RE: Chassis stiffener (controversial and longish)

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> I could hold my comments no longer.  I have discussed this point off line
> with a few Digesters, because I hate when this kind of crap gets out of
hand
> on the Digest, and soon everyone is talking about Guns, politics, or some
> other subject having no bearing on Alfa ownership.  Alas I succumb and
> contribute to the wasted band with.

don't know if this 'crap' is getting out of hand yet, i've had some polite
off-line discourse with some who might have an opposing view on this matter,
and so far all has been very civil.

> My $0.02:  I completely understand the point that Brian Shorey and John
> Hertzman  are making here- please understand this is not a flame.  Lets be
> realistic.  In the first place, don't all of the other Alfa mail-order
> houses offer the same thing? ( a copy of the Ereminas Original)  Should we
> persecute them for offering a chassis stiffener as well?  Or any other
> aftermarket house for offering OEM spec parts at a better price.  Copying
is
> huge business in the automotive industry.  Why berate a fellow digester
for
> trying to help others out or those purchasing one as free loaders.  ( I
> always thought they were over priced anyway!)  I'm sure he's not doing it
> for the money at $200.00 a pop!  What we have here is a fellow digester
that
> offered his services/ abilities much as we all do to help each other out.
> I'm sure he is making a small profit on the deal, but he should for the
> effort.
>
> My last point:  I take exception to being called a free loader for
> purchasing a chassis stiffener from a fellow digester, and yes I did
> contribute to the Welty Fund.  I think we should be thankful, not
critical,
> of anyone that helps our cars run better.  It's basic economic theory, yes
> I'm a finance/economics guy.   You buy the best product you can for the
> lowest money, do otherwise and the stock market and our economic system
> collapses (much needed comic relief).

i could be wrong, but it is my understanding that all of the suppliers who
sell chassis stiffeners have an agreement with don.  perhaps one will chime
in and correct me.

here's my issue, as i've expressed to a few individuals off-line.

what may look like a few simple bits of metal presumably took don ereminas
some amount of time and effort to design and develop (and it took a number
of iterations, for example there are many issues with clearing different
types of non-stock headers).  with the limited potential market for these
things, it's hardly worth it for don to patent such a device.  and if he
did, and were to add the legal fees to the selling price of such a device,
then the current $425 would look cheap by comparison.

so don is performing a service to alfa owners, and certainly deserves to
recoup his up front costs.  heck, he even deserves to turn a profit.

now, it's easy to come along after the fact, look at an existing product
(without having to foot the costs of the initial engineering effort), and
find ways to improve upon it.  and, since you don't have any of the initial
engineering costs to recoup, you can sell it at a lower cost than the
original.  it may be legal, but, in my personal opinion, it isn't right.

at the least, every one you sell represents one fewer for don to sell, which
adds risk to his ability to recover his costs (if he hasn't already) or to
run a successful business.  and, should he not find it worthwhile to
continue in his business, who knows what current, worthwhile engineering
efforts he's working on for our benefit that will never see the light of
day?

so, why not call don and tell him what we're up to?  i'm sure he won't mind,
he can turn his attention from adding up all of his profits on chassis
stiffeners and focus on the research and development of some other product
for us to manufacture.  ;)

the real service to alfa owners, imho, isn't undercutting someone elses
pricing and putting them out of business, it's in coming up with unique
products on your own.  and when you do, you should not have to worry about
somebody else making a profit off your hard work, and you should be able to
make a decent profit from it.

sincerely,

bs

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End of alfa-digest V7 #727
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