Murray McGregor expressed a quaint, almost
Keynesian view of modern international
markets:

> ...if there was no market they would not be available...

I don't think there was ever any actual "demand"
for a cheap plastic 2-frame tangential extractor!  :)

Demand does NOT always drive supply.
Supply (availability) often creates the "demand".

In this case, I'd guess that a customer base that
is doomed to suffer from universal buyer's remorse
will make for a very short period of "demand",
followed by complaints, demands for free replacement
parts and refunds, and an eventual withdrawal of the
product from the retailer's catalog.

Yes, there is a demand for extractors, but it
was a "cost-rationalization" effort designed to
undercut the price of all existing extractors that
resulted in the cheapest possible extractor that
could be made and still called "an extractor"
with a straight face.

Competition among makers of legitimate products
drives prices down to a "minimum".  In order to
undercut everyone else, the new market entrant
is forced to offer a deliberately shoddy product.

No matter what product you consider, there is likely
a way to shave some cost off, but at some point,
quality and basic utility gets shaved, and the customer
is clipped as a result.

While it is true that everyone would like to pay less
for everything, one need go no further than the nearest
Wal-Mart to see the end result of seeking the "lowest
price" as one's sole goal.  The result is "landfill merchandise"
shoddy crap that barely works, breaks with ease, and has
a lifespan that can be measured in weeks or months.

You get what you pay for.

Pool your money, and set up a shared honey house.
Better yet, join a local beekeeping association,
and never lack for places to extract your honey
and friends to help you do it.

Even though a handful of other beekeepers use my
honey house, it still sits idle for most of the year.
The first 5 years I kept bees, I produced nothing
but Ross Rounds simply to avoid the need for an
extractor and the other toys.


                        jim

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