Regarding BBb v. CC cost comparison?

[Liberty Mo]

As someone who is decidedly lacking in knowledge of construction costs, what is the reason that BBb horns are priced so much less than their CC counterparts.

Miraphone 1291 BBb v. CC
Yamaha 621 BBb v. CC
Conn 52/54/56J v. King 2341

More generally, the market for new BBb horns (excluding quality arguments) begins and ends at a lower price than CC horns.

You get the point. Is it because a CC costs more to produce, the demand, or are there other factors?

Just curious.

[Gorilla Tuba]

Simple demand. More BBb tubas are sold to schools and individuals around the world. Often that means less production costs if they build in batches. Even if the production costs were the same, the manufacturers are also counting on a higher percieved worth for a "Professional Instrument."

I suspect manufacturers make their money on BBb tubas by selling larger quantities, whereas you need to charge more for CC tubas to make any profit because the quantities are less.

[Rick Denney]

Rick Denney, can you explain it?

It's not so much a profit issue, but rather a price issue. It may cost as much to produce a BBb instrument as a CC issue, but people will pay more for a CC tuba than for a BBb tuba. It's the buyer that sets the price, not the manufacturer. But that doesn't mean it's the poorest buyer that sets the price. Generally, the price is set by the largest willingly paid sum for the last tuba that a manufacturer can make. If the manufacturer's capacity to produce the instrument exceeds demand, the price will go down. If the manufacturer can't make enough tubas to satisfy the demand, the price will go up. Thus, tubas with high demand and low production capacity will command the highest prices.

I wrote in more detail about this subjects a while back on Tubenet. See here.

Rick "watching closely what happens to demand as the dollar weakens" Denney