Tony Neville
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2005
- Messages
- 2,026
Guys
As the other thread was closed becasue yet AGAIN yaaawn there was the inability to stay on subject i have added this here.
Mike neville from some feedback direct to him felt obliged to send me this to post (this is a wword document that i copied and pasted)
REALITY CHECK !!!
For my own personal reasons I do not write on ‘Blogs: Face Books and Forums’ however I feel I have to put pen to paper regarding the reaction to price rises, whether it’s King & Country or any other manufacture.
Nobody likes to pay more than they did last year for anything including ‘Toy Soldiers’, but inflation is a reality and Toy Soldiers are not exempt from this. However, King & Country experienced some astonishing price increases that may look to be unjustified on many models produced prior to 2009. In the UK along with the price increase we also suffered from a VAT increase to 20%.
When I got confirmation of the increases from Andy in Hong Kong I felt it was necessary for me to visit Hong Kong immediately and get clarification on the price increase. The outcome of the meeting proved that K&C had been taking the ‘hit’ on factory price increases for the past few years and as such they could not sustain this for the foreseeable future.
In fairness to K&C there are lots of factors that put pressure on their business, which has to be passed onto ‘Dealers’ and subsequently onto the collector.
Let’s consider the oil situation, no matter where in the world you live you will have noticed the price increases on fuel, so no matter which means of transport you use (aircraft, ship or vehicle transport) costs have increased. Our delivery charges (Hong Kong to the UK) have risen from an average of 8.5% to 13.6% of costs in the last 12 months. Oil is also fundamental in producing many other materials, plastic, cellophane are just a couple of examples.
Over the last few years every type of raw material has seen price increases (cardboard has had 7 price increases in 2010, printing costs have increased by more than 50%)
In China cost of living is increasing, like the rest of the world, and the workers (not just in the Toy Soldier painting workshops) rightly demand better wages and working conditions ( the Chinese Government imposed a 10% cost on all employers to cover a Health Insurance for all employees). Is it right to deny Chinese workers decent pay and conditions so that we can save a few pounds on our hobby?
Low labour, materials, production, design, packing and shipping costs over the last 20 years have allowed K&C to bring us models of unprecedented quality and variety at affordable prices. I would like to think that all K&C collectors would accept that we have enjoyed a remarkable value for money on all the models released in the past.
The era of cheap oil appears to be coming to an end, so we either accept the costs are going to increase or look for alternatives. In our world of Toy Soldiers there is plenty we can do to keep costs down ... if we are prepared to compromise. K&C can reduce costs by giving less detail, basic / simpler painting and shipping deliveries by sea (4 to 6 weeks for a UK delivery instead of 2 days by air) but I suspect you wouldn’t be willing to accept that.
As a collector myself of K&C and model railways I would not be willing to compromise on detail.
Higher prices are here to stay no matter what the collector would like, if a business does not make a profit then that business will not survive.
Mike Neville
As the other thread was closed becasue yet AGAIN yaaawn there was the inability to stay on subject i have added this here.
Mike neville from some feedback direct to him felt obliged to send me this to post (this is a wword document that i copied and pasted)
REALITY CHECK !!!
For my own personal reasons I do not write on ‘Blogs: Face Books and Forums’ however I feel I have to put pen to paper regarding the reaction to price rises, whether it’s King & Country or any other manufacture.
Nobody likes to pay more than they did last year for anything including ‘Toy Soldiers’, but inflation is a reality and Toy Soldiers are not exempt from this. However, King & Country experienced some astonishing price increases that may look to be unjustified on many models produced prior to 2009. In the UK along with the price increase we also suffered from a VAT increase to 20%.
When I got confirmation of the increases from Andy in Hong Kong I felt it was necessary for me to visit Hong Kong immediately and get clarification on the price increase. The outcome of the meeting proved that K&C had been taking the ‘hit’ on factory price increases for the past few years and as such they could not sustain this for the foreseeable future.
In fairness to K&C there are lots of factors that put pressure on their business, which has to be passed onto ‘Dealers’ and subsequently onto the collector.
Let’s consider the oil situation, no matter where in the world you live you will have noticed the price increases on fuel, so no matter which means of transport you use (aircraft, ship or vehicle transport) costs have increased. Our delivery charges (Hong Kong to the UK) have risen from an average of 8.5% to 13.6% of costs in the last 12 months. Oil is also fundamental in producing many other materials, plastic, cellophane are just a couple of examples.
Over the last few years every type of raw material has seen price increases (cardboard has had 7 price increases in 2010, printing costs have increased by more than 50%)
In China cost of living is increasing, like the rest of the world, and the workers (not just in the Toy Soldier painting workshops) rightly demand better wages and working conditions ( the Chinese Government imposed a 10% cost on all employers to cover a Health Insurance for all employees). Is it right to deny Chinese workers decent pay and conditions so that we can save a few pounds on our hobby?
Low labour, materials, production, design, packing and shipping costs over the last 20 years have allowed K&C to bring us models of unprecedented quality and variety at affordable prices. I would like to think that all K&C collectors would accept that we have enjoyed a remarkable value for money on all the models released in the past.
The era of cheap oil appears to be coming to an end, so we either accept the costs are going to increase or look for alternatives. In our world of Toy Soldiers there is plenty we can do to keep costs down ... if we are prepared to compromise. K&C can reduce costs by giving less detail, basic / simpler painting and shipping deliveries by sea (4 to 6 weeks for a UK delivery instead of 2 days by air) but I suspect you wouldn’t be willing to accept that.
As a collector myself of K&C and model railways I would not be willing to compromise on detail.
Higher prices are here to stay no matter what the collector would like, if a business does not make a profit then that business will not survive.
Mike Neville
