]

A booth to powdercoat wheels could be small and the fumes contained. Shouldn't be too difficult.

Eventually, I can see them doing it. I guess right now, it's just not cost effect for them as a business to do in-house coating.

[Jedidiah]

A booth to powdercoat wheels could be small and the fumes contained. Shouldn't be too difficult.

It's just more overhead and headaches.. If they can avoid both, but still generate good margins by outsourcing, why would you want to complicate the situation?

Also, take into consideration, while their volume would increase at lower price points, so would overhead and frustration.. If they can make the same money doing less as they can doing more, which would you choose?

[Petis]

Me personally, I like playing the numbers game. If I had a wheel company I would rather see my wheels on every car, than see them on a couple cars and have a house in the carribean.

In most cases I will take a lower profit magin in exchange for high sales volume any day. Maybe Im a purist in that since of the word. Im mostly speaking out of the restaurant part of my mind though.

[Francois Dillinger]

i'm with you petis.

[firelizard]

Me personally, I like playing the numbers game. If I had a wheel company I would rather see my wheels on every car, than see them on a couple cars and have a house in the carribean.

In most cases I will take a lower profit magin in exchange for high sales volume any day. Maybe Im a purist in that since of the word. Im mostly speaking out of the restaurant part of my mind though.

With retail, I believe it rather ideally goes like this: high sales volume = high production/ordering volume = lower cost = higher profit margin.

[aar0n.]

I'd much rather have a lower volume higher profit margin if I were running a wheel company, only because exclusivity is something I'd be striving for by providing the best product possible. Easy way to compare would be Ferrari vs. GM if you wanted to look at the two business models on a much larger scale

[Petis]

GM makes high end cars that are somewhat expensive though. And, the CTS-V is a better car than a ferrari IMO, as it has 4-doors and can destroy a track off the showroom floor. I would never want to be the proprieter(sp?) of a company priding itself on having such a high dollar figure that only a few can afford it. Talk about an elitest attitude.......

With retail, I believe it rather ideally goes like this: high sales volume = high production/ordering volume = lower cost = higher profit margin.

this

[aar0n.]

GM makes high end cars that are somewhat expensive though. And, the CTS-V is a better car than a ferrari IMO, as it has 4-doors and can destroy a track off the showroom floor. I would never want to be the proprieter(sp?) of a company priding itself on having such a high dollar figure that only a few can afford it. Talk about an elitest attitude.......

Ben, you're gonna love this post lol

Plenty of companies cater to high end clients and they shouldn't be faulted for providing what the market and consumers want. Elitist or not, such is reality and it's unrealistic and ideological to think otherwise.

To relate this to macroeconomics though, the top 5% of Americans by income account for 37% of all consumer outlays. On the other hand, the bottom 80% by income account for 39.5% of all consumer outlays. That 5% is spending as much as the other 80% of the population, so the only way this can happen is with high end goods. The wealthy have a huge hand in sustaining consumer spending in the US, which is a strong figure for indicating the strength of the national economy. Like it or not, the high end market is what keeps a lot of smaller companies and businesses afloat. If the wealthy don't spend on their high end goods, the economy of the country as a whole suffers as a result.

Also, GM does makes a handful of high end cars, but at the end of the day, none of them, including the CTS-V or Corvette ZR1 can compare to any Ferrari when it comes to individuality, exclusivity, racing heritage, etc. The CTS-V and ZR1 are fast, no question about it, but they sacrifice a LOT to be that fast, whereas Ferrari (for example) does not.

Wow, managed to get a thread about overrated wheels to discussions on economics and the luxury goods market. I fail

[Han]

Aaron for SW economic president.

[Stephen]

Wow, managed to get a thread about overrated wheels to discussions on economics and the luxury goods market. I fail

No, you saved me a lot of typing

[Petis]

^ I understand what you are getting at. I guess I just don't have expensive taste, nor will I ever buy a "government motors" car. Just stating that, if passion was these companies bottom line, I think the market would be better off. IMO....... Slay me....




BTW, I was an economics major for 2 1/2yrs.... never took something outside my major those two years other than Math and History. Had a 4.0.... I understand econ

[Han]

^ I understand what you are getting at. I guess I just don't have expensive taste, nor will I ever buy a "government motors" car. Just stating that, if passion was these companies bottom line, I think the market would be better off. IMO....... Slay me....

If passion was the bottom line, the economy would be way worse than it already is. Who WOULD want to spend more money on the same exact product than another guy in the name of "passion?"

[Petis]

^ the better proucts would still cost more, duh. The price just wouldn't be a derivitive of the name it adorns. C'mon man, you know what I'm getting at.


I have a $175 cooking knife in my kitchen right now. I bought it, not because of who makes it, but because it is a better product than anything else I have come across. There are many knives out that cost moredue to their name... doesn't make them better.