Arc AAA price point

I know that there has been a lot of discussion about Arc pricing lately and i hate to beat a dead horse but my curiousity has gotten the best of me.

so, what is the maximum price you are willing to pay for an AAA? personally, it is the $20 mark. for some reason $21 seems like too much and the $24.95 that the few dealers who still sell Arc products (quite of few of the dealers on the arc website no longer list their products) are all at that point. it looks like ill have to be content with my 2 AAA's and LSH for some time (oh why didnt i get some AAAs during the 7/4/03 sale?). i guess if i did not have one id pay the $25 but since any more would just be extras for gifts or good measure, im effectively priced out of the game. id love to see the back around the $18-19 mark. im still willing to pay $40 for a LDF AAA though.

back to my question, what is the max. you are willing to pay for a standard AAA? why?

Those low prices did seem to spoil me. I hope they didn't spoil Arc /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

I thought they were going to stay at $13 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif(.

I paid $17 for mine. I guess I'd pay that again if I had to. At $13 I would have bought a couple more just to have them around.

The CMG Sonic is basically similar but not as nice, $15 at batterystation. So I wouldn't pay tooooooo much more than that for an Arc. Maybe $20 max, unless for some special occasion or purpose (LDF, collectable, etc.)

I don't see much point to an LDF special AAA. If I want to pay $40 for an Arc AAA, there's already the CPF special edition. If I get some disposable cash together I might buy one of those as an LDF contribution. I wouldn't buy one just for its own sake.

I never considered getting an arc aaa until the recent sale, because I was unwilling to pay so much money for a keychain light. Hopefully I'll like it after they arrive.

Don't worry, you will!

I got mine almost 2 years ago for $25 + $5 shipping. Seemed kinda high but the light is stil going strong.

Paid €29 for a LE incl. shipping, and consider it a bargain. A Photon II would cost me €22, and uses much more expensive batteries.
Oh, a Scorpion costs €80 here, and a G2 €65.
And I won't even mention the price of 123s /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I paid $40 for my AAA LE. I can't say I regret it... well, only in that it's made me want more Arcs /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I am sad that even TTS who always had great service and a low price, long before the recent price war fiasco is forced to go MAP. As I posted in another thread, at $24.95, I will be very selective and only purchase for a specific gift for a close friend whearas at $5-8 cheaper, I would always buy a few at a time just to have around. I wonder how this will affect the overall Arc sales. That is my personal buying habits but I understand Arc having to do what they think they have to do in order to stay in business.

Is the Arc AAA made entirely in the U.S.A.?

Why such a high price? All american labor cost? I know there are R&D cost and marketing and packaging but the MAP seems steep.

Now I'm no expert on what ARC is but I suspect it's a small company that hand makes (more or less) quality flashlight products as opposed to large companies who mass produce their stuff on an assembly line where the quality can vary a lot. Now I know that hand-made quality hardware (like building your own computer) can end up costing a lot more than something cranked off the assembly line at Compaq or Dell but in the end unless you messed up the hand-made stuff will be superior. So while ARCs are epensive, they're GOOD flashlights.

The Arc is like a hand built computer, but you have 1000 motherboards on hand, 1000 cases on hand, 1000 HDs on hand...all more or less identical.

The MAP is steep. At $20 you can buy 5 for $100, at $25 you can only buy 4. Hopefully the dealers can get on a rotating, below MAP "Add to cart to see price" sale.

Geepondy, i agree totally with your post and in fact remembered the one you referenced while i was thinking about my original post. im a big fan of TTS too.

I am waiting,
Waiting for the Arc AAA LS (R ranked LS running at 160mA) Waiting for either Arc to build it or McGizmo/Lambda/ArcMania to fabricate the heads for the AAA body. Would happily pay $75 for that light, $25 for a 5mm LED is a bit much. I can get an Elektrolumens 3AA LS flashlight for $30. I am waiting for the LS version. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

As you can see by his website he is only carrying the Arc AAA LE edition. When I emailed him, he said he has not sold a single one since going MAP. He did say in my received email that he would give free shipping on the item to those who called in.


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notos&w said:
Geepondy, i agree totally with your post and in fact remembered the one you referenced while i was thinking about my original post. im a big fan of TTS too.

[/ QUOTE ]

The Arc AAA is well built but not that bright for $24.95.

if you want bright, get a maxabeam /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

while the current price does seem a little steep in comparison to what has been offered in the recent past, it is a realistic price.

at a $15 price tag, it is severly undervalued, and leads the consumer to assume anything higher is not fair or realistic.

arc pricing is determined by many things, quality, materials, quantity, demand, availability of materials, and many other things also. i think for the blend of what it is, $24 is a good price.

No matter what you pay for it, you'll forget it all in a year. You won't have any buyer's regret and you'll be happy with it for years.

Arc AAA is a leader in its class but $24 is too steep for the general public. Only flashlight nuts will not care about $24 for a tiny flashlight but flashlight nuts are only a tiny consumer base. Arc is not a household brand name to the majority of people.

$24 equals about £14 in the U.K. Most retail places sell Solitaires for £10 !! I know which I'd rather buy.