So How Much Are These Chinese Mics Costing To Make?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vikki
  • Start date Start date
wow thanks Alan.

I have always been curious about that also. I wish i could go out and buy a B1 for $42. I guess ill pitch in and share some prices from my old dealers catalog when the studio used to deal audio equipment. I wonder if i could get it back up as a dealer.

Please note thease prices were around 1997 so they have probably changed alot since then but i also have the suggested list prices for the time so i will give those also.

AKG C414 B/ULS - Dealer : 900 Suggested - 1285 (Glad these have gone down)
Alesis 3630 - Dealer : 149 Suggested - 300 (haha, that one makes me laugh)
Alesis ADAT XT - Dealer - 2330 Suggested - 3499
Audiotechnica AT4033 - 470/685
Audiotecnica AT4050 - 676/995
Mackie CR1604 VLZ - 803/1199
Sennheiser MD441-u 596/895
Soundelux U95 - 2437/3250 (i had one of these once :()

I cant find my catalog with the Neumanns in it. I remember them being marked up way high. That should give a pretty good idea on what dealers are getting. What i thought was more interesting was how much prices have gone down on these microphones. It made me realize that it wasnt just Chinese mics that made audio equipment much more available, but really audio equipment in general has come down alot. An AT4033 costing 685? No wonder that was such as blessing when it came down to the $300 range. Im gonna find out about becoming a dealer again so i can by my own equipment at that cost. :)

Danny
 
Harvey Gerst said:
My guess is that the Behringer B1 that you refer to probably costs about 10 times your $2 guess, or more.
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Marshall, Behringer, Studio Projects, Nady, and etc are all fighting for the same market… drummercat stated the factory workers make about $60 a month... the B1 sells for under $100 in the US… and that’s after shipping, duty, customs, documentation, factory's profit, distributor’s cut, dealer’s cut, and etc… my guess is ... something like a B1 cost somewhere around $2 to make in China.
 
Having once worked in music retail, I have to say DJL's estimate probably ain't far off. Certainly not over $10. As noted, *manufacturing* cost is a small piece of the pie.
 
krs said:
Having once worked in music retail, I have to say DJL's estimate probably ain't far off. Certainly not over $10. As noted, *manufacturing* cost is a small piece of the pie.
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Yeah, the shipping likely kills it, which is insane lol. Imagine how much cheaper stuff would be if it didn't have to be shipped like three times before you got it?
 
alanhyatt said:
The reality is there are mics you can get for about $20.00, but these are mostly dynamics and some very cheap LD's.

So, crazydoc, it is a cold day in Hell....I don't know why I am doing this, but we land, that is after shipping, duty, customs fees and other documentation fees about $42.00 for a Studio Projects B1. We sell it to the dealer for about $64.00, and the user, that is you guys pay about $99.00. There is not as much profit as you would think there is. I have a good amount of employees to pay, insurance, rent, advertising and the list goes on.

There may be a few dealers pissed off that I have given this information, but the B1 is worth all of the $99.00 you will pay for it, and the dealer is not making a killing, and neither are we.

We pay much more for our other mikes, and there is no way you will get a tube mic for $20.00. You can buy crap anywhere from any country. As for us, we make some money, but we also back up our product with service at a level that no one else does. Sure, we need to sell more to make more, but we are doing well, and I think our product is above many other brands, but it really does not matter where it is made. You either get a good mic, or a bad one no matter what the cost.
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Alan, you're nuts for posting this information but I gotta say, you're a brilliant business man. You've done your homework with Studio Projects.
 
darnold said:
Also i agree that it is their culture and there morals so it shouldnt concern us too much. Im sure if they really had a problem with it they would fight it themselves.
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It's probably naive to think that they could fight it if they wanted to. Remember what happened in the Tiananmen protests--it's going to take a quite a while before they have the personal security and political power to buck a system that strong.
 
What would it cost to manufacture a Neumann M150? What do we have to pay for the knowledge?


A Stradivari violin looks like two drops of water to a cheap Chinese violin. The sound is not the same.
 
alanhyatt said:
The reality is there are mics you can get for about $20.00, but these are mostly dynamics and some very cheap LD's.
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Alan,

My guess is that DJL was talking about just the parts cost. My estimate of $20 was on parts cost only, excluding labor, profit, and factory overhead.
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Alan,

My guess is that DJL was talking about just the parts cost. My estimate of $20 was on parts cost only, excluding labor, profit, and factory overhead.
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I have experience in dealing with overseas manufacturing and sourcing and my guess for the B1 would have been about 25 bucks minus OH, shipping etc. Looking at Alan’s post, I don’t feel I’m far off. Obviously, you understand these costs too. Perhaps (assuming) you’ve had some first hand experience in overseas sourcing?
I’m glad you’re around. The internet is a great place for information. The largest concern for the newbie is weeding through all the bad information.
It’s amazing that people without direct experience would make statements about the cost of electronic components and manufacturing overseas.
 
caryindy said:
I have experience in dealing with overseas manufacturing and sourcing and my guess for the B1 would have been about 25 bucks minus OH, shipping etc. Looking at Alan?s post, I don?t feel I?m far off. Obviously, you understand these costs too. Perhaps (assuming) you?ve had some first hand experience in overseas sourcing?
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I was director of electronics at IMC for several years (Jackson, Charvel, Ross, Hondo, etc.) so yes, I designed many products that were sourced overseas. Wild guesses like DJL's just piss me off because it's made more as an effort to cheapen a product's reputation rather than reflect an honest guess.
 
