15bps means I'm broke in 5 minutes

[Lohman446]

Do you have any entrepeneurial experience, or at least worked with small scale manufacturing?

Also, the price point debate is a dead horse... every year, no matter what, people complain about paint prices. They are really quite low if you look around, buy in bulk, make some contacts, etc.

No.. why can't I whine about it? Oh wait, I do have, and I don't.

[wimag]

Who wants to pay the person making the largest profit for the same product?

Oh and to answer. I dont think I can use the words to describe someone who will charge three times what the job should be worth. Supply and demand is a mother when there is no set precedence for what things are worth.

what you described is a concept called economics. open a book and learn. you think these people are in business just to break even and keep you happy ? not a chance buddy.
threads like this are more and more of a reason pb nation is actually appealing.
too g-rated of replies to absolutley assisnine questions.

[Pacifist_Farmer]

I bet you'd like to know why gas costs $3 too.

[Lohman446]

I bet you'd like to know why gas costs $3 too.

Because of monopolisic pricing and price fixing by large corporations of a limited resource and a questionably legal control of the supply side of a necessary resource unchecked by the federal government. However, there is a major difference between gasolined and paintballs.

[SlartyBartFast]

there is no set precedence for what things are worth.

There's no such thing as a precedence to worth. Things are worth what people are willing and capable to pay and what the person offering is willing and capable of accepting.

The willingness and capability on both sides can be largly arbitrary and emotional and of little connection to many people's definition of "worth". Why ese do we pay those that entertain us so much more than those that clothe us, feed us, and keep us healty and safe?

If you don't like the prices at fields, you a completely free to buy the cheapest whitebox available off the web and play renegade somewhere.

The cost of production of a good or service is only one small component of how the finalprice is attained. So many threads have already listed the MANY variables and costs associated with getting a paintball from raw material to flying out a customers marker on a field. And many of the costs have nothing to do with the paintballs themselves. Shall we try again or shall people bother searching instead?

And as far as desparaging regular business for either pricing at a level to survive or pricing to maximize revenue, well I'll only start by saying how pathetic a complaint that is. Unless of course the last time you were asked to do a job and were offered more than you expected you replied: "No, you don't have to pay me that much. I'll do it for half as much and keep the tip."

Now, if you think that you can make paintballs yourself for cheaper, give it a try. But you'll be shocked at the initial investment and risk you'll have to take. Tooling for the machine (you'll need a die even if you're not buying the encapsulator), the impossibility and expense of renting time on a machine that's devoted to other production, the minimum batch size required, the driers, boxing and packaging expenses, setting up distribution...

Watch the How Things Are Made video about paintball production and you might have a grasp at the complexity of what you are proposing. And that video doesn't tell you how to get thousands of boxes of paint out of your warehouse and sold before it goes bad...

[SlartyBartFast]

Because of monopolisic pricing and price fixing by large corporations of a limited resource and a questionably legal control of the supply side of a necessary resource unchecked by the federal government. However, there is a major difference between gasolined and paintballs.

But remember what happened when government tried to regulate consumer pricing of gasoline. Hawaii is soon going to learn the same lesson....

Price contrals are a VERY bad thing..

[Lohman446]

But remember what happened when government tried to regulate consumer pricing of gasoline. Hawaii is soon going to learn the same lesson....

Price contrals are a VERY bad thing..

In general. I have an issue with record high gas prices and record high oil company profits - I think they might be related. And utility regulation did not work *that* badly. Funny how different my views are from the gasoline industry to the paintball industry.

[Walrus]

hmm...interesting

So just to clarify your delimma, you are shooting a total of 4500 balls in 5 minutes. I think that is your problem, not that paint should cost $20 per case. I can relate to most of the older guys on here who have been playing for over a decade. Used to it was 2500 for $100+. You learned right then and there that 500 balls at $.03 - $.05 per ball would last you all day/weekend. You learn to move and make good shots, not to just shoot as fast as you can because yor gun can do 15+ ball/sec. Do you want to know when the best time to bunker somebody is, when you are moving and they are refilling. This is not flaming or a discussion on limited paint play, but it is just a point that if you have to buy a couple of cases for your self to go out and play, then you may want to change your style of play or the field you are on. Here is a fun way to play: only take a hopper full on the field with you. If you run out, then you are done. Just find a way to make it fun and save you money. Or get another job to afford paint and gas! Good luck and play hard!

