Price gouging on smart chargers

[RadoStefanov]

It is a shame when our people take advantage of us!

 

[EnotsMedia]

Well…Rado… if you read the fine print ….B&H says “limited supply available at this price”.

So a sale one could call it?

 

I’m willing to bet a call to any of our “usual suspects” would match said sale price. But what do I know…..

[OB1]

Have to agree here. B&H will drop prices dramatically for a "limited" quantity of a product. And one can't expect the smaller, trade specific, vendors to be able to scrape competitive pricing that effectively.

[IronFilm]

If you want a cheaper charger, there is always this from Deity, for only $68:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1770241-REG/deity_microphones_dts0287d67_dqc1_smart_battery_charger.html 

[RadoStefanov]

This charger is made by inspired energy and around $220. 

[tourtelot]

B&H "Regular Price"?  $390.

 

D.

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

Where are you seeing that inspired energy price?

Also, I'm not sure if it's true of the double bay model, but Remote Audio has switched suppliers for their single bay model.  This is what they currently ship:  https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/RRC-Power-Solutions/RRC-SMB-MBC-M?qs=f9yNj16SXrK0UhqXm7BVeA%3D%3D&_gl=1*1wcr7di*_ga*dW5kZWZpbmVk*_ga_15W4STQT4T*dW5kZWZpbmVk*_ga_1KQLCYKRX3*dW5kZWZpbmVk

 

Ignore the image; this is $150 for a single bay.  The double bay model is $250:  https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/RRC-Power-Solutions/RRC-SMB-DBC?qs=ds50AKTGxA812VblddZyEg%3D%3D

 

[RadoStefanov]

RRC is Chinese. 
inspired energy is American 

I use to buy dual chargers for my friends for around $200

 

[Michael Manzke]

@RadoStefanov I think RRC is actually a german company (but they are also located in China, Hong Kong and the USA)

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

As Michael said, RRC is German, not Chinese.  And I'm not American, so... <shrug>.

And if those are wholesale prices, the retail markup looks pretty normal to me (never mind the small amount earned from re-badging), especially since Sound Devices is rebadging the 5050, not the 4040.  (The Remote Audio one appears to be a 4040, but it also has a proportionately cheaper retail price).

$278 / $390 = 40% markup (IE 5050 / Sound Devices XL)
$236 / $365 = 55% markup (IE 4040 / Remote Audio HiQ Dual)

I see you Rado edited his response above to the correct wholesale price from $120 to $220.  It would be nice to acknowledge this, since the premise of this entire thread rests on how cheap or expensive the markup is, and that silently-changed $100 error is the difference between a markup that is triple vs. a markup that is ~50% (i.e. a normal retail margin).

I see normal retail business practice, not gouging.  If you want to order direct from the manufacturer and get a better deal, by all means, go for it.  But don't slag small companies (that are also American!) for normal business practices.

[RadoStefanov]

1 hour ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

As Michael said, RRC is German, not Chinese.  And I'm not American, so... <shrug>.

And if those are wholesale prices, the retail markup looks pretty normal to me (never mind the small amount earned from re-badging), especially since Sound Devices is rebadging the 5050, not the 4040.  (The Remote Audio one appears to be a 4040, but it also has a proportionately cheaper retail price).

$278 / $390 = 40% markup (IE 5050 / Sound Devices XL)
$236 / $365 = 55% markup (IE 4040 / Remote Audio HiQ Dual)

I see you Rado edited his response above to the correct wholesale price from $120 to $220.  It would be nice to acknowledge this, since the premise of this entire thread rests on how cheap or expensive the markup is, and that silently-changed $100 error is the difference between a markup that is triple vs. a markup that is ~50% (i.e. a normal retail margin).

I see normal retail business practice, not gouging.  If you want to order direct from the manufacturer and get a better deal, by all means, go for it.  But don't slag small companies (that are also American!) for normal business practices.

t was a typo that was corrected.

Those chargers are 4040 not 5050!

 

Those companies get even better prices buying bulk.

 10% is an honest mark up. Not 60-70%!!!

 

I imagine they get $160-170 price per charger.