Wow....hefty thread, topic wise....

You know, we are moving into a new age here kids. The Industrial Revolution is over.....been over for awhile.
There’s a group of people out there that believe the Nation is slipping into a dark hole because we don’t manufacture anything here anymore. They think we are losing our “first Nation” status as others like China and Asia take over. I am now at the point to believe quite the contrary.

We do actually create something here in U.S. Something spectacular. We create something that I truly believe we hold a monopoly on. Others may try but because of how we are and how we operate others will never be able to do what we do best….and what is this spectacular thing we do you ask??

It’s simple..we think. That’s right we think. Thinking is what we do best..it’s what we excel at the most as a Nation. It is what will propel us to levels that may seem unimaginable right now.

Think about this for minute…

Look at a cheapo laptop. It sells for $1300. $230 of that is for an Intel chip (Intel's gross profit is $180) and $100 for Windows XP (Microsoft's gross profit is $99.99!) The margin of those two products is more than the gross margins of all the companies that make the other components combined and of the laptop itself.

What drives the ability of companies to create such margins? Intellectual property. And it is not just technology. Think of pharmaceuticals, entertainment and a host of businesses built on the ability to create property based upon something which is at its essence an intellectual construct or process. So while the U.S. is running a trade deficit, we are running a margin surplus. Stock markets only care about profits. Lots of that money that leaves the country comes back in to invest in our high margin companies.

Think about it. Do you really want to be in the manufacturing business? It can be a terrible business. It eventually boils down to who is willing to take the least amount of profit margin. You may not think it but today’s youth are smart..very smart. They’re not going to be content with gluing rubber soles on shoes or bolting together widgets and would you really want that for them?? Let the rest of the world do the that type of grunt work..while we focus on the Intellectual Property side of the fence. We milked the Industrial Revolution in America for all it was worth. No value left for our standard of living.

That in mind, I have zero problems buying the best mic for the money.
 
Teysha,

Well said! :cool:

Ordinarily, I stay away from the Microphone forum...it's too scary in here for me! :eek:

Cheers! :)
 
"Ordinarily, I stay away from the Microphone forum...it's too scary in here for me!"

Amen bruddah! :D :D
 
DJL said:
Marshall, Behringer, Studio Projects, Nady, and etc are all fighting for the same market… drummercat stated the factory workers make about $60 a month... the B1 sells for under $100 in the US… and that’s after shipping, duty, customs, documentation, factory's profit, distributor’s cut, dealer’s cut, and etc… my guess is ... something like a B1 cost somewhere around $2 to make in China.
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More mis-information.

DrummerCat did not say they make $60 a month, he simply said that $60 a month would be a good wage, and was roughly equivilent to what a farmer could make in a year.
 
Phyl said:
More mis-information.

DrummerCat did not say they make $60 a month, he simply said that $60 a month would be a good wage, and was roughly equivilent to what a farmer could make in a year.
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Whatever, my guess is... it cost about $2 to $5 to make something like a B1 in China.
 
Welcome to the DJL Show Teysha! :D

Hey Harvey. I bought a Hondo Les Paul clone in 1986. I still have it :)
 
Vikki, I'm sorry the others here are going to trash your thread by attacking me... take care, I'm out of here. Bye
 
Harvey Gerst said:
Alan,

My guess is that DJL was talking about just the parts cost. My estimate of $20 was on parts cost only, excluding labor, profit, and factory overhead.
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DJL is way off as usual Harvey. I pay $2.00 for the packaging on the B1.


To the rest of the forum,

I am not looking for dealer prices to be posted here. That is not a good thing to do. I am sorry I did that, but I wanted to make sure DJL was shown to be wrong yet again.

The simple fact is none of you argue with movie theatres, grocery stores and your utility company about how much their goods or services cost. You don't tell the plumber after he fixes the clog you want a discount, and you do not ask him how much it cost him to do it.

Everyone is entitled to make a profit. Yes, some make more than others, but what does it matter how much something cost to make? The end result is all you are after. It is a global economy now. We have to deal with it, and if you don't like it, then you do not have to support those products. We said the same things when goods were made in Japan, Mexico, India, Korea, Canada, and now China. Hey, Viet Nam is probably next.

I paid $1,700.00 for my first Fax machine 25 years ago, but I was happy as it saved me time. Now they are $49.00! I suggest you all get off the how much does this or that cost and recognize those that are charging too much, and there are companies who get their goods from China who are charging too much. There are also companies who are charging a fair price for a good product.

Support those companies that provide you with a good quality product, and then back it up with strong support. What more could you want. If you all think the more expensive microphones are 10 to 20 times better(I don't), then by all means, spend that money and be happy. Otherwise, go use what you have and enjoy it.... :)
 
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