Exclude the labor, how much do the materials cost for these kites were flying?Include bar and lines... Lets use a 5m fixed bridle as our main kite to analyze.

It's the R&D and labor that add the cost to the kites. The sail material isn't that expensive and neither are pvc handles. Carbon bars can cost you and pure spectra / dyneema lines of high quality in the 400-500# and 150-220# range are about $100. But we're not paying for the materials. You are paying for the hours of R&D, test flights, pilot productions and tweaking that goes into making bits of fabric and pieces of string fly and pull as well as they do. That's why some kites fly much better than others. Same strings, same handles, same material but much different performance from the kites that were properly developped, tested and tweaked and that work, while intangeable is what adds the cost to the product.

My uneducated guess is from a manufacturers perspective, there is no more than $200 worth of materials (lines, handles, fabric, bridle) in a 5m kite and if they are buying in bulk, its probably less than that. But if you are a kite innovator (not chinese or joe-blow knockoff, then its hundreds of hours of R&D, Cad-Cam and pilot production stuff to make a kite that could be panned by bad graphics or a few less-than-stellar initial reviews.

Kites cost for sure but there's not much money to be had in making them either. Do I think there is $2000 worth of kite material in a Flysurfer or $1100 in an Ozone or $750 in a Blade? No! But they sure do perform better than any kite I could make for the same cost of the raw materials. Better than any kite jonesband could make too. :shocked2: :wink2:

I reckon they'd take a bit of time to make, and to pay a reasonably skilled sewer for their time too ...

Probably the most expensive single part of the retail price for sporting goods is retail markup. In the case of bicycles, a thousand dollar bike has a retail markup of between three and four hundred bucks. This may sound like a lot of money, but brick and mortar shops are expensive to operate. You have to pay employees, rent, phones, lights, business license, etc. For lots of stores, the building owner takes a cut off the top.
The materials in even a good quality five meter kite are probably less than one hundred bucks for the and bridle before cutting.
S

I used to help manage an outdoor store and the markup on things is pretty steep - 130% of cost on clothing in most cases - so we buy in gore-tex jackets for £100 and sold them for £230.

There is less profit in that than you think once you remove all the costs of running a store and sales taxes etc.

A manufacturer generally aims to sell things for 30-40% more than it costs to make them - so the gore-tex jacket probably cost £60-70 to make and distribute to retailers.

Kites are expensive bits of kit to be sure, but I dont mind paying. I have never had one fail due to poor workmanship or materials.

It's the same with the auto industry. To make a pick-up truck is not $30,000 It is all the r/d. Years of programing to stamp out all the body parts and machining the mechanics. Then there is the 2-4 years of testing and consumer research to see if it will actually sell.
In 1986 I baught a brand new Chevy full size base model (no extras) P/U 4x4 V-6 4speed manual. It cost $6,400. In 2007 my Dad got the same base model truck But it is safe to crash. Air bags better restraints for all and the works. It was $23,000 Safty and R/D cost a lot.
So I imagine the R/D of development and safety of a power kite is just as expensive. And we just have to pay the price to play.
But in the end isn't it realy worth it?