Question on the industry : cost of manufacturing paintballs

[HFDMinimag]

I remember back in 97ish paying $120 bucks for a case of paint.

[paullus99]

We are a spoiled bunch today - much better selection of paint for a much better price than we used to get back in the day. I love it when people complain about $50.00 a case for high-end paint, when we used to pay 80 - 120 bucks a case for Nelson (one grade only) a while back.

It is all about economies of scale - prices come down when manufacturers really get things rolling & they can start paying off their production equipment. .50 can't be that much cheaper, just from the idea that production won't ramp up for a while & it will take a significant amount of time to pay for the new investment in equipment needed to make the product.

The disasterous PR from GI Milsim has been fun to watch - they've been pretty quiet lately, probably scrambling to figure out how to respond to actual "facts." about their product.

[om3n]

The disasterous PR from GI Milsim has been fun to watch - they've been pretty quiet lately, probably scrambling to figure out how to respond to actual "facts." about their product.

Where is some of this bad publicity? I would like to forward it to some friends.

[Temo Vryce]

I remember back in 97ish paying $120 bucks for a case of paint.

We still pay that up here in Canada.

[xero28]

I remember back in 97ish paying $120 bucks for a case of paint.

And that was for a case of 1500 balls. I was amazed to find out, after quite a few years away from the sport, that you could buy a case of paint for $30 (albeit lowest of the low end).

[Poe]

I can tell you from the inside that it IS mostly materials. It costs about 20 bucks to make the paint and put it in the box with no profit.

AGD

Interesting.

Material is material.
A case of .68 paint has a basic cost per unit.
50 Cal may give more balls, but (tooling aside) the same basic costs to achieve that don't go down much.
SO 2,000 balls in .68 caliber costs the same to produce as 2,720 paintballs in .50.
That's nearly a 30% increase in production cost per unit to the manufacturer.

...

Are you using diameter or volume? Unless my calculations are off there is over twice the volume (material) in a 0.68 cal round. I was hoping the final sale price of 0.50cal rounds were suitably half as much. ..or maybe 5000 rounds of 50 cal for the same price as 2000 68 cal.

[Poe]

Does anyone know what the final paint prices will be? I've read rumors, but have been unable to find anything definitive. Closest thing to a press release was a 'pro' saying about 30-40% less expensive in a You-tube video.

[Lohman446]

One of the issue with there "percentages" is they are comparing an MSRP to what I would guess are event prices (which are higher than average). I can get you .68 quality paint for 30% less than you pay at the event, basically by buying the exact same stuff anywhere else.