Paying 250$ for a 3DS that cost a little over 101$

[BouncingSoul]

Well, one its a buisness, and two, not like YOU are going to make one and pocket the extra cash. It may cost that to make it, but thats likely not counting the cost of the stuff used to physically build it. I dont think its so bad. That extra cost is the money you spend for not doing it yourself. A baker making bread, it doesnt cost as much to make it as he sells it for, but that extra money you spend is for not having to bake it yourself.

i'm really not trying to be a dick but all the points that you made along with some stuff others have already brought up are just so basic to the intrinsic nature of almost all economic systems that i just don't understand why people are questioning why Nintendo would make this move.

nicely said, by the way.

 

[OldRat]

Well, there's the cost to make the machine, and then there's the cost of the machines that make the machines, plus their maintenance and whatnot. Unless those are included into the calculations already.

People always complain how, for example, Warhammer miniatures are so damn expensive. They're just little plastic men! But what they often don't know is that the process requires molds which don't last very long, and have to be replaced quite often. This pushes the price up. Plus of course the fact they're not doing very well, but there you go.

Then again, I don't really know why this is surprising anyway. I can't really blame them for wanting to turn a good profit. It's capitalism.

Well, one its a buisness, and two, not like YOU are going to make one and pocket the extra cash. It may cost that to make it, but thats likely not counting the cost of the stuff used to physically build it. I dont think its so bad. That extra cost is the money you spend for not doing it yourself. A baker making bread, it doesnt cost as much to make it as he sells it for, but that extra money you spend is for not having to bake it yourself.

And unless he charges more than the bare minimum it took for him to hire help and actually make the thing, he will never turn a profit and will, in fact, starve. Unless he eats his own breads, in which case his death will be somewhat slower.

 

[Elamdri]

Unless you're reading this from the accounts section of Nintendo, we may never know. But experts in the field can estimate, and they estimate that the 3DS costs Nintendo $101 to manufacture.

If that's correct - and even if it's not, it's likely to be damn close - there's a big gap between the handheld's $101 parts bill and its $249 retail price in the United States.

Which is your cue for INDIGNATION and OUTRAGE, yes? Perhaps, but remember, that's just an estimated cost for the "raw materials" needed to manufacture a 3DS. It's not including research & development costs, shipping costs, advertising costs, the cuts retailers may take, etc.

Nor is it including the fact that Nintendo refuses to sell its hardware at a loss, so there's pure profit to be had in the $148 price gap, too.

How much pure profit? Who knows. But hey, if you don't like it, you could always not buy it!

http://kotaku.com/#!5785605/so-how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-nintendo-3ds

Even with the costs of R&D considered, that's one HELL of a price jump. Just imagine in a year, the price of those parts will probably be like 75 dollars? Maybe 50 dollars? and its just down hill from there. Kinda glad I'm waiting to buy one later.

Not picking on you, but this is an excellent example of something that bothers me. People will complain about a 150% markup on electronics, but they don't complain about the markups on things like clothing, soda, water, ect.

I mean, I was reading a book where a man who ran a garment manufacturing company in America talked about how the dresses he had his immigrant workers make cost him $20 bucks to put together, and yet the designers turned around and sold them for $300. That's a 1400% markup!

Bottled water, I think that's like what, a 4000% markup?

 

[Eri]

Unless you're reading this from the accounts section of Nintendo, we may never know. But experts in the field can estimate, and they estimate that the 3DS costs Nintendo $101 to manufacture.

If that's correct - and even if it's not, it's likely to be damn close - there's a big gap between the handheld's $101 parts bill and its $249 retail price in the United States.

Which is your cue for INDIGNATION and OUTRAGE, yes? Perhaps, but remember, that's just an estimated cost for the "raw materials" needed to manufacture a 3DS. It's not including research & development costs, shipping costs, advertising costs, the cuts retailers may take, etc.

Nor is it including the fact that Nintendo refuses to sell its hardware at a loss, so there's pure profit to be had in the $148 price gap, too.

How much pure profit? Who knows. But hey, if you don't like it, you could always not buy it!

http://kotaku.com/#!5785605/so-how-much-does-it-cost-to-make-a-nintendo-3ds

Even with the costs of R&D considered, that's one HELL of a price jump. Just imagine in a year, the price of those parts will probably be like 75 dollars? Maybe 50 dollars? and its just down hill from there. Kinda glad I'm waiting to buy one later.

Not picking on you, but this is an excellent example of something that bothers me. People will complain about a 150% markup on electronics, but they don't complain about the markups on things like clothing, soda, water, ect.

I mean, I was reading a book where a man who ran a garment manufacturing company in America talked about how the dresses he had his immigrant workers make cost him $20 bucks to put together, and yet the designers turned around and sold them for $300. That's a 1400% markup!

Bottled water, I think that's like what, a 4000% markup?

Why do people keep saying I'm complaining? All I said was I'm glad I'm buying one later and made a comment on the article about how the price will probably go down shortly.

 

[Lt.Snuffles]

I don't see whats so outragous about making a profit.

 

[Saelune]

Well, one its a buisness, and two, not like YOU are going to make one and pocket the extra cash. It may cost that to make it, but thats likely not counting the cost of the stuff used to physically build it. I dont think its so bad. That extra cost is the money you spend for not doing it yourself. A baker making bread, it doesnt cost as much to make it as he sells it for, but that extra money you spend is for not having to bake it yourself.

i'm really not trying to be a dick but all the points that you made along with some stuff others have already brought up are just so basic to the intrinsic nature of almost all economic systems that i just don't understand why people are questioning why Nintendo would make this move.

nicely said, by the way.

