Pricing # 2

Here is a question for the community. If a builder builds their first mandolin and it is extremely high quality.. Outstanding looks/tone/volume etc. Great Mando. How do you then determine the price of your next mandolin for a paying customer?

[John Flynn]

Pricing of any product is a combination of art and science. The quality of the product is important, but it is only one factor. For instance, how does your next customer know how good the first one is? Will you send it to them to play? Has some big name played it and given you an endorsement? Do you have a website with pictures and sound files? Another factor is brand recognition. Can the next customer feel good about buying your brand? Is there a story behind it, like there is for many of the "big names" or is it just another faceless name on the builder's list? I mean no offense by that, BTW, I am just being realistic from a marketing perspective.

The easiest way to set your price points is to identify other builders that are similar in terms of quality, tryout possibilites, name recognition, story, etc. and who are actually moving thier mandos in the market. Try your prices where they set thiers and see if that gives you a profit margin you can live with. If so, you have your price, if not, you need to re-think your whole business model.

I know of a little known builder who has a few mandos out there and has gotten some good press on this site, but not really anywhere else. He has an F for sale in a high traffic, well targeted store (and their internet site) for about $2K. The mando is a very nice effort, but not perfect. Is is still on a par or better than many mass production efforts. That mando has been for sale for quite a while.

[Atlanta Mando Mike]

i would say that the luthier should make at least a couple next time he makes some. Go to some shows, pickings, festivals, let people play them and sell them for as cheap as he can afford. Try to get them in the hands of people and create a buzz. Then supply and demand will take care of the rest. If they are good quality, at a good price and peolpe sart becoming aware of them then the sky is the limit. Look how well kimble is doing now.

[Brookside]

I've thought about this myself, not that I have yet produced anything of extremely high quality. If it were me, I would give my first paying customer a good deal. Price it a bit below what an instrument similar in demand and quality is going for. There could be a good chance that your second paying customer would come from a referal from this customer. Give them a good deal too. Consider the first few an investment in advertising. There is no better advertising than a few happy pickers who know other pickers. If you start to get a backlog, raise the prices to manage the backlog. Just my humble opinion.

[Hummingbird_Mandolins]

The best advice I ever got regarding pricing is this. Don't sell yourself short--if you feel your instrument is worth $2500 then ask that amount. Some customers want an instrument with a popular name--others want a great playing instrument that stands out from the rest. The latter will pay your asking price or close to it.

Good luck and happy building!
Hummingbird Mandolins.com (http://www.hummingbirdmandolins.com)

Thank you all for the input it is helpful. Its a complex issue. On the one hand I can see from the builders point of view that if you build a mandolin that is spectacular in every regard and sounds great...looks great and in general is every bit the instrument as say a $5,000-$10,000 mandolin why shouldn't you be paid that. On the other hand if you are the buyer and you really enjoy the instrument but don't know how it will be down the road or know if it will hold its value or perhaps the builder doesn't build many more and it loses much of its resale value its a bit of a guessing game. I guess it just comes down to how much you care for the instrument today and are willing to pay for it not thinking about beyond today.

[PCypert]

I'd say sell it real low to me and I'll rave on and on about how I got in on this hot new builder early. Later on everyone else is paying 15K for one and I got mine for 500 bucks http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif . Seriously, you should start low. People are looking for a great instrument without the name, but how will more than a handful know about you if you're in the upper tiers when there are already a string of hot new luthiers with waiting lists and proven results? I'd say start low and increase each time if it feels right.

Plus, do you want people playing your mandolins or collectors buying them and putting them up somewhere? That may sound kind of cheesy. But wouldn't you rather have a player that scrounged up some change and took a risk with you and holds on to that mando for the rest of his life, playing the dog out of it? Showing it off to his friends at jams, they call and have to have one, etc.

I don't know though. Not a builder so go with your gut. If you are seriously considering going low, I might be interested in giving you a shot. I'll be the next Scotti (that BRW guy) for you. Posting all the time about how great you are and stuff. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif No offense to the BRW guy!
Paul