FC IS RIGHT RE CUSTOM BIN HOPPERS. i saw a lovely one this year in europe. Plain simple, and in chrome. Small, 60 x 30 cm. How much ?? 500 euro, must be a jole i thought. As that is 800-900 dollars. I am in manufacturing and could have it made for about 150 dollars,(tops) just wanted to save the hassle to buy a few. So as FC says its up to whatever some people charge and are willing to pay. It was a very small shop so im sure the owner was doubling the price she paid as i was shopping retail which i wouldnt do for such an item but I can only imagine what some of these huge roasters pay for big display bins. If its not local, wow.I was in china recently and honestly I could buy the 500 euro hopper for $10-20 if I ordered 100 or more. In the provinces there are thousands of factories making everything. The world is being made there trust me. The buyers for myers were in a factory ordering barbecues. Big and nice, retail for approx -400-800 how much you wonder/ $ 70 each so long as you take 4000 of them. Custom made too, ie different knobs tops etc. Inluding packaging. So same as everything it all depends on the market like FC says. just saw this thread thought I would share my opinion. HOW LONG TILL HIGH end machines come from there. I know italy etc re quality, but a 2000 retail machine would be made for I think 400-500 maybe, now I know china can be average quality but if you give them $100 extra per unit they will add extra quality control to each unit and put in whatever parts you specify. Plus give you a three year guarantee. I have had several things made there in this way. IS it a matter of time till this happens ?? Or will tradition etc win out ?? I think long long term, dont know say 10-20 years you will find some high end machines of HX standard go this way and come down in price. Like anyone elses thoughts there. But if I landed some machines similar to Isomacs (example only)) in Australia for say $500 each, and marked up to $1000 to cover wages salary, shps, marketing etc and profit I think I would sell quite a lot and bite into the other $2000 plus sales of other manufacturers. I am sure it will happen one day, I dont care either way as I have an ECM machine but maybe it will happen world wide. I saw lots of american execs over in CHINA ordering everything you could think off. i got off the track, sorry this should now be in its own thread. cheers kev
