@tomic601
I know one mysterious cost that is hidden for all but the distributor- the tremendous cost of freight from a country far away. THis can add a LOT to the cost of the product by the time you get it!
MAny of these smaller hi fi companies cannot do lower cost sea shipments unless you are importing large volumes, enough to fill a shipping container (holds 10-15 pallets loaded 7-8 foot high) . That’s a lot of stuff. If you are small to medium size you are stuck with air freight on pallets which travels on passenger planes (a lot of folks dont know that’s how airlines really make their money) . The cargo planes (FEDX, UPS, DHL etc) you see at airports is for small package only, NOT pallets. So like a single small box from one person to one person is what’s inside that giant FEDX plane.
Small package shipment is absolutely brutal on the shipment itself- ESPECIALLY international.. 90% ofl the freight damage comes from small package shipping. So signifcant losses are now normal. If you order 6 preamps, 2 are ruined or unshippable because the box is destroyed or the unit inside has scartch that no one will want. TO sort that out and file a claim is months and months of follow up. Not fun.
I recently had customs drill holes in my ATC crates from UK looking for-I dont know what- drugs? Ruined many pairs of beaugiful wood veneered 50s, 100s 150s with holes in the cabinets!. You cannot go after customs, they can do whatever they see fit to check your crates.
SO cost of crate shipments can run 20-30% on top of the product value- not including losses. So add 20-30% to the street price you pay. That is the biggest reason my ATC is more than UK ATC.
Claims to the contrary ("I got it for $40") is referring to small package shipments only and works on only a very very small scale (you order one used preamp from overseas). This won’t work for a larger boxes as there is a limit to size and weight- a pair of floor standing speakers is not shippable small package.
Brad
