Posted by Rick Denney on July 14, 2002 at 23:10:08:
In Reply to: Re: pricing perspectives posted by Sean Chisham on July 13, 2002 at 19:33:56:
As I have pointed out from the business perspective on a number of occasions, price and cost are only indirectly related to each other. In fact, the only time they connect is when cost is too high for a supportable price, or when the seller has charitable objectives.
Apples and tennis shoes relate to the manufacturer's cost only, not to the price the manufacturer will charge to enrich his backers to greatest possible degree (which is his job if he wants to survive).
That aside, I wonder that you have refuted a position that you have argued yourself in the past, at least from a slightly different direction. You have very rightly suggested that someone searching for and finally finding the right tuba should never let the price keep them from getting it, if they can possibly afford it. You have told the story of your interim tubas that you bought because of perceived price considerations, only to regret the time wasted with a horn that didn't fully fit your musical vision. If you think about it, that is very close to what Joe is saying.
He is adding that we should be grateful that however much aspiring professional tuba players might have to spend for an instrument that fits their musical vision, it will still be much less than is routinely paid by other instrumentalists.
Rick "a hobbyist who spent much less and is still grateful" Denney