Why are Skimmers so ridiculously overpriced???

S

schriss

New member
Skimmer is a pump and a plastic case. Production cost is minimal, can be seen by cheap skimmer prices. Then there was article comparing different skimmers and result was that the best ones are not the most expensive ones.

So why are skimmers costing hundreds/thousands, if there is only pump inside and the rest is plastic? That plastic part is produced in the same way any other plastic box is produced - extremely cheap.

Is it because Skimmer will only be purchased by Reef owner and all reef owners need to be rich?
The same pump that is mounted in any skimmer can be bought for little, but then such pump can be used by many people, not only reef owners.

Are we being ripped of? Big time?
 
I can definetly tell the difference between a cheap skimmer and a quality skimmer, the build quality and construction is noticeably different. You need to do some better research into skimmer pumps :).
 
Often wondered the same.

And we're not the only ones, considering how many people are making their own out of traffic cones and buckets and such.
 
I think its simple economics. First you have supply and demand. The price can be high, cause we want the best skimmer and we will pay for it. Second, these things are not mass produced, so the cost of production is a bit higher than a full blown assembly line.

That aside, you are right -- t is essentially a pump and a plastic tube. A cheap skimmer can be upgraded by improving the pump or even a DIY skimmer a la traffic cone should be fine.
 
Skimmers

Skimmers

I have wondered the same, a pump, and a tube, and a few small items, I have wondered why there isnt more people around the country making them to sell?

Same thing with overflo boxes, even cheaper to make, but they start at $40 and shoot up from there. I know there isnt a huge market for them so there arnt huge volumes of sales, but it does seem like its a good niche for guys with shops who can do them as a side line.
 
Skimmers are manufactured with acrylic which is derived from oil. So, acrylic prices vary based on the current price of oil. Now, add the fact that the acrylic has to be formed into a mode and the price for this tube goes up a lot. Add in the fact that someone has to engineer, often through trial and error, a design that works as well or better than other skimmers on the market and the price goes up even more. Throw in a quality pump or three and add some supply and demand and the price goes up some more. Skimmer pricing is pretty crazy, IMO, but I kind of get why they are and think it is a cost worth investing in.
 
You are paying for more than plastic and a pump(when you buy a quality product). You pay for R&D, customer service, warranty and profit most people are in business to make money. Being in business for myself I know what it is like to have people who know nothing about what I do think I should do it cheaper.

Not to mention the problem of cheap Chinese goods having made anything else seem over priced to people who don't know the difference (or care).
 
It is simple supply and demand working here. Demand is relatively low for salt water equipment, how many people in this country or even the world want that item. Across the board maybe a few thousand are sold every year. So you have 4 or 5 companies making skimmers that if they are lucky will sell a few thousand any given year across all model lines. Because there is low damand the supply is also relatively low, companies do not want to make something they may not sell and retailers will only buy a handful and may have them sitting around a long time. With a small nitch market sales are much less predictable than say TV sales. This usually applies upward pressure to the pricing when supply is low. When demand out strips supply prices go up, and this is easy to due in an already small market.

Now couple this all with r&d costs. If a popular model is only expected to sell 10,000 (which is likely a high number) units over the model's lifespan, all the r&d costs, marketing, manufacturing, etc needs to be recouped over a small number of units. Thus high costs again. Prices are pushed up by relatively high r&d, small supply, and relatively high demand (albet a small and nitch market).
 
bamf25 said:
It is simple supply and demand working here. Demand is relatively low for salt water equipment, how many people in this country or even the world want that item. Across the board maybe a few thousand are sold every year. So you have 4 or 5 companies making skimmers that if they are lucky will sell a few thousand any given year across all model lines. Because there is low damand the supply is also relatively low, companies do not want to make something they may not sell and retailers will only buy a handful and may have them sitting around a long time. With a small nitch market sales are much less predictable than say TV sales. This usually applies upward pressure to the pricing when supply is low. When demand out strips supply prices go up, and this is easy to due in an already small market.

Now couple this all with r&d costs. If a popular model is only expected to sell 10,000 (which is likely a high number) units over the model's lifespan, all the r&d costs, marketing, manufacturing, etc needs to be recouped over a small number of units. Thus high costs again. Prices are pushed up by relatively high r&d, small supply, and relatively high demand (albet a small and nitch market).
Click to expand...

What do you mean?
 
The "plastic" used is acrylic and it must be molded... That mold I hear can cost upwards of 10k dollars for one mold. Now the Supply and demand... 10k For one type of skimmer body!

No one is stopping you from going out... heating a sheet of acrylic and bending it... even into a cone, using acrylic cement and having a nasty looking crease in your skimmer, but now you have a cone skimmer... at maybe a mere 80 dollars in material for just the body. Go to Harbor freight get a 1000gph pump with 370W electricity and tons of heat for 40 bucks. Now you have a skimmer! Does it work? probably... does it work well? probably not... Is it more to run than your MH? Maybe. But at least you have a cheap skimmer!
 
I'm not wanting cheap equipment and not denying R&D and quality, but still, half a thousand of us dollars seems like an overkill to me. Why would acrylic and a pump be more expensive than some not bad LED light units is beyond me.
 
Becasue of price point, a European company cannot build a 150 dollar skimmer and sell it in the US the shipping is too expensive so they have to build more expensive ones. they're labor cost are too high. Besides skimmer cost have gone down since the recession H&S is selling Bubble Magnus in Europe now.
 
I dont understand the "acrylic and a pump" to "not bad LED light" analogy.

If it didnt cost that much to make a quality skimmer than a new company would make quality skimmers for cheaper.
 
docstomper said:
the "plastic" used is acrylic and it must be molded... That mold i hear can cost upwards of 10k dollars for one mold. Now the supply and demand... 10k for one type of skimmer body!

No one is stopping you from going out... Heating a sheet of acrylic and bending it... Even into a cone, using acrylic cement and having a nasty looking crease in your skimmer, but now you have a cone skimmer... At maybe a mere 80 dollars in material for just the body. Go to harbor freight get a 1000gph pump with 370w electricity and tons of heat for 40 bucks. Now you have a skimmer! Does it work? Probably... Does it work well? Probably not... Is it more to run than your mh? Maybe. But at least you have a cheap skimmer!
Click to expand...

exactly!!! Lol
 
Thiers many skimmers that are good for a reasonable price i think i paid 285 for mine but i agree thiers no way id spend over a 1000 dollars for a skimmer unless it was on a huge system.
 
I think if you compare the price of the materials and the labor to build the skimmer against the retail price, you will find there is a substantial markup.

Think about it though, this doesn't only happen in the aquarium industry, it's all over.
 
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