 

Back in the day when Vin found IE and pointed me to them and I started purchasing for everybody. they gave me a $70,000 deal for a bulk purchase with my branding R.A.D.O . I approached a LA resaler with a reasonable offer of $10 mark up for me a battery. This was back in the day around the time  Audio Root battery were coming out for  $330. I was offered around $100 a battery and $165 a charger  pay as I go. I wanted the batteries to be affordable for everybody. But I was cut off the deal. 

I am not sour. I am actually happy that lesson keeps me away from the sound business. Don’t want to live without dignity! 

 

 

 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

2 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

Those chargers are 4040 not 5050!

Not based on the photo.  The Sound Devices XL has the calibrator button clearly visible on both product pages that you linked to (mind you, the image probably came from SD anyway).  Only the Remote Audio appears to be a 4040.

How many chargers do you think SD and Remote Audio are selling?  These aren't high volume items, I doubt they would put their cash into a giant bulk order when they only expect to sell a few every year.  And, yes, SD and Remote Audio might only mark up 10%, but the prices you are showing are *retail* prices, not the prices that SD and RA charge their wholesale clients.  In a retail context, 50% markup is pretty normal ... that is what it takes to cover the overhead of a physical store (or, in these cases, more likely the cost of paying someone to either hold stock or to order from the manufacturer on your behalf).

You can argue that you don't gain any benefit from buying from Gotham or Trew ... as I said, I have no doubt that it's cheaper to order direct from the manufacturer if they will sell to end consumers.  I've certainly done that before.

But I also sometimes from retail stores, even if it costs me more.  And I'm not going to begrudge them their profit margin, because I know how expensive it is to sell retail.

[RadoStefanov]

57 minutes ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

Not based on the photo.  The Sound Devices XL has the calibrator button clearly visible on both product pages that you linked to (mind you, the image probably came from SD anyway).  Only the Remote Audio appears to be a 4040.

How many chargers do you think SD and Remote Audio are selling?  These aren't high volume items, I doubt they would put their cash into a giant bulk order when they only expect to sell a few every year.  And, yes, SD and Remote Audio might only mark up 10%, but the prices you are showing are *retail* prices, not the prices that SD and RA charge their wholesale clients.  In a retail context, 50% markup is pretty normal ... that is what it takes to cover the overhead of a physical store (or, in these cases, more likely the cost of paying someone to either hold stock or to order from the manufacturer on your behalf).

You can argue that you don't gain any benefit from buying from Gotham or Trew ... as I said, I have no doubt that it's cheaper to order direct from the manufacturer if they will sell to end consumers.  I've certainly done that before.

But I also sometimes from retail stores, even if it costs me more.  And I'm not going to begrudge them their profit margin, because I know how expensive it is to sell retail.

No not at all. I purchased bunch of batteries from Ghotam when they were sold at $120-125 each “don’t remember the exact price.

 

Sound devices are saying it is 5050 but it should be confirmed. My 4040s have the rubber buttons as well.

Just FYI the calibrator does nothing with an aging battery. It only introduces unnecessary fan noise. Sound devices should sale 4040. 

 

Not to mention BS like bellow. It is preying on their own uninformed customers…

4 times the actual retail price:

 

 

[IronFilm]

1 hour ago, RadoStefanov said:

 10% is an honest mark up.

Costs for a retailer are far higher than what 10% could cover. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

47 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

No not at all. I purchased bunch of batteries from Ghotam when they were sold at $120-125 each “don’t remember the exact price.

So, once upon a time you purchased batteries at an unspecified price and it was cheaper.  That's not exactly a convincing argument.

Lithium prices have skyrocketed in the last year or two thanks to electric cars.   Lithium batteries have gotten more expensive because of that.  That's not evidence of a conspiracy or gouging.  It's evidence that batteries have gotten more expensive.

