Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods?

@hilde45

"hyperbolic price increases"

When the "market" determined that a $4 cup of coffee could actually be enthusiastically adopted when the "norm" was 99 cents -- with free refills, it may have been a good example of a game changer? It might be interesting to take a granular approach and determine how consumers prioritized the elements of that $4 cup of coffee at the time: "the coffee"- 99 cents, "being actively involved in the coffee culture"-99 cents, "looking good while I’m drinking coffee"-99 cents, "an affluent, unique experience"- 99 cents, "free wifi" - 4 cents?

Now take those numbers and project a straight line out to 100,000 times that investment ($400k) while removing the word "coffee". Is there some level of consistency in the motiviators?

Last year I heard the just released Burmester 216 and was very impressed with the liquidity and the ease of operation driving a Sonus Faber Lilium. I asked the sales rep. the usual generic questions and $35k was quoted. I thought this an extreme value when considering brand/build quality and near reference SQ. When comparing the Burmester to any Hegel amp(mid fi darlings?) which company is making more profit(%) on a component. Compare the Hegel H30a at $20k? and the Burmester 216. My conservative guess is the the Burmester is at least 3x more costly to produce. Clearly the Burmester is a superior product and represents better value.

The question is whether the Supra expensive product is delivering an outcome that can’t be achieved at a lower expense 

my dress watch from Tiffany has a quartz mechanism that keeps perfect time and requires a 75 dollar battery change every 3 years

the same model with an automatic movement is 4 times the price, requires a 500 dollar overhaul in 5 to seven years and is less accurate

Resale in my quartz is 20 percent cs cs the automatic held its original price

perception of the value does not match the reality.   Same with tubes bs solid state.  We don’t use tubes to make our TVs have a less clear picture that is more natural

@waytoomuchstuff 

Now take those numbers and project a straight line out to 100,000 times that investment ($400k) while removing the word "coffee". Is there some level of consistency in the motiviators?

I guess...yes? This is clearly in your wheel house, so I'm trying to follow out the logic. My guess is that whether the coffee/audio analogy can be extrapolated in this way would depend on empirical psychological factors which someone could study. It sounds like commonsense to me, but the devil would be in the details! ;-)

There is definitely a psychological factor in sales of any high priced and therefore exclusive product. In high end audio, this is absolutely a factor as well.

Probably we have all heard of the dealer rep who has told the manufacturer that their price structure is too low, in order to have a product that has a greater appeal to their consumer base who equate price with quality and ability.

I think this circumstance is most likely getting more popular in high end audio than ever. Which is a somewhat vicious cycle, as it tends to price out those but the most ardent and well heeled hobbyists. Certainly, it is not a good thing, at least IMHO, for the continued health of the industry; as it certainly puts off the young music lover who now looks at high end audio as purely an ’elitist’ endeavor!