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Posts: 67
| Yup , it's the guides fault , they run high quality baits and then share that info and Bam the prices go up ,,,,,,Really are you kidding me , Maybe they share what works ( for them ) because they want others to be successful , not everyone is selfish and keeps all the info to themselves , and if a client catches a personal best on a custom lure do you not think they may want the same bait . It's supply and demand and the supply can be limited due to the fact high end baits are hand made , tested and proven by most quality baitmakers . it all comes down to what you have faith in , no one group controls the price market and in my opinion a lot of the customs are priced under market value that is why you see them going for much more in the aftermarket |
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| cant sell your $80 bait for $80? raffle it for $120... 12@$10
the sheep flock to it. amazing |
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Posts: 323
Location: Elk River, MN | Trophyhunter1958 - 1/22/2018 4:42 PM
Yup , it's the guides fault , they run high quality baits and then share that info and Bam the prices go up ,,,,,,Really are you kidding me , Maybe they share what works ( for them ) because they want others to be successful , not everyone is selfish and keeps all the info to themselves , and if a client catches a personal best on a custom lure do you not think they may want the same bait . It's supply and demand and the supply can be limited due to the fact high end baits are hand made , tested and proven by most quality baitmakers . it all comes down to what you have faith in , no one group controls the price market and in my opinion a lot of the customs are priced under market value that is why you see them going for much more in the aftermarket
Definitely not the guides faults. It's literally their job to provide information and teach clients about whats working and how to catch fish.
It's a booming market and with the aftermarket values skyrocketing people will slowly bring their prices up. Especially when popularity rises and the availability of baits isn't able to keep up the prices will naturally rise. Simple supply and demand. Someone catches a fish and wins a tournament on a certain bait? Everyone finds out and wants it. |
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Posts: 392
Location: KY | "Can't sell your bait for $80, just put it up for raffle, 10 spots @$8 each. You'll fill those raffles all day. "
Is this even legal without being a charitable or not profit organization? |
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Posts: 1636
| Some of the high priced lures are a work of art.
There are a lot of people who buy lures to collect and put up on a shelf to look at.
I believe the high cost is worth the builders time for some of the higher priced lures.
Think about how much money some paintings go for.
With that being said... in response to the original post - I'm buying a Suick instead  |
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Posts: 430
| I'm finding this post totally entertaining and to believe that people really believe in what they are preaching is even better. |
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Posts: 20178
Location: oswego, il | Millennials have definitely ruined everything, just like every generation before them. |
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Posts: 4
| One could add boat prices to this list but I think that could be a different topic on it's own. But as we are talking about lures. The custom guys keep the supply low and demand is still there. So a bait starts at $80 then guys are willing to may $20 more, then that is now the standard, then $20 more to get in front of the line. Then it's $60 VIP ticket to get into a show before everyone else. Soon the dowel prices at Home Depot will be $5 vs $3 and all the dive and rise will bump to $400.
the downside to all of this is I am looking at making a popular bait. After finding the right people\products, this bait is at a fraction of the cost. |
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Posts: 4
| Was just thinking about this. When can we start to lease muskie baits and then when should we get insurance for them. |
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Posts: 1080
Location: Aurora | Just throwin this out there but does anyone know if it hurts or helps the manufacturer/maker when their baits are all "out of stock" online about a month before show season? |
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Posts: 1
| Hi guys, I'm new to the forum and this is actually my first post. I can see both sides and points of view on this but have my own to add and consider.
I build bucktails part time for a big name company and felt compelled to chime in on this. My baits tend to go for a fair price, some of them have gone for as much as $200 in charity auctions and silent auctions at shows. Do I feel bad about that? Hell no! My marabou baits have anywhere from $25 to $40 worth of materials in them and generally the bigger models have about 3 hours of labor into them. They may not be made of wood but the total labor+materials is likely similar. I'd love to produce a lesser quality version for $30 but do you really want another Mepps MK or do you want a bait that will withstand anything you or the fish can dish out and last forever with a lifetime warranty on craftsmanship? I guess I could replace the powder coat blades for off the shelf laquer, replace the 6-9 linear feet of marabou with 3" of it, add a drop of epoxy to cover the threads instead of a full double mirror coat and probably build it in 20 minutes instead of 3 hours. I refuse to do this though as the quality of my bait is #1 for me. Fishable art by talented craftsmen is just that, a work of art that may work just as good as a made in China knock off but hopefully gives the owner a sense of pride in that he/she has a one off, quality item that supported a fellow american/canadian! To me, running baits made by talented guys such as Shawn Maher, Sean Howard, Ben Mageau or Evan Schoss to name a few is just like the feeling of pouring myself a glass of Highland Park 18, smoking a Cohiba or wearing a designer suit to work. I could get by with the Chivas, the 711 stogie or the Winners store suit but the feeling just isn't the same...
As for the limited quantities made. They're made by humans in their basements, mostly part time. Not by injection moulding machines and robots! Hell yeah they're in demand and in limited amounts. As Trophyhunterl said, if you don't like it, don't buy them!