$99 for a mid-capacity NP-F battery isn't a cheap price.  But it isn't outrageous either.  Have you seen what Sony charges for their "genuine" NP-F batteries?  They invented the format, and they charge a large premium for it.  Can you get batteries for less — even a lot less?  Yes.  If you know what you are doing, there are bargains to be had.  But, most of the time with "generic" batteries, you get what you pay for.  Nobody is forcing you to buy a Sound Devices battery.  There are *lots* of options out there.  But, it's in the interest of Sound Devices to pay for a *good* lithium battery if they are going to sell one, and some people may decide to buy it because it has their name on it.  At the price they are charging, I doubt they are doing better than breaking even on the cost of carrying special SD-branded batteries, but I have confidence they are good batteries.  And I'm sure that confidence will sell a few batteries for them, even to people who know they can get cheaper batteries elsewhere.

Given that Sound Devices' primary business is selling sound recorders, who cares what they charge for batteries?  Buy them elsewhere.

[RadoStefanov]

33 minutes ago, The Documentary Sound Guy said:

So, once upon a time you purchased batteries at an unspecified price and it was cheaper.  That's not exactly a convincing argument.

Lithium prices have skyrocketed in the last year or two thanks to electric cars.   Lithium batteries have gotten more expensive because of that.  That's not evidence of a conspiracy or gouging.  It's evidence that batteries have gotten more expensive.

$99 for a mid-capacity NP-F battery isn't a cheap price.  But it isn't outrageous either.  Have you seen what Sony charges for their "genuine" NP-F batteries?  They invented the format, and they charge a large premium for it.  Can you get batteries for less — even a lot less?  Yes.  If you know what you are doing, there are bargains to be had.  But, most of the time with "generic" batteries, you get what you pay for.  Nobody is forcing you to buy a Sound Devices battery.  There are *lots* of options out there.  But, it's in the interest of Sound Devices to pay for a *good* lithium battery if they are going to sell one, and some people may decide to buy it because it has their name on it.  At the price they are charging, I doubt they are doing better than breaking even on the cost of carrying special SD-branded batteries, but I have confidence they are good batteries.  And I'm sure that confidence will sell a few batteries for them, even to people who know they can get cheaper batteries elsewhere.

Given that Sound Devices' primary business is selling sound recorders, who cares what they charge for batteries?  Buy them elsewhere.

 

it does matter what they charge for chargers. And batteries. 

they should stick to selling recorders and anything else the multinational conglomerate that owes them sales. 
price gouging their customers is not only shady business practice but also disrespectful to their customers. 
make something and sale it!
don’t resale price gouge like any other shitty greedy  corporation out there. 

I don’t understand why people always jump to deffend multi national corporations like whoever Italian mafia family owns sound devices!!!

 

do you work for them!?

are you a resaler?

what do you care?

are you generally defending greedy capitalist price gouging as  an acceptable business practice?

[IronFilm]

22 minutes ago, RadoStefanov said:

they should stick to selling recorders

Oh I dunno, nothing wrong with Sound Devices selling key essential accessories for them (such as batteries! Couldn't think of anything more relevant than that). 

 

If you're an audio store, you might not already have an established supplier for NP-F batteries, as you'll have never sold them before (it is a camera battery after all). It's a lot easier for the retailer (and their customers) if they can just sell Sound Devices' product. 

 

No need for them to put the time into researching which NP-F970 (or NP-F9550? Or NP-F980?) offbrand battery (or go with Sony??) they should get: Waston, Smallrig, Wasabi, GVM, Neewer, Core SWX, Westcott, Viltrox, Hollyland, Vidpro, etc??? (I've only listed a few of the many brands on offer!)

 

It's easily a rabbit hole you could dive down and spend hours researching. Am sure many customers don't mind skipping all that and just spending an extra couple of bucks for a Sound Devices battery they can trust. 

[The Documentary Sound Guy]

This isn't about "defending" anyone.  It's not a "battle", and this isn't politics.

I care about the quality of information and quality of discourse on JWSound, so I'm correcting those as best I can.  You are supporting your argument with facts that change, and assumptions that are frequently wrong.  If you want me to stop pointing them out, check your facts and make a better argument.

[SDsmixer]

I've used this non-stop the past month. $68. Countless cycles between 2/S-95 batteries. No issues whatsoever.