[spector]

Well I've had my Pharaoh's since I received them from the group buy. I think they are great, I havent even got to use the .50 1 or 1000$ denoms yet but have been using the rest regularly.

When telling people how much I paid for these things though everyone thinks Im crazy. Honestly I had no idea poker chips were this expensive until I came upon this forum during the group buy. What exactly makes chips so expensive?

I dont know the exact process of making a chip but it just seems like maybe the prices are inflated a bit from the poker craze going on but that doesnt seem likely.

[ahopen78]

nope.

i bought a 650 chip set of Crystal Park chips in 2002 for $300.
i.e. 46 cents a chip

now look:
http://cgi.ebay.com/725-Crystal-Park...QQcmdZViewItem

Originally Posted by spector

Well I've had my Pharaoh's since I received them from the group buy. I think they are great, I havent even got to use the .50 1 or 1000$ denoms yet but have been using the rest regularly.

When telling people how much I paid for these things though everyone thinks Im crazy. Honestly I had no idea poker chips were this expensive until I came upon this forum during the group buy. What exactly makes chips so expensive?

I dont know the exact process of making a chip but it just seems like maybe the prices are inflated a bit from the poker craze going on but that doesnt seem likely.

[PocketRocket]

Chips like any other commodity become more expensive with the number of intermediary points between the manufacturer and the consumer. If a product is sold through a distributor who in turn sells it to a retail merchant, each of those points in the channel will mark up the price a bit to cover their expenses and generate a profit. Traditionally, gaming chips for casinos are sold directly from the manufacturer to the casino. The volumes of these orders do not make it feasible for the individual consumer to order custom chips at this level, and the smaller orders incur higher labor costs per unit than would an order of say 100,000 or more chips. The average consumer order would usually fall well under the 5,000 chip minimum that even the smaller chip manufacturers require for a custom chip. That having been said, there are still processes and avenues available for personalized chips for the home market, that are still within the pricing range that has been available in the past, though that is generally limited to hot stamped impressions on unspotted chips (ASM and TR King).

And no doubt, the increased interest in poker over the past couple of years has generated a demand that has opened up the market for higher priced chips, some of which are unfounded other than by pure market demand. In the case of custom chips, they do require design work, and increased work from the manufacturer in bringing a smaller quantity of chips to market, though the tooling costs would not differ from a casino sized order that is more likely to be re-ordered several more times and may eventually total into millions of units ordered over the lifetime of the design.

Originally Posted by spector

What exactly makes chips so expensive?

I dont know the exact process of making a chip but it just seems like maybe the prices are inflated a bit from the poker craze going on but that doesnt seem likely.

[MSPatton]

Originally Posted by spector

Well I've had my Pharaoh's since I received them from the group buy. I think they are great, I havent even got to use the .50 1 or 1000$ denoms yet but have been using the rest regularly.

When telling people how much I paid for these things though everyone thinks Im crazy. Honestly I had no idea poker chips were this expensive until I came upon this forum during the group buy. What exactly makes chips so expensive?

I dont know the exact process of making a chip but it just seems like maybe the prices are inflated a bit from the poker craze going on but that doesnt seem likely.

Actually the prices have fallen over the last 18 months for "home" sets.
I recall discovering my first quality set of chips at NJ's. The Martini's!
A set of 500 cost $599.99. Same with his NJ clays. "Fan of Cards", "Bonds", &
"Viva, Las Vegas" were all close to $1 a chip. Chipco's were close to $1 with only a
couple vendors. The increased demand has brought more vendors into the market
creating more options and competition for the limited high end $$$'s. and thus
created lower prices (and margins) by these vendors.

From history in other parts of gaming entertainment, my opinion is that many of
these "hit and run" vendors will leave soon. They were here when the margins
were good but when the market changes they liquidate and go to the next thing.
You will see some good deals on some of these lines I suppose, mostly on Ebay
auctions as this provides th most immeadiate remedy.

I think the prices are close to as low as they will get for the products in the market.
This is not to say some new products might come along with cheaper labor, or
different process's that will fit this high end market and cause these prices to
lower some, but to have that happen, manufacturers will have to give some
concessions to the vendors, or risk losing their share of the market.

Just my .02c

Michael

[PocketRocket]

Indeed! Even some of the vendors who dealt in the higher end chip market have already liquidated their inventories of chips and are currently in the process of liquidating the rest of their inventory of cards and other associated products.

Originally Posted by mspatton

From history in other parts of gaming entertainment, my opinion is that many of
these "hit and run" vendors will leave soon. They were here when the margins
were good but when the market changes they liquidate and go to the next thing.
You will see some good deals on some of these lines I suppose, mostly on Ebay
auctions as this provides th most immeadiate remedy.


Just my .02c

Michael

[GabeManis]

OMG - my econ P's would be salivating right now...

And as much as I am avoiding econ (big Micro Theory test tomorrow), both of you are right... Some chips will appreciate, like the Crystal Oyster's because of collectors value while in general, prices will probably remain pretty steady over the long run. There are plenty of shocks that will effects the price in the short and intermediate term (such as increasing interest in chips, increased firms, etc etc etc). However, you can probably try to "time the market" somewhat, and given what I know about the widget industry - it is probably best to purchase chips now if interest is starting to drop off and firms are starting to leave the market. Because once interest is gone, the number of new firms left will be gone and in turn, the old firms will have less competition and end up raising prices.

In short, its probably a great deal for anyone here to buy the Nevada Jacks selling for prices close to the 11.5g dice chips and its also a great deal to buy 50 cent Blue Chips right now as well (Club Desperado's). Because you won't likely see deals like these much longer. (Although I hope my assessment is way off!)

Ok, no more competitive market blasphemy!

[MSPatton]

Gabe,

Very astute comments, good luck on the test!
In my other business this is exactly what happened. We were a med/small piece
of the pie when the consolidations occured. We put ourself in position to absorb
some of the abandoned customer bases and cheap (closeout) merchandise below
mfg costs. We are now doing the same in this market. For us it is a long term
thing. We are not chasing every sale no matter what cost, we are trying to build a
foundation that will last years. Hopefully we are prepared enough to take on a new
market in the coming years and thrive. As the market contracts we will hopefully
become stronger just by withstanding this contraction.

Enough Econ for a day off.....Back to Football!

Michael

[GabeManis]

I have ordered from you mspatton, and I think you are offering a great product and service. I am also pleased to hear that you are buying up merchandise from some of the other chip stores around. I can't wait to see what unique stuff you pick up. Keep it up...

P.S. as a huge bengals fan from Indianapolis...GO BENGALS!

p.s.s. i am bringing my econ books to the bar for the games in a couple hours haha

[Wylecoyo]

Holdem Poker Chips FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!