... why I can go to my local "Dollar Value Outlet" and buy IM6,7 and8 graphite rods for $20 to $30 yet I have to pay anywhere from $30 to hundreds for a blank. I realize that the components used to make the rod are cheap but isn't IM6,7,8 graphites usually a lot more money?

Just what Store are you going to, and what blanks are you getting?

Not all blanks are created equal. Just as most cars are built from similar materials, some cost $12,000 while others sell for $40,000. You can buy a cheap blank from made IM7 (or whatever) or you can buy a better performing and better quality blank also made from IM7. But you'll pay for it.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2005 08:31AM by Tom Kirkman.

Steve,
I wondered the same thing when I got into rodbuilding and learned that, here in Portland, I can often find a finished rod from a high-end manufacturer for about the same price it would cost to buy the blank for that rod by itself. The only reason for that situation that makes sense to me is that blank manufacturers that also sell finished rods don't want to encourage folks to build their own, and artificially raise the blank-only retail prices. Of course, I could be wrong.

-Nick Dazer
Portland, Oregon

If they didn't want people to build their own rods, they wouldn't sell blanks. It would be just that easy.

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It's actually pretty simple. It's all about price mark-ups and bulk sales. Rods that are made by the blank manufacturers have very little cost to manufacture. They buy the parts in bulk and get the rest at cost. Then all they do is add on labor to make and, voila, you have an inexpensively manufactured rod ready for sale. Conversely, when they sell the blanks for the retailer to make, they sell the parts to the dealers at a profit, and the margin of profit depends on the quantity purchased. The dealers then mark up the parts so they can make a profit as well.

I'm not saying that they have some philisophical reason for folks to not build their own rods. But I do believe that if blanks were available for the consumer at the same mark-up that finished rods appear to go for, then more people would build their own for the simple reason that they could save money by doing so.
This makes sense in light of Thomas's economics discussion. If I'm a blank manufacturer, and can mark up a complete rod for little more than it costs me to manufacture the blank, and then sell that product for, say $150.00, then I want to discourage people from buying that blank from me for, say $50-$60 and finishing it themself. Something just appears irregular when one component of a product (the blank) is sold at retail for virtually the same price as a complete rod built on the same blank.

-Nick Dazer
Portland, Oregon

So ... Is there a quality difference in the material we are using as opposed to what the rod manufacturers are using ? Or is the only difference the amount of care that goes into building the rod? Are there $20 IM7 graphite blanks available to the custom builder? Please tell me where!

Steve,
I think that Thomas is on the right track but I think that there are a couple of other variables. The blank/rod manufacturers have variable costs, mainly labor and material, that are only loosely affected by volume. They also have fixed costs, overhead, plant and equipment, and the amount of the fixed costs that must be allocated to the blanks is a direct function of the volume. The more blanks/rods they build the less of the fixed costs must be allocated to each blank/rod. In other words their variable costs can go up and down directly with the volume but the fixed cost remain relatively constant regardless of the number of rods they build. And the third major cost is their distribution costs.
If a large customer comes to them with a very large order they can sell the rods to them for just over their variable costs plus profit because their fixed costs have not increased and their distribution costs per rod when dealing with a large customer are extremely low. However, when selling a single blank to a custom rod builder they must account for the variable costs plus the fixed costs which will be much higher plus the distribution costs which will also be much higher plus a reasonable profit. Plus when selling to a custom rod builder the blank/rod manufacturer will typically go through at least one more layer in their distribution which means a second set of costs and a second profit.
Having said all of that I think a number of the blank/rod manufactuers are making much higher profit margins on their blanks then they are making on their rods. And there is at least one blank/rod manufacturer that does not know whether they want to sell blanks or not. They do almost nothing to support, sell to, custom rod builders, their prices for blanks are high and they have cut back on the number of different blanks that they will sell to the custom rod builder.

What Emory said ....

Buy one blank at a time and you will pay for the blank plus the cost of shipment from manufacturer with added handling/ re-shipping / stocking costs through each layer.

Buy 10 at a time and you will cut some of the shipping (the length of the shipped package adds an oversize fee).

Establish a rapport with one or two manufacturers/dealers (ie: meet their minimum for sales) and you will cut your expenses considerably.
Every layer in the distribution chain that can be eliminated the better off you are.

What can also work is a "club" arrangement to maximize your purchasing power - that is buy mutiple rods, parts and components have them shipped all in one (or two) packages and divide them up upon arrival. This can be especially effective if you were to purchase "close out" or
"specials" such as MudHole's clearance prices for Cascade blanks as well as the advertised specials offered here from time to time

Still, the easiest way to discourage people from building their own rods, is to not offer blanks. These companies are under no obligation to sell rod blanks. If they did not want you to buy a blank and build your own rod, they'd just stop offering blanks. Nobody sets the price of their blanks so that they'll discourage you from buying and building your own rod. If that was their actual intent, they'd just stop offering blanks - surely that would be the most effective way to keep you from building your own rod on one of their blanks.

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Why would a manufacturer discourage customers from buying blanks? The custom rod builders will just buy them somewhere else. If there is a market someone is going to provide a product. Better to charge enough for the blanks to make a good profit and not cut themselves out of a market share. Also by selling blanks, the cost of building blanks for their rods goes down since cost per unit is cheaper with greater volume.