Montecristi price confusion.

[Panamabob]

I can't speak for the other guys, but I can explain why I have hats on ebay for $90.00 and on the website for $299.00 with the same webcount.

I'm using ficticious prices, BTW, in the example below.

I thoroughly understand the confusion.

The easiest way for me to describe it is like this (more confusion, perhaps?)

Let's say we have la familia Mercedes, they have 5 weavers, all have woven a hat with 600-800 weaves per square inch:

(I'm using ficticious prices, BTW, in the example below.)

Grandma perfect hat, we pay $200.00 for the hat.
Mom, nearly perfect, we pay $150.00 for the hat.
Dad, a little hungover, we pay $90.00 for the hat.
Big Brother, too interested in the chicks, we pay $50.00 for the hat.
Little sister, just starting, we pay $25.00, for the hat.

Weave count is important, but the quality of the weave, straightness, color uniformity, etc. is important as well.

For the little girl, we've covered the cost of her paja and probably $10.00 for her time. and each of the others earns a bit more for their better weaving.

You can have a hat that looks a million bucks with 800 weaves and you can have a hat that looks $50.00 with a 800 weave count. Which would you sell on ebay?

For the website we use the better hats, for ebay we use it as a vessel to keep weavers weaving and volume up.

They are still good hats, don't get me wrong, but the value is definitely different.

Not to add confusion, but when I buy from a hat finisher I don't have my pick of the finished hats. Those outfits with the high prices (my opinion) have their pick, not us little guys. The same hat that Hawaii could buy for $250.00 for would probably take 275.00 or $300.00 to pry out of Rosendo Delgado's or any of thePachay's hands. The same hat I can buy from a weaver and pay $200.00 or less and then have our network finish them for just $8.00 or $10.00. I can then lower the price as needed and offer them cheaper on the website. Why hundreds or thousands cheaper? You'll have to ask the other guys.

 

[Sergei]

Thanks Robert for explaining the different pricing. Now it makes complete sense. You did the right thing.
-Sergei

 

[Panamabob]

I'm waiting for the yearly hatemail to begin. You'd think I wouldn't get hatemail if they weren't the same hats!...as some claim.

 

[Art Fawcett]

Maybe I'm naive Bob, but why would you get hatemail?

 

[Panamabob]

Art,

I keep it all, too, the "hate"mail that is.

I yearly get pleas to keep the prices up.

Last year I got hit with a lawsuit threat for trademark infringement...kind of hard to do when the company is registered in Ecuador under a certain name and the other name is "patented" in the USA...BTW, the names are only 45% similar and I don't think you can register the placename Montecristi, nor hats. so they really aren't similar at all...we've stopped selling under the name, to be gentlemanly about it.

Our interests really do lie in keeping people working, and helping our family as well. We aren't Not-for-profit by any means.

I am a legal resident of Ecuador and I know that here a dollar goes a lot further in housing and food. However, I pay more here for electricity than I've ever paid in Indiana. I pay more for telephone, internet, etc. We do have lower overall overhead, yes. But we don't raise our prices 1000%s either.

The gist is that I don't play the pricing games. If their blocking is worth $29,500 then my hats off to them...because I doubt the hat cost more than $350.00 unless it was a commissioned hat.