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Old 2015-12-23, 7:39am
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Metamorphi Metamorphi is offline
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Join Date: Feb 19, 2012
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 59
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If you are hurting with prices in USD. Then think about the rest of the world. The prices that people in the southern hemisphere have to pay if they want the latest colours is laughable and our retailers do not get it any cheaper either. I know this well, I used to be a retailer and my wholesale prices were not great because I couldn't buy the huge quantities necessary to garner a decent discount. Before too long some underhanded supplier called Affordable Inspirations came on board and did a number on several glass retailers here forcing a bunch of us closed. Now that the dollar is dismal, they're nowhere to be found. I'm not blaming CiM for this screw up, but when there is a race to make a buck and not protect an economy things usually end badly. Anyhow, back to the prices people below the equator are expected to pay.

Now lets forget shipping, because it's pricy and it's not limited only to CiM. So these figures are for GLASS only.

Its roughly $55AUD 1/4 pound for Red Alert at some retailers. Whilst that is one of the most expensive I've seen for Red Alert, all the other latest CiM colours fall between $20AUD - $45AUD a 1/4 pound. When comparing it across the board the picture for artists in the southern hemisphere wanting CiM glass looks fairly bleak and the price of Red Alert isn't an anomaly, it's just standard CiM pricing for Ltd runs. I know most people think artists from New Zealand and Australia must be made of money because of where we live, but we're not. Its definitely not a case of comparing Apples with Apples either. I don't know of any Effetre Ltd runs that goes for as much as a CiM ltd. The most I'll pay for hard to get glass is thin Lauscha rods at roughly $25USD a pound. A POUND. We're talking 1/4 pounds for CiM Runs. So this is pricy stuff.

I love CiM glass, absolutely unequivocally adore the colours and so far I haven't had any of the shocky rods people are describing, but those high prices for wholesalers who then pass onto retailers is a bit much. I'd love to be able to agree with the logical argument of "well if its too much don't buy it", but when we break that idea down, what essentially is being said from one customer to another is "don't buy this niche market product if you can't afford it because you're not lucky enough to live in a place where free shipping is normal and the currency is local to you." As a manufacturer I would be horrified to learn that I'm essentially isolating perfectly good markets out of my product because of the horrendous costs of procuring a glass that is made in the southern hemisphere but has to be purchased from the northern hemisphere in order to resell that glass to my customers in the southern hemisphere. Hrm. That's some logic for you. Also, choosing not to buy a product because you don't want it feels different to not being able to afford a product that you could afford if it wasn't for a whole bunch of other factors added on top. Telling an artist, sorry you can't play with those tools because you're in another country and can't afford the shipping and conversion rates of this product is frankly, not very empathetic.

I can't even blame the retailers because I know that it's a wholesale pricing issue. We know that smaller retailers will not be able to pass on as much savings to the customer unless they wish to make less of a profit margin. However we go to those smaller retailers because they might be offering something very attractive to the customer, such as free shipping, or generous freebies etc. The point is, for artists in the southern hemisphere, no one in their right mind is going to pay $50 bucks for what essentially amounts to 6 rods of glass. Double Helix glass isn't even that expensive. That's my context. Even if I buy DH glass through a retailer in Australia and not direct from the manufacturer it's still not as expensive as some of the CiM ltd runs.

I usually don't stick my nose into this sort of stuff, but I believe in balance. There is going to be a point where supply shall meet demand and judging from the threads here and on Facebook, its obviously coming.

Anyhow, for what it's worth. That's how it looks to lampworkers on the other side of the pond.
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Last edited by Metamorphi; 2015-12-23 at 8:36am.
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