Flashlight pricing????

I was showing my wife some of my flashlights tonight. As I was switching between them and explaining the differences between them, she asked me this question..."what determines the price of a flashlight". Honestly I couldn't give get a straight answer. What does determine what a flashlight sales for. Is the the cost of producing the light, or how many lumens it is, or the lux, or the material the light is made from, or maybe simply the brand name. Please share your thoughts.

It's more or less a combination of all.

Typically:

1. Body - plastic is cheapest followed by aluminum, stainless steel or brass, and finally titanium or other exotic materials

2. Lumens - more lumens typically equate to more $$$

3. Bells & Whistles - single mode is typically cheapest then you have the multi-mode and infinitely variable modes

4. Manufacturing location - USA or UK made lights are going to be more expensive than those from far east

The rest is just brand loyalty and whatever the market will bear. Spending $2,000 on a uber cool titanium flashlight may not seem justifiable based on function alone, but the market is willing to pay that hefty price for a one-of-kind flashlight. Similarly, a $2,000 Chanel bag seems ridiculously priced, but many women will be more than willing to pay for one.

Demand.

Some off shore companies have little R & D expense and they pay low wages to their workers. So.... they can sell lights at a cheap price. If you read CPF enough, you'll lean that if we buy those lights we must be prepared to reflow the solder, clean connections, stretch & reshape springs, etc. Other companies, like Surefire spend millions on R & D and pass the cost on to the customer. What we get for our $$$ is reliability and customer service. Some lights are just worth the price.

+1 on demand. IMO, a company can make the best light with all the bells and whistles, but if no one is willing to pay what it's worth to the company then it probably won't even hit the market. I'm sure somewhere down the line in some conference room some executive asked "How much are people willing to pay for this flashlight"? Regardless of its features and benefits.

+1 to all the comments above.

Also add in the ever-increasing costs of sophisticated CNC machinery, highly skilled labor, overhead and marketing, freight and delivery, as well as the limited time in which some of these costs, especially R&D, can be amortized due to rapid technological developments in the industry. And, of course, taxes of every type: income, payroll, sales, property, and on and on.

In short, quality flashlights today are a bargain.

...and bargain flashlights are even more of a bargain...

I'm not too concerned with what kind of R&D or other expenses a company has. That's their challenge. A popular product can be priced moderately and still cover those expenses and make a profit for the company. If they can't do that someone else will. A flashlight ultimately is just a tube of metal with a switch at one end and an LED at the other end (in most cases).

I guess I should want Timex to charge me hundreds of dollars for this $20 watch I have on my wrist given all the technology and highly skilled workers and all but I don't want that.

Flashlights cost what they cost because that's what we are willing to pay.

That applies to custom trit embedded lights as well as to basic one mode budget AA lights.

It also applies to cereal both general market cereal and natural locally produced no preservatives added specialty cereal.