Does this price increase seem correct???

[JustinReef]

I did not read through the whole post but that price increase is ridiculous. They may have sold a lot and had the demand but I would imagine that demand will now start to fade away a little. Usually products start a little high, create hype, sell to the people who will buy at most any price because they want the product first and THEN go down in price to sell way more units to everyone who has now been waiting for a while and hearing about how great the product is...Kind of like Gaming systems right now....

This seems crazy and is not a good business decision long term. Especially when word gets out on boards like this that really influence what people buy and why. I would never pay the extra even if I really, really wanted the product just for the fact that it would feel like a rip off...And materials going up in price...Give me a break, that made me laugh!

 

[acrouse]

ATV dave-thanks-I will go take a look!
jolene

 

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11314913#post11314913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by acrouse
ganjero- I agree 100% that supply and demand is what is behind this price increase. Not the cost of material. I think I mentioned that earlier. I just don't agree with the large increase all at once and wonder if they thought all these people that were going to purchase soon would not notice? They knew from posts and e-mails many were looking to buy around christmas. Its just a very disappointing move from such a good sponser of RC.
About every product we buy follows the same trend. Look at MH-when I started 2yrs ago, they were the "thing to have"-prices soared where a lot of people could not afford-so like you said T5's came out. They caught on as-great lights-much, much more cost effective- now prices have to soar. I feel other companies making T5's will follow suit with large price increases, until many people can't afford T5's and something new will follow. I hope thats not the case, but its the trend in this hobby.

thanks again
jolene

I agree because this is not how supply and demand works. You do not raise the price this much once you realize your selling more than you had thought you would. Im surprised they even had the balls to do it!

 

[ganjero]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11314934#post11314934 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
I agree because this is not how supply and demand works. You do not raise the price this much once you realize your selling more than you had thought you would. Im surprised they even had the balls to do it!

That is exactly how supply demand works. Did you ever take any class in economics? by looking at the supply/demand graph you can tell how the price moves. Maybe the problem here is that aquatinics trying to satisfy customers was holding the price at some point for too long instead of doing small increases, and now the bubble pop and they had to do this outrageous increase.

Like I said before I would like to see a breakdown on their costs (including labor). Maybe I'll work on that, and try to post what I find to see if is them just being greedy or if it is justified

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11314920#post11314920 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
And materials going up in price...Give me a break, that made me laugh!

Really, everytime I turn around, I get emails from Fedex telling me their rates are going up. Fuel has gone up. Plastics are a byproduct of petroleum. Metals are being purchased by India and China at an alarming rate. Everything is getting more expensive because so much of our economy for the last 5 to 10 years has been based on the housing market and home equity spending. The increases are drastic, and they are not going to slow down.

Seriously, it's not that much more. Ever go shopping for jeans. I went to Macy's with my wife last night. I can barely afford a pair of Levi's. The price increase is only two pairs of those "7 for ALL YOUR BASE" jeans.

Is the increase large, yup. Is it called for? I dunno. I don't think calling the company crooks, greedy, criminals, or whatever is called for. We really don't know what their bottom line is.

If they were really greedy, they wouldn't be involved in the aquarium industry.

 

[dhnguyen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11315427#post11315427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tacocat
...If they were really greedy, they wouldn't be involved in the aquarium industry.

Now that's funny :lol:

 

[LIZZI]

LET'S HEAR FROM AQUACTINICS. Since everybody is just guessing what caused the price increase without knowing the real reason, it would be nice to have an honest explanation from Tom at Aquactinics. Then take it for what it is worth. I am sure there will be skeptics, but that is normal since no ammount of reason or explanation would satisfy everybody. In the mean time I still feel that they have a fine product that is worth to keep in mind. (And for those of you who have never seen or tried out their fixtures, shame on you for down grading their products.) I have had 2 of their light before and loved both of them. It looked like a lot of effort and thought went into the design, quality, and packaging of their fixture.
I am sure thy had a good reason for the price increase. Many of you had some interesting comments how manufacturing works in todays atmosphere.
Lizzi

 

[luke33]

Not only does everyone around here know about reefing, they could also turn our economy around! Its fabulous!!! ; )

 

[luke33]

He said raw materials went up.......

 

[atvdave]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11315557#post11315557 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LIZZI
LET'S HEAR FROM AQUACTINICS.
Lizzi

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1253233

 

[JustinReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11315427#post11315427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tacocat
Really, everytime I turn around, I get emails from Fedex telling me their rates are going up. Fuel has gone up. Plastics are a byproduct of petroleum. Metals are being purchased by India and China at an alarming rate. Everything is getting more expensive because so much of our economy for the last 5 to 10 years has been based on the housing market and home equity spending. The increases are drastic, and they are not going to slow down.

Seriously, it's not that much more. Ever go shopping for jeans. I went to Macy's with my wife last night. I can barely afford a pair of Levi's. The price increase is only two pairs of those "7 for ALL YOUR BASE" jeans.

