<<<-- Originally posted by Jacques Mersereau : I think the plastic doohicky and the two screws for the plate are $35! -->>>

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=238155&is=REG

Man, B&H set yet another "street price" ;0

Only $29.00 for 50¢ worth of stuff!!!!

Strangely enough, that pricing probably truly represents the cost of providing the spares.

You have to be on the other side to understand how expensive spares management and delivery really is. Not only do you have to document and catalog the spare parts, you have to pay for that inventory, sometimes far longer that the product life, use a tech support person to ID the proper spare, process orders for it (industrial costs for processing an order is more than $25 each. Many companies have a minimum order amount just because of this) and ship it. All in all, the bad end of the business for both the customer and the company.

Couple that with having to import the Vinten spares.

That's why the Japanese attitude towards spares is frequently, "buy another unit if you want spares."

I have to admit that the cost of an extra Vinten plate got under even my skin a bit...and I'm generally pretty resilient on such petty larceny.

Mike is, of course, correct in his remarks concerning the costs associated with stocking and selling parts. But VInten's pricing on these plates goes far beyond reasonable excess. Plates for a Miller head, for example, are -nearly- identical to those for a V3. Yet, despite Miller being an Australian company, these plates cost half as much. ($80 -vs- $160).

I don't want to get down on Vinten. They make excellent products and apparently back them with service. But there's an impressive amount of profit being handed up to the Vitec Group (Vinten's parent) from these little pieces of stamped steel.

Guys, just to add to my wonderful experience at Vinten---the same guy who replaced the plate for free, gave me two screws in plastic housings! NO CHARGE---If someone really needs one, (considering the price) I would be happy to send it on-----First come first served!!!!

<<<-- Originally posted by David Mintzer : Guys, just to add to my wonderful experience at Vinten---the same guy who replaced the plate for free, gave me two screws in plastic housings! NO CHARGE---If someone really needs one, (considering the price) I would be happy to send it on-----First come first served!!!! -->>>

Wow, Vinten wouldnt even give me two plastic screw COVERS for free, let alone something useful like screws. $10 for each cover. Pssh.

Are you talking about the VHS pin plastic thing? What plastic housings are you talking about?

Sorry Andrew--just the plastic housings for the screws--little screw holders---LOL