How low can they go?

admin

Saw a retailer advertising Russell Hobbs 'espresso machines' for $84 the other day - is this truly an espresso machine? What are they made out of - plastic?

Surely they can't get any lower??

A ::)

blanyon

Makes it hard to sell real espresso machines for their real value when people can get an "espresso machine" for $84, wow. When asked how much people should spend on a setup I generally get howled down when I suggest a decent machine and grinder starts at around $1500 but I would spend at least $2000. People become instant experts and start telling me how wrong I am, mind you who can blame them with these sort of prices out there in the market.

hazchem

on 1282696478:

Surely they can't get any lower?? A ::)

ugh, I ask myself this question at work ALL the time. I see high end products, that have real value, are often specialist tools and represent an opportunity for both the us as the manufacturer/importer and our dealers to make some decent margin being rapidly turned to a commodity item. That's what's been happening with espresso machines for a while - they are seen as a commodity product that can be made and sold cheaply. I should say, that along my coffee journey I have owned some atrocious pieces of so called equipment to make coffee with. but I didn't know better and slowly but surely I found myself with a Sunbeam Ristretto $99 plastic fantastic. Then I bought a proper grinder. and a Pullman tamper .... you see what I'm saying. I don't disagree that $84 is a stupidly cheap price for an apparent espresso machine, but, it could be a mere stopover and look around on a longer journey.

askthecoffeeguy

on 1282696478:

Saw a retailer advertising Russell Hobbs 'espresso machines' for $84 the other day - is this truly an espresso machine? What are they made out of - plastic? Surely they can't get any lower?? A ::)

You cant even buy a replacement pump for this kind of money and the pump is a fairly standard unit across most domestic machines... I've actually been known to purchase machines for this kind of money and then cannibalise them for spare parts mmmwahhhhaaahhhhaaa!

DoubleRistretto

I guess part of the problem is that they have to lower the standard of materials. That Sunbeam actually makes a surprisingly good espresso, but the problem is you're talking things like aluminium boilers which corode over time [& possibly leach into the water] - these are the sort of things that you've got to worry about when you start going cheap. dR