Originally posted by blackcloudbrew
I'm a bit surprised at the price, $599. I have to say that a a kick starter supporter of this tripod, I contributed abort $150 less, for which, I received a tripod. I'm not gripping here, just a bit surprised. But, oh well, people gotta make a living and it is an excellent tripod IMHO.
Yep. The company claimed in one of their hangouts that the CF tripod costs $230 to manufacture. This does not include the cost of shipping, employees salaries, R&D costs, marketing, etc. Plus they cannot sell it at a much higher price to the retailers, since these guys want to keep a high markup to support their own costs (inventory, warehouses, employees, etc). They claimed, with a surprising honesty, that they sell it to retailers for about $300, which leaves about $70 per tripod for PD's company costs.
The price is the same on PD's website because of commercial agreements with retailers. So they're making much more money when one buys directly from them, but they're still happy to reach the customer base of all these retailers.
Again, not advocating anything, but it IS commendable to be so honest about the cost structure.
Regarding the end price, the company stated that they are wishing to go against "high-end" players like RRS, Gitzo, etc, with a price point a little above average (thus lower than what they want to compete against). They see the quality of their product as equivalent to those big players. That's their opinion of course

Although I'm liking what I've seen so far.