Prodigi Pictures
Carbonite Member
Nomadic -
You raise a great point. Zacuto's prices are crazy high. I've done lots of manufacturing in the US and despite the fact that the products are well-made there is no doubt that they're making unusually wide margins.
Hiding behind false patriotism (We do it because we don't want to exploit the workers of third world countries) is a rather thin argument. Manufacturing abroad isn't exploitation of third world workers unless one builds or uses a factory that exploits third world workers...which can be done here as well. Lots of illegal immigrants work in factories in the US for less than minimum wage.
What matters is the concept known as Purchase Power Parity. If I pay someone 10 dollars an hour in the US what can they buy with that 10 dollars? They can go to a matinee movie and get soft drink. They could get a meal at a fast good restaurant. At 40 hours a week they can pay rent on a low end apartment, pay for insurance...you get the idea.
So, if you hire a labor force in a third world nation the question to ask is "Does my third world work force have Purchase Power Parity?" In Mexico, at about 3 dollars an hour the answer is yes. In India it might be 2. In China it's somewhere between 2 and 3 dollars to achieve Purchase Power Parity.
And our economy is transitioning from a manufacturing economy to an information & service based economy. So, bragging about "buying American" strikes me as a 1970's argument. It's outdated and jingoistic.
The better argument is that Zacuto caters to motion picture professionals. And our industry is relatively small compared to other industries. Therefore, Zacuto can't achieve the scales of economy that a consumer electronics company making toasters can. Everyone needs a toaster. Only a small percentage need a rail system for their HD camera.
This is a law of economics...if a group of consumers is comparitively small then products made for those consumers will need to be more expensive. The only way around it is to make crap. Which Zacuto doesn't do. The stuff they make is damn good. Like Apple, it works the way it is supposed to...and that's really unusual in this world.
Is it worth the price they charge? I don't think so. I go by their site every 2-3 months and choke on their prices. Having done manufacturing in the US, Mexico, India and China I have a rough idea on what it costs for a company to do the work they do. To me, it appears they're making 50% margins. And if we the consumers want to fork over our money so they can have such wide margins (and 50% is a vast margin. The iPhone's original price gave Apple about 50% margins and the stockholders were thrilled. After the price slash the margins are now about 30%, which is reasonable, lucky for Apple and still unusually wide compared to many competing products).
Does Zacuto have the right to make fat margins? Sure they do! They can charge whatever they want! If they're the only company in the world making quality gear they can charge anything they want to charge.
However, they're not the only game in town, people. Red Rock's rail system is fantastic. They keep adding products that are amazing. And even though I sold my RRmicro for a Letus Extreme I continue to be impressed with the quality of their products. I use their FF and rails.
I think if you want to buy Zacuto products and you have the money then you should. The quality is stunning. However, I don't believe in their Lifetime Guarantee. I don't believe "buying American" means "buying items 100% more expensive than the competition" and I don't believe that Zacuto is barely getting by with razor-thin margins.
Buy the products you want. Just don't buy the propaganda.
You raise a great point. Zacuto's prices are crazy high. I've done lots of manufacturing in the US and despite the fact that the products are well-made there is no doubt that they're making unusually wide margins.
Hiding behind false patriotism (We do it because we don't want to exploit the workers of third world countries) is a rather thin argument. Manufacturing abroad isn't exploitation of third world workers unless one builds or uses a factory that exploits third world workers...which can be done here as well. Lots of illegal immigrants work in factories in the US for less than minimum wage.
What matters is the concept known as Purchase Power Parity. If I pay someone 10 dollars an hour in the US what can they buy with that 10 dollars? They can go to a matinee movie and get soft drink. They could get a meal at a fast good restaurant. At 40 hours a week they can pay rent on a low end apartment, pay for insurance...you get the idea.
So, if you hire a labor force in a third world nation the question to ask is "Does my third world work force have Purchase Power Parity?" In Mexico, at about 3 dollars an hour the answer is yes. In India it might be 2. In China it's somewhere between 2 and 3 dollars to achieve Purchase Power Parity.
And our economy is transitioning from a manufacturing economy to an information & service based economy. So, bragging about "buying American" strikes me as a 1970's argument. It's outdated and jingoistic.
The better argument is that Zacuto caters to motion picture professionals. And our industry is relatively small compared to other industries. Therefore, Zacuto can't achieve the scales of economy that a consumer electronics company making toasters can. Everyone needs a toaster. Only a small percentage need a rail system for their HD camera.
This is a law of economics...if a group of consumers is comparitively small then products made for those consumers will need to be more expensive. The only way around it is to make crap. Which Zacuto doesn't do. The stuff they make is damn good. Like Apple, it works the way it is supposed to...and that's really unusual in this world.
Is it worth the price they charge? I don't think so. I go by their site every 2-3 months and choke on their prices. Having done manufacturing in the US, Mexico, India and China I have a rough idea on what it costs for a company to do the work they do. To me, it appears they're making 50% margins. And if we the consumers want to fork over our money so they can have such wide margins (and 50% is a vast margin. The iPhone's original price gave Apple about 50% margins and the stockholders were thrilled. After the price slash the margins are now about 30%, which is reasonable, lucky for Apple and still unusually wide compared to many competing products).
Does Zacuto have the right to make fat margins? Sure they do! They can charge whatever they want! If they're the only company in the world making quality gear they can charge anything they want to charge.
However, they're not the only game in town, people. Red Rock's rail system is fantastic. They keep adding products that are amazing. And even though I sold my RRmicro for a Letus Extreme I continue to be impressed with the quality of their products. I use their FF and rails.
I think if you want to buy Zacuto products and you have the money then you should. The quality is stunning. However, I don't believe in their Lifetime Guarantee. I don't believe "buying American" means "buying items 100% more expensive than the competition" and I don't believe that Zacuto is barely getting by with razor-thin margins.
Buy the products you want. Just don't buy the propaganda.
I honestly didnt read it with that perspective or apparently very thoroughly. Thats a press release if I ever seen one. Which as we agree he's allowed to do. Tacky is a matter of opinion and you are more than welcome to have yours, I dont necessarily disagree with that. I really thought it had more question posing going on. Apparently that was all in my head... Its very muddled in there sometimes. Much more of a defensive of high prices thread than I remembered. My apologies to you and anyone else I may have confused. Why isnt there a smily with a foot in his mouth??
