Hi
Now I know this will be a bit of a contentious issue but I am raising it for a couple of reasons. As a consumer of these DCC products I want the best possible price and job done. I come from a manufacturing background and understand the cost of a one off. "Not cheap" Having looked at the pricing for decoder installs I think we are getting a good deal. A very good deal in fact. They take a lot of risks, damage to loco body, decoder etc. It is a pain taking some of these loco's out of a box let alone pulling them apart.
When it comes to the real specialized work where you have to heavily modify a loco and not have it show, how much is this really worth. When a loco goes up on a mill to be machined, and if it is the first one you have done, how do you know how to price this?
When we agree on a price for the install do we really know how much work goes in? In a way I am lucky I have seen Richard for example spend over 1/2 hour on one of my steam loco's watching it go up and down the track adjusting cv's just to get the right chuff rate, speed curve etc. Now that has got to eat into the profits when you sell a sound decoder. It may be part of the great service.
I for one think we don't pay enough for the specialized installs and if people have a difficult loco or whatever they should be prepared to pay a fair and reasonable price.
Maybe in this DCC age the loco is only 1/2 the cost and you got to be prepared to shell out if you want the works.
Your thoughts on this subject.
m
Now I know this will be a bit of a contentious issue but I am raising it for a couple of reasons. As a consumer of these DCC products I want the best possible price and job done. I come from a manufacturing background and understand the cost of a one off. "Not cheap" Having looked at the pricing for decoder installs I think we are getting a good deal. A very good deal in fact. They take a lot of risks, damage to loco body, decoder etc. It is a pain taking some of these loco's out of a box let alone pulling them apart.
When it comes to the real specialized work where you have to heavily modify a loco and not have it show, how much is this really worth. When a loco goes up on a mill to be machined, and if it is the first one you have done, how do you know how to price this?
When we agree on a price for the install do we really know how much work goes in? In a way I am lucky I have seen Richard for example spend over 1/2 hour on one of my steam loco's watching it go up and down the track adjusting cv's just to get the right chuff rate, speed curve etc. Now that has got to eat into the profits when you sell a sound decoder. It may be part of the great service.
I for one think we don't pay enough for the specialized installs and if people have a difficult loco or whatever they should be prepared to pay a fair and reasonable price.
Maybe in this DCC age the loco is only 1/2 the cost and you got to be prepared to shell out if you want the works.
Your thoughts on this subject.
m
