Mako spearguns revolution.

I like their business model too. But other than the spearguns their lineup is not extensive. It can be done better.

I guess you can say they chose a cost leadership vs prouduct differentiation strategy:D

Kudos to them for being able to so.:thumbsup2:

Just because something is unethical, it doesnt make it illegal. This is a thin line sometimes walked by in the business world.

It's hard to be competitive with the wetsuits when the Greek fellow is offering custom suits for around $200.

This one http://www.diveskin.net/shop/index.php?p=productsMore&iProduct=33 They may be the same thing.

Quote from av001

Just because something is unethical, it doesnt make it illegal. This is a thin line sometimes walked by in the business world.

It's called the Free Market...gotta love it.

The Elios and Diveskin are not one and the same. However, both are very good and in my opinion the best option around. For the price of a standard suit, you can obtain a custom made one that fits perfectly. As a disclaimer, I own an Elios.

Quote from av001

I guess you can say they chose a cost leadership vs prouduct differentiation strategy:D

Kudos to them for being able to so.:thumbsup2:

Quote from monster slayer

Man i am slow, please brake it up a bit for me... (it sounds interesting) what do you mean?

This is how I understand what Alan is saying. When marketing a product it is necessary to make a point why the consumer should buy your product because there are usually already similar products on the market. One often used strategy is confusing the consumer with small differences in the product that really don't amount to much but allow the manufacturer/reseller to make claims about their product being superior. At the same time making a direct comparison to other products difficult for the consumer who's trying to establish the value of the product for themselves.

The alternate strategy is to offer a similar, to the point of being almost the identical product, for cheaper. And going with the obvious strategy of why pay more for the same thing. At the same time making the original seller look bad to the consumer for having inflated prices. The down side of this for the reseller is that it creates price wars with other resellers which reduces the winnings for all. This is good however for the consumer who ends up paying less for the same thing. Free market, like Rolo said "Gotta love it".

yes exactly. Mako's strategy was well thought out.

If they can operate at that level of profit, all the power to them. I wouldnt be surprised if this would cause other similar manufactures to match them and drop their prices to remain competitive. Simple econmics.

Those guys at mako didn't invent electricity, or something genius. they just did a little homework.

I'm buddies with Erik of Sumora, but I gotta say that I agree with AV001 completely - Mako's strategy was executed well.

Mako found a way to circumvent the supply chain and undercut the heck out of Sumora. This may seem shady to some, but in reality... it's the parent company Rabitech's responsibility to protect and support their distributors. From what I understand, Rabitech protected South Africa, Australia, etc.... but not the United States. Mako executed their strategy well and created a big stir.

Mike Damm recently announced RA price drops, so it looks like the customers are gonna benefit from all of this.

One thing that hasn't been touched on; when price wars begin, especially in the economic times we're in, the end product will eventually suffer.

Elios is from Italy and they make great wetsuits. I´ve had 4 of them.

On the other hand, gear prices in the USA are ridiculously high. If you compare with a normal european store, USA prices are 60-100% higher.

Speaking about "railguns", how much could be the cost of a piece of extruded alluminum pipe, two pieces of molded plastic and a small piece of steel (sear), made by the thousands and assembled in china or in South Africa...? :crazy:

IMO Mako brought things down to earth... :rolleyes1: