boat pricing verse volume

[sailorboy1]

Do expensive boats cost so much more because they are low volume builders, or are low volume builders low volume because they cost so much?

Granted that low volume high cost boats have nice finishes inside. But is that a cause or an effect of the cost/volume? Do they HAVE to have those super nice interiors in order to have any chance to sell a boat at a price needed to make-up for their low build numbers?

Is it really more about scale of production than any other factor?

I know what all the case studies I read in economics during getting my master's degree suggests.

[barnakiel]

Yep. A mix of micro&macro factors. Just like in the economy course. A boat is a product like any other so cost and pricing rules apply the same. Scale, market, etc. blah.

I do not remember who it was (the Pardeys?) that priced boats per pound of weight.

b.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Do expensive boats cost so much more because they are low volume builders, or are low volume builders low volume because they cost so much?

Granted that low volume high cost boats have nice finishes inside. But is that a cause or an effect of the cost/volume? Do they HAVE to have those super nice interiors in order to have any chance to sell a boat at a price needed to make-up for their low build numbers?

Is it really more about scale of production than any other factor?

I know what all the case studies I read in economics during getting my master's degree suggests.

I think it's a bit of both.

No point trying to out compete high volume manufacturers in the same market if you are small scale as doomed to fail - need to come up with a product that is different and probably requires more human input (make neccessity into a virtue).

Whether the outcome is better is another thing...........

My suspicion is that the product from usual "premium" builders does not have quite the same difference as in years past - both from the high volume builders having upped their game and simply from what the market wants having changed to being more in line with what the mass market can provide at a competetive price (and for all that the Charter market has probably been the main driver over the last 20 years or so).

In my case I bought a boat that is now 42 years old (and which was at the time considered a "premium" build), and come this spring will likely be good for another 42 (after a very thorough "mid life" refurb - delayed more by personal circumstances than the actual work involved )......but to be honest you would have to be commercially insane to try and build something with that sort of lifespan nowadays - and somewhat strange to want one.....Probably helps explain why the builder has long since gone broke.......