Making a fool of myself!

[merlinart]

How the heck did we get into a slanging match about traders making a fair profit! Nobody would argue against that, more power to them for selling a good range of components which would not otherwise available. I simply said that armed with a little knowledge people can make their own cow horns, contrary to earlier commentaries some of us may actually be capable of doing a perfectly good job of it and also willing to share how with others.
I just want a few more people to be armed with enough knowledge to give things a go, believe it or not you might actually be pleasantly surprised if you try. This is the driver behind our fortnightly workshops mentioned in another thread, stop working in isolation, get out there, make some friends and maybe even learn something new.

Does seem a little daft, but if one trader charges a little more than another trader, for items made by trader three, does it really matter? Clearly not. The end user has the choice to buy from trader A, and if he subsequently discovers that trader B has them cheaper, that would appear to be his "bad luck", or alternatively, perhaps trader A had them too cheaply and wasn't making sufficient profit.

I know in my own business, that when selling individual items, some are at a considerably better profit, and some items are not that profitable. It can be standard practice to try to double the price at retail, sometimes it is simple, but often not. Some items one can triple, however, swings and roundabouts, one needs profit in order to reinvest and hold stock.

In a small niche market, holding stock can be a bane, but those who do often do it out of a passion rather than simply turning a profit.

Those cow horns laser cut would be relatively cheap, most likely less than £5 each, however, then there's bending in a 10 ton fly press, then grinding, and the labour will be quite high, say £25/hr, then profit, so base price ex works for a pair could be £35...who knows?


Arthur