Re: A word of 'Shed' caution

["Keith Doxey" <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Here, Here,

Andrew, I have to agree with you entirely.
It follows on from the scenareo I described for the record shops in my
town.
We used to have 3 specialist record shops with almost anything available
off
the shelf. Now we have none. Only department stores, computer shops,
supermarkets, garages, etc all selling the Top 20 and nothing else.

I personally dont think the DIY Sheds will sell the whole range of X10
products. I believe they will concentrate on Lamp and Appliance modules and
a basic form of control. Prices for those will obviously fall to much lower
levels but will take any kind of "volume" sales of X10 away from
the few
companies that have been trying hard to get X10 established in the UK.
Without Lamp/Appliance module sales to build the size of their wholesale
orders, the existing companies will be unable to get the more obscure
modules that the Americans take for granted. Either that, or the obscure
stuff will be available, but at such high prices no-one will be able to
afford it.

Support the specialist suppliers or loose out on choice and technical
support.

More doesnt mean better. Satellite TV was SUPPOSED to give us more
channels,
more choice. In a way it did....lots more channels....and the choice of
which channel you wanted to watch the same crappy repeats of mind numbing
game shows, chat shows and soaps.

Perhaps we need a UKHA Loyalty Card  :-))
(Smart card technology of course!!!)

Keith Doxey
http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
Krazy Keith's World of DIY HomeAutomation


> -----Original Message-----
> From: andrew@xxxxxxx [mailto:andrew@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 27 August 1999 22:24
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
> Subject: [ukha_d] A word of 'Shed' caution
>
>
> 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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