Cheers everyone, this site is great and I'm happy to finally be contributing! |
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Posts: 718
| I think guys that are making high dollar baits, or at least baits that are pushed in the high dollar range because of limited quantities, are making less than minimum wage on them. Try making a wooden bait and after buying the wire, lips, and the parts and then actually make the shape then paint and add multiple coats of clear coat etc and you will soon see that at 50-80 bucks a crack they are lucky to make anything if you factor in the time spent to do it all. At Bondy Baits we now mostly use an injection machine and with all our baits under 30 dollars, and using domestic parts and shop, employees etc I think you would be shocked at how little profit we make per bait. Just speaking the truth. |
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| The time it must take to build a wooden bait has to be substantial. Everything from securing the materials, set up, shaping, finishing, etc. all takes time. Mass produced baits can be made cheaper because of economies of scale and the equipment that allows to be purchased but there still has to be profit or the business closes or at least that product is not longer made.
I do woodworking for a hobby and people will see a table or something else I have made and say, "you could sell those". Yeah, and make about a dollar an hour. I already have the tools, space and so forth, but there is still very little profit to be made.
I really wonder sometimes if a lot of folks understand basic economic principles, things like gross and net for instance. |
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Location: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin | T.Carlson - 1/19/2018 7:18 AM
There are plenty of $8 to $20 baits available, if you don't want to pay $150, then don't. The high priced ones are basically custom, small batch baits that guy's are making in their basements. They are not widely available so guy's pay more for them, who cares....
Trying to say there is some "master plan" is laughable.
Also, don't forget, 10% of all bait makers sales go straight to the government in the form of Excise Tax, that is one reason for the climb in prices.
It's simply supply and demand...if the batches are small and the demand is high...price goes up. Simple as that.
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Posts: 452
| Baits are tools to get a job done. Depth, Speed, Color, Action all play a factor. Some tools like snap on and matco cost more. If you want to spend your kids inheritance on high dollar baits and chase the next hot lure craze by all means, go ahead. I will see you at the swap next year and gladly pay you pennies on your original dollar. |
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Posts: 32784
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Since 2000, inflation has added a major amount to pretty much everything. Cost of living has increased, and wages have too, although that stat hasn't kept up as well. All of that increases the amount we pay for everything.
$10 bait after inflation overall? Around $17 with the increases in margin necessary to pay higher overhead these days. Boats and motors have increased about on that same scale.
Then add in the cost of making baits almost impossible to damage until they are flat out used up, a new deal in the last decade, and you have the rest. It was expected the paint would wear off a lure after some fish were caught 18 years ago, now it's expected you should be able to bounce a lure off a rock and not see a serious chip. Plastisol lures have to have crazy harnesses built in so they don't get destroyed by 3 fish. And so on.
A new truck in 2000? Ford F150 base was mid 16K mark. Now it's near $28K.
I used to fill up my car from near empty when I was in High School for around $10 with premium fuel (had to have it, my '64 Chevy Carryall had a few modifications). Taxes raise all sorts of Hades too. |
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Posts: 2224
Location: SE, WI. | Whether it's a basement lure builder, or a mass produced bait, THEY ALL PROVIDE A SERVICE TO YOU! Start to Appreciate Services Available! They are there for you. It's your option to buy or not! BUT! If that Service goes away, then you are stuck building your own. Then, you would know what it in-tales, to build something you never had to before. Case in point, I have Not been a jerk bait fan for about 30 years. These jerk baits going for $150-$200, I have no interest in. BUT, that jerk bait fisher that likes jerks, will probably partake. The baits might be worth it, but I won't Dis the maker, nor belittle the price they ask. I have zero clue what they put into it. Back in the 80's, early 90's, used to fish bass tourneys and musky...Used a bait called a Fandango. Cost was $2.99 for 3. I preferred the price $73.00 for 100 tails from Whopper stopper Fliptail. It was a kind of creature, Caught tons of fish on them. Won fist full of $$$$ in tournaments on them. Went through about 6-8 and outing. I thought the price was outrageous at the time, but the fun I had catching every specie of fish on them was worth it. Was glad the company was there to supply my addiction. Later, Molds disappeared, dried up....then had to start pouring my own. Appreciate the bait makers, and any business for that matter, that makes your life easier!!! JD
Edited by jdsplasher 2/2/2018 1:31 PM
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Posts: 155
| Muskies only eat baits that are over $80 now so... |
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| I think that the baitmakers deserve every penny that they ask for. I have no idea how expensive it would be to buy all the equipment needed to make wood baits but I'm guessing it's quite a bit. Then all the materials needed on top of it. Then add in the time spent building, sealing, priming, painting, epoxy etc. etc. You would have to make a lot of baits to make any profit. Don't forget the added time of trying to sell, then package, and then ship. |
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Posts: 1080
Location: Aurora | X2 on the above plus, don't fergit to add design, testing, and band-aid expenses. |
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Posts: 718
| Look into the costs of musky bait sized aluminum molds, design and cutting. |
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Posts: 222
| And I could have bought bar fighters for $30 back in 2014 and I didn't. Boy was I stupid. Could have gotten rich. 
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| it's a strange market .the last funny thing that i can recall were the famous pre roi depthraider, manta,and of course the barfifgter.no 1 could predict the price of the bar would get that high,specially for a very ordinary paint job that is also chipping to stay polite.but hey it's their money,the only thing i can do is laughing not at the sellers but the buyers.i guess they are sure 40pounders come with their treasures lol |
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Posts: 612
| $30 $35 tops otherwise they can keep it. Depth-Raiders, DDD's, Phantoms, spinnerbaits, Mepps, etc. plenty out there that work for $(15 to 35) why pay more. |
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| because after that you can go here to drop name like barfighter to sound cocky lol |
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