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

Sun Jun 5 22:33:54 EDT 2005

You don't need to explain a thing Steve, the price is the price and I am 
looking forward to my copy already with the belief that my money was well 
spent.
I wouldn't have sold the PF vids for $20. A book on meteorites is worth more 
than the paper it's printed on, this documentary is no different.

Rob Wesel
http://www.nakhladogmeteorites.com
------------------
We are the music makers...
and we are the dreamers of the dreams.
Willy Wonka, 1971

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <MeteorHntr at aol.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2005 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] AD: Video Footage of our trip to Oman

> 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
>
>
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