[meteorite-list] Comments re: membrane boxes from Ron Hartman

[Darren Garrison]

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 21:49:29 -0800, you wrote:

>You are very right, that there are a number of extra steps after removal
>from the mold.  For example, that little dimple in the middle of the box was
>much more before the box was finished!  What you see is after drilling and
>polishing to even it out.
>

The one that I have here doesn't have a dimple in the middle-- it has a peg
sticking out roughly the same distance (not far, but it is there) I wasn't sure
if it was designed to be there for cushioning or was just a sprue mark:

http://webpages.charter.net/garrison6328/mb.jpg

>I can understand any concern for prices and appreciate what seem to be
>simple solutions.  However, in the real world, many solutions are not as
>simple as they may appear to be initially.  There are many costs beyond
>those for raw materials.  And, don't forget:  customs fees, foreign exchange
>money transfer fees, processing fees, tariff charges, and for us, Paypal
>charges, taxes, and on and on.
>

Okay, I'll relent on the point of the expenses/hassles YOU have to go through to
produce them, and how that effects the prices you have to charge to make them,
and that you aren't likely getting filthy steenking rich off of the sales.   And
I wasn't really thinking about the price that a given dealer was charging, since
I assumed that all dealers were buying the same pre-finished commodity item from
the manufacturer in bulk and then just reselling them in smaller quantities but
at a higher price per unit instead of doing extensive "post" work on it.  So I
wasn't attempting to say that YOU, Ron Hartman could make them much cheaper--
just that SOMEONE could make them much cheaper.  If China can make and sell 29
dollar DVD players, I think that they could make and sell 29 cent membrane
boxes.  Maybe not quite as high a quality, but close enough to be worth buying
at the lower price.  There probably will never be enough of a market for
something like membrane boxes for some Chineese company to decide to make
knockoffs, but a guy can dream.   :-)