A word of 'Shed' caution

[andrew@xxxxxxx]

I've been following the shed-threads with interest.
The news that 'The Sheds' are selling X10 products at low prices may
seem on the surface like great news, but for small companies like
ourselves it's not so great.  I'm all for competition but there has to
be limits to it.  In fact this isn't competition it's anihilation!

The popular opinion is that in the UK we place a big mark-up on X10
compared to the US, but that's not so. The UK X10 products are a
different specification to the US products, and although they are all
made in China,the UK models cost more to manufacture due to the lower
order volumes. 'The Sheds' are selling these at much less than we buy
them for from our wholesalers and if it continues to other X10 products
then there will be no point in small Companies like ourselves stocking
them at all! This will also have a knock-on effect to other products we
stock because cash flow has been reduced to critical levels.

So What! you may say, I say it's you 'The Customer' who will lose out
in the long run. If specialist Companies like ourselves don't stock
this kind of product due to lack of incentive, then the big players
will control the entire range that you can get hold of. They will end
up stocking only items which sell well and not the slightly obscure
model which you may be looking for. One day you may go to 'The Sheds'
and find they've sold out of something and then you come to HA
Companies like ourselves and find that we don't stock X10 products any
longer.

We stock X10 mostly for your convenience, yes it costs a little more,
but we are trying to reduce prices within reason as sales increase.

Companies like Let's Automate, Laser etc, take risks by bringing in HA
products from other countries, they need your support to continue doing
this.
If we let 'The Sheds' dominate in this market then home automation in
the future might just consist of a Lamp Module, Appliance Module and a
Mini-Timer!


Andrew Roberts
Comfort Home Controls
http://www.comforthomecontrols.com


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