Well, Dermot, my friend, will you please give her a less-arrogant or less-ignorant answer to her question? And why is it that every time the internet comes up, you drag out Michael Dell?
Don't you begin to tell me that Michael went to the internet to determine what type of mark up he should have on his product.
C'mon, Dermot, I can't believe that any businessperson would not suggest that she do the "research" in her own market, based on her own needs and her own costs. Why the heck woud anyone in Maine or California have the answer she needs?
Let's use my example: which price, $75 or $50, would you recommend.
It's like selling anything else: There are simple, easy ways to determine what a selling price should be for any product. Perhaps your wife wil share how her company decides such matters? And, that is no cheap shot, as you have mentioned many times her expertise. So, I am quite serious.
We need to be intellectually honest when we proffer help and that includes meaningful, business-poven methods. We just have to get beyond, way beyond,these feel good, you go girl,types of advice. I have to tell you that the 2.3x starting point might be quite dangerous in our marketplace. Perhaps in Ireland, that might be a more reasonable approach. But,here,it is no subtitute for meaningful market research
I know that many framers never do this type of due diligence before the open the doors. But,I have to ask: How can anyone do any type of meaningful Business Plan without a full assessment of the marketplace and the competition? How can you possibly have a "profitable" pricing strategy if you do not know where the elasticity and pricing ranges are? How can you ever determine if you have competitive pricing,such a critical component in this aggresive market,if you do not know where te competitive prices are?
Dermot,I mean this as constructive criticism of her methods and I'll bet that her methods are because, possibly, that no one has ever told her otherwise?
I realize that not many of us have been as fortunate as possibly I have when it comes to having great educational opportunities.
And, it is exactly why I feel so compelled to share these very basic tenents to others. Partly, because no one else seems to feel compelled to do so.
I am also sorry that you missed my point on getting advice from the internet. If she wanted to know what others were "selling" mirors for, perhaps she might yield results. In fact, I would thinkshe might get a "global" idea of retail-type pricing.
But,it won't answer her question about mark-up and it won't answer my question about her marketplace