Cause people like their money. Not saying that to be a jerk though, while I understand and have no problem with how much it costs, I would definatly not be upset if it was cheaper. People tend to see things so narrowly though and often ignore or are just unaware of the bigger picture.

 

[BouncingSoul]

People always complain how, for example, Warhammer miniatures are so damn expensive. They're just little plastic men! But what they often don't know is that the process requires molds which don't last very long, and have to be replaced quite often. This pushes the price up. Plus of course the fact they're not doing very well, but there you go.

i love when people say "how can that car possibly cost $25k? there's like $4000 of steel plastic and wiring in it!" obviously not thinking for a second about how much: money is spent on the R&D cost of bringing just ONE new model to market (from sketchboard to showroom this, on average, takes 4.5 years and costs well over $100million); a factory costs to produce these cars; wages that the company has to pay each and every one of the hundreds of people that work on the car (ade so much worse by the UAW but that's a whole different thread); advertising campaigns that are nationwide and span all different media; transporting literally tens of thousands of cars across continents and vast oceans; parts that are covered under warranty (about 80% of each car is fully warrantied for over one third of it's life cycle); any costs arising from lawsuits or recalls and, on something of the same not; insurance. there's countless other little things that very few of us on the consumer side seem to think of when we're trying to understand why a given good has the price point it does.

 

[Korolev]

Nintendo likes to make money, and they think that this is the highest price they can charge and get away with it. Every smart company does exactly the same thing. It's how they make money, expand and return profit to investors. Remember, they use that profit to grow and make stockholders happy.

I think it's a very high price as well. Too high, in fact. So I'm not buying a 3DS right now. Mostly because I'm pretty damn sure that it'll come down in price one year from now. But Nintendo have the right to charge that price. There's no point in getting outraged or indignant about it, especially since you'd do exactly the same thing if you were in their position. Express your thoughts on the price by politely declining to buy it! That's what civilized people do! Give a try, kids!

 

[Hiphophippo]

Not seeing the issue here personally. Do people think they deserve to buy it for 1 dollar over cost? Maybe 2? 10?

For what I'll be getting the price seems fair.

 

[Xannieros]

To be honest, not surprised.

You make something new, fans of the company will immediately buy it. Almost regardless of price. Because once you buy one, most people won't buy another. Get the most money out of the limited amount of buyers. It's going to drop in price fairly quickly.

 

[Guffe]

You do realize that they have to pay the salaries of everyone who works there, the transport costs of every 3DS to various stores all around the world and so so many other things, you can't just expect them taking a 5 dollar win on every 3DS because in that way Nintendo would have crashed after a few weeks. I mean take a look at anything from groceries to the 3DS or PS3/XBox360 and everything is a lot cheaper to make than what they sell it for. It's just that there are so many other factors than the material that has to be taken count for.

 

[Merkavar]

oh no someone is selling a non necessary product at a massive profit.
oh no people are actually buying it even though there is a massive mark up.
oh no what ever will we do?



Its like simple economics and pricing strategies. i think its called price skimming where you sell the product with a massive mark up for the first while to get all the people who must have the latest gadgets. then they lower the mark up and decrease production costs etc and sell it at a cheaper price. then later again at a cheaper price.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Don't buy it then, I'm not but because I don't care about it but making $150 profit on each one, Nintendo have the right idea. The funny thing is people will stay pay for it

 

[The Naked Emperor]

Let's not forget there is a premium on new products. Yes, Sony used that line when talking about the PSPgo, and it was bs in that context. One, the PSP was already old hardware, and two it was much more expensive than the previous models.

Nintendo is bringing a new device to the market which is likely to sell very quickly. Remember when nobody could find a Wii? It wouldn't surprise me to see it happen again with the 3DS, ergo demand would force a higher price.

 

[Withall]

I'm sure Nintendo could sell 3DS for $101. They wouldn't be able to make a profit at all, making it an uneconomical decision.

The clincher here here is that everything has higher prices to make the product/service worth the -initial- costs, and it is the producers' decision on how expensive their products are. When all expenses have been paid and one can look on how much one has earned; only then may you honestly criticise someone for being a money-grubbing douche.

250 - 101 = 149. I don't know the ratios, but I'm quite sure Nintendo only gets a small-ish portion of the above sum. Popularity and availability decides how much you sell, sense of price-worthiness and usability is what makes people buy, no?

 

[TiefBlau]

What? Raw material costs are much, much smaller than retail prices? HOW DO THIS HAPPEN???

Fuckin' economy, how does it work?

 

[newuseforvintage]

Yeah, I hate to jump on the ol' repetitive wagon but that's the way that you run a business.
You buy/produce something for X, you sell it for X+X+(?) ? being your profit on which you are willing to vary.

Really I believe that companies that run a "loss leader" style mentality are worse because they're more actively damaging other similar businesses.

 

[Chibz]

Let's not forget there is a premium on new products. Yes, Sony used that line when talking about the PSPgo, and it was bs in that context. One, the PSP was already old hardware, and two it was much more expensive than the previous models.

Don't forget the fact that the PSPGo was basically a much more limited PSP. Ugh...