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Sure, it costs a fair bit to go out to China to find good suppliers, to have a UK head office and marketing operation, and to make a profit. That's where the difference in price goes. Also Hunt will probably be able to buy those wheels in bulk for £300 or £250 each, not £400.
The main benefit of an operation like Hunt is that they largely prevent you buying a lemon - a really poor quality or dangerous wheel from a seller who doesn't know what they are doing, because they put in the time to find decent manufacturers. I can't believe they individually test every wheel they import and sell on. Their two main core competencies, and the backgrounds of the founders, are procurement and marketing.
It's a good business selling decent wheels at a price that its mostly very satisfied customers are very happy and willing to pay. The only minor flaw is that its success depends, to an extent, on people believing that it is something that it is not.
Not picking on Hunt in paticular, same with PX, Flo, and the guys who are re-painting the HongFu frame.
frank9755-
Yeah that's largely what I was getting at. My original point was that to start a company importing frame or wheels it's not a simple as buying £400 frames and selling them at £800 for 100% profit, there's a lot more costs and liability involved which pushes up the RRP and reduces profit.
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The only minor flaw is that its success depends, to an extent, on people believing that it is something that it is not.
One of the things that endeared Hunt to me was the fact that they were pretty open with their early wheels that, yes, they were made from OTP components and that if you wanted you'd be able to buy the components and build them up yourself. There was none of this 'our new patented proprietary rim which our designers have optimised for aerodynamics and handling' when actually it's an OTP rim from China that's been on the market for 4 years.
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The only minor flaw is that its success depends, to an extent, on people believing that it is something that it is not.
More than that, it depends on people not trusting Chinese companies. If you don't have proprietary technology then you're dead in the water once your Chinese supplier builds some brand value of their own.
Sumo
Brommers
gbj_tester
They've obviously found a factory they're happy with, I don't know how much QC they do in the UK but there's a reason a pair of 30mm disc brake wheels is £800 not the £400 some cost direct from china