Walrus

[tae]

Im surprised how many people conclude that I don't know about economics. None of us do our best spelling* but do I declare you illiterate?
Im loosing steam here. I enjoy playing on fields and do so often. I can go to the woods a throw pine cones at people for free if I want but dose that mean I cant be unhappy when someone makes me pay for my pine cones?
Would you be unhappy if paint cost one fifth its cost to produce? I agree that you can charge what you want and you can pay what you want. I simply dont think you should do so unknowingly to let someone get more than they should.

*see later posts

[tae]

The title was a bit of a joke. I do double taps then move(typically) I never "spray and pray"

I appreciate and agree with the advice (for the most part ) but Im just looking for information about the whole "paintball process". I do know how they are made, I just want to learn more about what constitutes good materials and the like.

Thanks though, I think

[latches109]

Because of monopolisic pricing and price fixing by large corporations of a limited resource and a questionably legal control of the supply side of a necessary resource unchecked by the federal government. However, there is a major difference between gasolined and paintballs.

lol, where did you read that? Here is OPEC's view "Acknowledging that, although growth in crude oil supply in recent years has continued to be ahead of growth in demand, and that commercial oil stocks, in particular of crude, are at comfortable levels, oil prices have nevertheless continued to rise, mainly on account of tightness in downstream capacity and concerns over availability of adequate future supplies leading to increasing activity in futures markets, the Conference reiterated that the Organization will continue its proactive policy of supporting market stability by ensuring availability of adequate supply, at prices reasonable to both producers and consumers." The last I saw aggragate oil supply is not a monopolistic curve. And all resources are limited.

one component of paintballs is plastic, plastic is made from oil. Wait...

[Walrus]

Don't forget

Paintballs may cost less than a penny (rough estimate) ro produce, but you still have to pay the people that run the machines, pay for the machines, the electricity to make the machines run, the packaging for the paintballs, drivers for the delivery trucks, the trucks, etc, etc. So, paying on average of $.04 per ball is not bad.

Think of buying a package of cookies that cost $2.50 for about 40 cookies. You are paying roughly $.06 per cookie. Yes it may be cheaper to make your own, and I am sure you could probably make your own paintballs from scratch to save money. However, for you to produce enough paintballs for your self to use, is it worth the cost? Well, if not, then you will produce more because you could sell them to everyone else and perhaps cost justify your making of paintballs. Well, once you did that, then wouldn't it be cool to just barely bump the price so you are not breaking even and you can start making some money. If you can cost justify purchasing all the equipment and raw materials to make your own paintballs and you can whip up a couple of cases to take with you to the field, then please do so. I would love to be able to, but by the time I finished making my own paint and then going to the field, it would not longer be a recreational activity, it would be a JOB! As we all know, we liked to get paid for our job and breaking even doesn't pay the bills most time.

It is just not reasonable to think that you can produce your own paintballs and not spend as much money, or to think that a case of good paintballs could cost $20. I am quite happy paying $50 for a case of 2000 that I can split with one or two other people. If you happen to be the son/owner of a major producer of paintballs, then you may be able to get paint for $20. There is one last avenue that you could take. Become a retail store operator. Buy paintballs for cost from the distributors. I used to work for a hobby shop that sold paintball equipment. On average, a case of EVIL paint that we would sell for $70, the owner would buy for $45 from PMI. If you went the cheaper route, a case of PMI Premium would sell for about $50. These were purchased for around $35 per case. Without the markup, you can get paint cheap! So become a retail store owner/distributor and get your paint cheap!!

We are lucky enough now days to be able to get paint so cheap. The reason is because of the faster guns with thier high ROF/CPS/BPS along with the increasing popularity of the sport. When you shoot more paint, you need to produce more. As you produce more, you can start to drive the cost down. So, in theory, if you keep shooting 15+ bps, then you will eventually drive the cost of paint down even further in the next 10 years.

By the way, aren't you the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to mispellings.

[tae]

just saw those.

And no because I made no such acusation. I know how we all type here

I know about production costs. So why is there a twenty to thirty dollar difference?

[11 Bravo]

I want federal regulation of paintball prices!!

[JoshK]

Because of monopolisic pricing and price fixing by large corporations of a limited resource and a questionably legal control of the supply side of a necessary resource unchecked by the federal government. However, there is a major difference between gasolined and paintballs.

OMG...please have my baby.