^ and how would you know the Socal Mold is cheap? Since when do you have to buy a car to build a kit?

I must disagree. IDK what the heck he is talking about how so cal mold is cheap. For one, they dont know where the mold is bought or produced. Two, you dont need to buy a car to produce a part. IMO CF kit looks way better the the reagular amuse.

We've been producing aero parts for GT-R and Evo X here in SoCal, so I know what molding fees cost and what's necessary to setup and what each piece can cost.

Most of the Japanese tuners purchase cars from the manufacturers for their demo cars. They often get access to the cars before they are released to the general public, so that they can begin R&D early.

To produce an aero part that looks good and fits, it makes sense to have an actual car for production. When these companies make aero, they design the parts much like the OEMs do with hand-sculpted clay on the actual car, from which molds are made.

:iagree: That sux. Buy authentic body kits! Are there any laws against replicas (intellectual property infringement or something)?

Each company operates differently with their business. And I will leave it at that.

If you agree. Then why not support them and buy a kit?

There are laws, but in international trade they are nebulous and hard to enforce at best.

If I decide to buy a body kit, I will definitely buy authentic. I will buy an authentic kit to support the people who came up with the design instead of supporting the people who steal their ideas and work.

So if it cost $30K for R&D work with design and development then they would only need to sell 6 kits to recoup the cost.. So if they sold 12 kits at $2500 each then they would recoupe their cost as well. Don't see the logic in selling a kit for $5K sorry..

Hey I would love to support Amuse - just can't afford too.. So I'm thankful that there are knock-offs and quality ones at that.. I'm ok with them making a profit because in the end they are saving me $$...

ya know R&D is one thing. labor and then materials to build is another cost that keeps adding. So its not like if they sold 6 kits for 5k they made a profit of 30k... nothing works that way ever unless your selling vapor and ideas.

It's $30K for the molds alone, this doesn't include the cost to produce each kit, packaging, the cost of shipping each kit from their factory to them, then all the other costs incurred. It's not as straightforward as you're making it seem. Additionally, we as Amuse's dealers have to pay for shipping from Japan, as well as customs duties, and we need to make some money off the kit as well.

The excuse people use of "not able to afford" something is relative; I know quite a few people that save up their money until they can "afford" to buy. In the end it's prioritizing whether one cares to support another's hard work or to support their own wallet.

Point noted.. BUT….. I can guarantee that most of Americans would not be in the "hey I want to pay more for something because of all the hard work they put into building this product".. That after school special had its door closed a long time ago. People tend to be smart with their money or at least try to be. If you want to blow you money on a kit that is not worth the $$ then so be it. Telling me about all the R&D stuff that went behind it is great, but in the end they did not build this kit for a Porsche, they built it for a 370z, so price it that way Again - if Amuse dropped their price there would not be an issues with rep. I put enough energy for the day on this topic – I’m sorry your business is being hurt by all the Reps being made.. Maybe you got into the wrong business? And I'm out... lol:ughdance:

It's unfortunate that you feel like supporting those that steal other people's hard work is acceptable.

Honestly, the replica business is much more profitable; that's why dealers of those parts make insane amounts of money off the consumer.

We choose to work hard to support innovation and great design and not sell replica products. If knock-offs win, then great design is dead because the original companies either go out of business or stop designing parts that can be bought by the public. This cycle ends up as a zero-sum game because you eventually have nothing new being released, so the consumer loses and the producer loses. At that point you have a bunch of replica parts companies releasing "new designs" for body kits that look and fit like crap.

It's kind of like buying a kit car that looks like an Lamborghini or Ferrari. As someone who works in the design field, there is nothing worst than someone stealing your intellectual property and making a profit over your hard work.
Some of these kits are so expensive because of the exchange rate. They also have to charge more to see any kind of profit. They could undoubtfully charge less if they were making more, but guess who's leaching off their sales. If you can't afford a kit or think it's out of your budget, that's kind of your problem. I wish a set of Volks TE37's didnt cost of $3k, but I'd rather save for the real thing than buy the knock off's.

Companies aren't in business to make people happy, they're in it for a profit. Simple as that. They don't care about the person that can't afford it, they care about those that can. Do people honestly think the CEO of Ferrari gives a rats a** about why some kid driving a Kia can't afford a 458 Italia. I think not.

Heck, it's your prerogative if you want to buy a counterfeit product. No one is stopping you. I'm sure it will function all the same. I just wouldn't try to pass it for the real thing.

I support the company that does the r & d not the ones that that the easy way out and knock off.

I will gladly pay the extra if not double the cost to get the real deal.

Having fake crap or knock offs will kill the industry. We will end up with no innovation as they wont have anyone to copy.