[meteorite-list] AD: Video Footage of our trip to Oman

[MeteorHntr at aol.com]

Hello list, and not just Darren,

Maybe I should have explained this more in my first post, but it was long as it was, and I didn't feel that it was necessary at that time.

First off, I am a very strong "Supply and Demand" type of guy.  I know that what a meteorite (or anything for that matter) is worth retail has virtually NOTHING to do with what it costs wholesale, but rather what someone (the market) is willing to pay.  

I also know that information, can be worth a fortune.  For example, in the last 14 years I have met quite a few people (mostly farmers) who are still sitting on meteorites that they found.  For some reason when I talked with them, they were not willing to sell them to me then.  But maybe they would be willing to sell them to you now?  What would you be willing to pay for their contact information?  Would you only be willing to pay for the cost of the paper, envelop and stamp to mail it to you?  Some people wouldn't even pay $0.40 for the information.  For others, they might be willing to pay $40,000 for the identical information.

I also know that people will pay big bucks for entertainment.  While I DO sport an "Indian Jones hat" in much of my DVD, I don't claim my DVD is on par with the "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but I would venture to say most people will like it better than they liked "Temple of Doom."  (I think Wal-Mart sells the Indiana Jones trilogy on DVD for $55)

When we were planning our trip to Oman, we felt that one way we could "add value" to the specimens that we would find would be to not just document each find on video, but to actually film the trip in a very amateur "documentary style."  You don't just "name" a trip "The Arnold's Awesome Arabian Adventure '05" unless you are planning a marketing angle to the trip!  ;-)

As those of you who have ordered the DVD will see, the very first morning in the desert, as the sun is rising, we stop and take precious daylight time to film a "Hello Message."  Much of the 8 hours of actual footage we got, and the time we took sometimes to set up the filming, and the added distractions, did legitimately take time away from hunting.  Not to mention that we may have drove by a lunar while we were fidgeting with changing the battery.  No one will ever know what it really costs us to make recording this part of the mission, not even us.

But it did cost us.  

Then what could it have cost us?  

While we were there, all of a sudden the Omani Government decided it wanted to start enforcing some supposed obscure law (that up until that time they cared so little about they didn't even make the law publicly known) and they arrested some other meteorite hunters that might have literally been just over the horizon from where we were at the time.  What could it have cost us if we would have been arrested with video footage on us of finding meteorites?

Needless to say, if anyone is crazy enough to sneak into Oman to go hunt there in the future, they won't be video taping their adventures to sell to anyone, at any price.

We did take footage of every meteorite we found as we recovered them (one disc did not record for some reason, so some specimen recoveries did not get recorded). But, beyond the actual recoveries, we did a lot of extra coverage. 

So the purchase of the brand new DVD recording camcorder (and dozens of extra discs, and several extra batteries and such) went for 3 purposes; To record each recovery, to make a good DVD about the trip, and save memories for ourselves.  2 out of 3 were for profit motive.

Now at first, I was not going to offer the video to anyone unless they bought a specimen.  Then as I said in my first email, I thought others that did not want to order a specimen might like to see it, so I opened the sale up to everyone.

Having said ALL that, I fully realize that NONE of that matters.  

The only thing that matters is what the market feels it is worth at least the price I am charging.  Now while some people would order the video just to support me, and not really care what is on it, that is NOT what I was going for here.  Unless I HONESTLY felt the video was not worth the asking price, I would not ask the price, because selling shotty merchandise only hurts ME in the long run.  

Now, on the other hand, unless I feel it is worth it to me to make them, I am not so inclined to do it.  To me, the situation made me decide that I wanted $15 each for any extra I would make AND if I really dive into it, I will want $20 for a better version.

If I don't sell any more than what I have sold now, really it is fine with me.  But I also know that for many people it really should be worth $20 or MORE.  However, to sell more than a couple dozen, I might have to not just add more value, but I might have to advertise and promote it more, then of course, that will cost even more.  If the feed back is that people don't think it would be worth $20, then I might not go any further.  

Michael Blood hit on a few good points as to why it is worth it for HIM to pay $20.  Others may have their own different reasons.  I will tell you this, honestly, if someone else would have made the exact same video, and I could have bought it BEFORE my trip into Oman, it probably would have been worth at least $500, because of the information on it.   For example, we would have SLOWED way down driving at night and we would have saved almost hitting the camels in the road at 75 MPH. While our lives were spared anyway, our one $100 tire wasn't.)  Remember Eugene Shoemaker was killed on a meteor(ite) expedition, so there are some risks involved in these adventures we often don't think about.

Now I realize that probably no one else is going to take the information in this video and use it to go to Oman, so I decided not to charge $500 a copy.  :-) However, IF ANYONE is thinking about doing it, they are probably some of the ones that replied the first day and ordered it in a heartbeat just incase they do later decide to go. 

So at $10 or $15 or $20 will I break even?  Maybe, maybe not.   I do hope so, but it doesn't matter to the customers.  To them all that matters is it worth the price THEY pay, not what price I paid.  But if we are all lucky, the price will indeed fall in that sweet spot where we ALL get more than what we want from the deal, and we all end up happy, except maybe for those who decided not to buy a copy!  :-)

Steve #1