$400 for $5 worth of electrical components??

Exactly what I was thinking. Looks like they're using leftover caulk cartridges for the housing too. Seriously, these can't cost more than $20 or so to produce.

Excellent business opportunity! Jump right in!

I'll buy your first one for $50.

Don't know if that's a joke or not, but I'm not currently in the manufacturing industry.

Great find rwest.
The amount of work you are doing to your car is putting me to shame!

You got a buyer.........
 

Reed,

I will even double Dru’s offer. Make one for $100 and you have a customer. Did you see the numbers of the heating filaments that came with the unit?

Tony

And you’re close enough to borrow all the tools I’m collecting!

Really? How expensive is it to bend up some pieces of nichrome wire? I'm seriously asking?

I'm quite sure the "tube" has a transformer and some electrical smarts and safety systems built into it.

But yeah, once figured out, most things are dirt cheap to make these days.

Last week I bought an IP68 borescope with a 10 meter line and 1080p resolution for $27. 27! Ten years ago, it would have cost 100 times that. And that instrument is quite a bit more complex than what is essentially a portable electric stove. I don't mean to take anything away from the concept, just pointing out that the price is ridiculous.

It's two things. First, it was a nod to all the ingenuity that members of this board put into making new products for our benefit, from steering wheel bushings to LED light packages to all the rest. If you're that sort of person, my message was an encouragement to make it, and we will buy. Making things is hard, and more expensive than it seems. Those who do it deserve our respect, and if you know enough to produce that product at at 1/20th the cost it's sold elsewhere, you deserve our admiration and patronage.

If you're not that sort of person and you were just spouting off, it was mocking sarcasm, straight up. And having said that, I apologize for my unkindness.

Ooh! A bidding war! Pelican turned into BaT so quickly I didn't even notice!

I'll go $120, Tony. Top that.

Or better yet, I'll let you buy it and borrow it from your tool library!

Thank you :D

As far as pricing goes, I knew the price I was paying and what I was supposed to be getting for that money- my expectations were met and I got a quick, simple and perfect result. Doesn’t matter if it had only a nickel in parts to me.

The thing with a specialized tool is that the company can’t sell enough to get an economy of scale and without a huge market there won’t be a lot of competition to drive prices either. If every household needed one, they would be $50 to $100 and lots of brands to choose from.

I figured a torch would have been about the same price, but it would come with a learning curve and additional safety issues. Although the torch would have more uses beyond heating my nuts.

Yep, same true with custom parts designed for our cars.

Tell you what, if you can get a group buy together for 100,000 CDI+ boxes, they'd be $50 each. You'd all get a bargain and I can retire. :D:D:D

One other thing that pleasantly surprised me as I try not to buy stuff from China- not easy these days, but I do try.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1519602700.jpg

Now I get it. In your world, you either bend over or start your own manufacturing company. No place for observation about price, value, etc. In any event, some people have built their own with off-the-shelf parts. There was a discussion on Garage Journal below. Who knows, maybe I'll build my own. Maybe someone else will see a business opportunity and offer them for a more reasonable price. Probably wouldn't be made here though.

All that managed without mocking sarcasm. Straight up.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352769

Come now, gentlemen. So much conflict and tension all around us, let's keep this nice little corner of our world civil and fun. John.

I also try to buy USA made products. There are similar products from China that retail for $120 +/-.

I was incorrect. That price is for a set of coils.