Is the increase large, yup. Is it called for? I dunno. I don't think calling the company crooks, greedy, criminals, or whatever is called for. We really don't know what their bottom line is.

If they were really greedy, they wouldn't be involved in the aquarium industry.

I guess Im looking at it from another countries view...Housing is booming here, stuff is getting cheaper and even heating a home has gone way down in price this year. Canadas economy is getting stronger and stronger right now.

 

[Lumamae]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11315665#post11315665 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by justinpsmith
I guess Im looking at it from another countries view...Housing is booming here, stuff is getting cheaper and even heating a home has gone way down in price this year. Canadas economy is getting stronger and stronger right now.

OK, rub it in "ay". Your Canadian $ surpassed the USD $ for the first time I've ever seen.

Lizzi, why would you expect a response fron Aquactinics? What could they say? It was a good business decision as every business wants to make as much $ as they can, that's why they're in business. The only reason why everyone is so upset is the price increase took such a large jump. 30%-35% is a huge step and like I posted earlier, if they had passed through a 15% now and another 15% 9 months down the road and give another reason besides increase in raw materials, no one would blink an eye. So, the only bad decision was the amount of the increase all at once. It turns a lot of reefers away and you start to get all this bad mouthing about them. I'm sure that they'll loose a lot of sales during this holiday season. The only happy campers are those that pre-order before the price increase. You never know, even the 6 week backorder could have been a business move to imply a fake shortage on the fixtures. Who really know?

 

[reef / aholic]

The USA is a consumer driven society!!! You may not want to pay for it but I guaranty someone else will!!!

 

[tacocat]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11315514#post11315514 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dhnguyen
Now that's funny :lol:

Trust me on this one. The profit margins are SLIM and the work load and risk are HIGH.

 

[LIZZI]

This was just posted from Aquactinics. Thank you Tom, well said.

Price Adjustment
On November 13th the Aquactinics new MSRP pricing of our fixtures became active. The new pricing was a larger increase then we had hope, but it was an unfortunate necessity. It is in no way is related to the holiday season. At the beginning of this year we made the decision to move from selling direct to selling through a network of dealers. This move would help promote our products and allow us to concentrate more on product development and customer service. At that time we made a production/selling forecast to better help us determine our product’s retail price. We kept the price as low as possible in the hope for a greater volume of sales. While sales have increased they have not increased as much as we had predicted. For these past several months we have been selling the fixtures at a loss and could not wait any longer to do a price adjustment.

In addition, there have been price increases in raw materials, components, and overhead-related costs. In order to keep up with the rising costs, keeping the highest level of customer service possible, and the demand we needed to make this drastic change. We could not keep our prices at what they were and we came to this difficult decision

For those who were waiting until Christmas or the New Year to purchase a fixture you are not out of luck just yet. Before our price increase several of our dealers pre-bought volume of the old priced fixtures. They have agreed to sell these fixtures at the old price while stock lasts. Please visit our site www.aquactinics.com to find a list of dealers. You will need to call or e-mail them to find out if they still have stock. Please remember the old priced fixtures only come with a 1-year warranty and no tank mounting brackets while the new priced fixtures do come with the brackets and a 2-year warranty. Please be aware that the tank mounting brackets are not the same as our riser brackets that lift the fixtures off the tank.

Many of you have been wondering why a response from me wasn’t written sooner. We’ve been under staffed. It has left me with very little free time to respond to e-mails and posts.

I started this business almost 4 years ago as a hobbyist and wanted to create a U.S. made product that was practical and of the highest quality. We, at Aquactinics, refuse to use sub par components just to keep prices low. I started this business with a promise to make the best possible fixture and I intend to keep that promise.

Thank you,

Tom
Aquactinics
203-234-9286


__________________
Aquactinics, LLC Manufacturer of Marine Reef lighting and custom lighting systems

 

[uhuru]

yup, just picked up a 36" TX5 for $322.

(D I Y r e e f dot c o m still has a few more in stock I believe)

 

[LIZZI]

no reply??

no reply??

Frankly I am surprised that all of you "skeptics" and "critiques" have nothing to say now, after Aquactinics posted his explanation of their situation?
I am glad that for those people who still wanted to get some of Aquactinic fixtures they still have a chance, if they really wanted to!?!

I just saw that Diy still has some fixtures at the old price. I am sure you can still find them all around in different stores. Tom said, that you have to check on his forum for info.

 

[GuySmilie]

Re: no reply??

Re: no reply??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11375006#post11375006 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LIZZI
Frankly I am surprised that all of you "skeptics" and "critiques" have nothing to say now, after Aquactinics posted his explanation of their situation?

What would be the point?
Do you think everyone who voiced their contempt earlier have now changed their minds on this matter?

 

[luke33]

Yea, I still think the price increase was silly. Its tough for me to think that the little amount of metal used went up that much, and that they were selling all there fixtures for a loss.....come on now? lol

 

[oct2274]

i haven't changed my mind, he gave you an answer that made sence as a business person and that some of you wanted to hear........the price increase isn't inline with the rest of the lighting industry, not even close.