Quote Originally Posted by bricekolob View Post
There is ALWAYS someone out there can do it BETTER than YOU, FASTER than YOU, and charge LESS than YOU.
This remains true only if there is a major disparity between the local economic costs where something is being manufactured, and where it is being sold, and assumes that a remote manufacturing facility will produce just as high quality goods as a facility which is selling product on-site to the end user.

The reality is, if we assume (safely, I believe) that Robert, Rocky, Barb, Steve, and others are at the top of their game, then we can also assume they're sewing, cutting, and pressing near the limit of human capability. If you want to increase the speed, you can start with a sewing machine where it's possible. Otherwise, if you are making kilts in the same method they do, then you'll be hard pressed to get "faster", and I suspect that if you find someone physically faster, the savings will be in single digit dollars. The other option would be to hire someone to keep shop, and assign sewing to a dedicated individual, then hope that accessory sales and kilt volume will make up for the administrative overhead. That would be "faster" in terms of reducing overall time to build a kilt, but it sure eats in to "cheaper". On a side note, that's why I don't bug people when I place an order, once the details are ironed out.

Never mind that "faster" also inherently increases the risk of inaccuracy.

"Better"? I'm pretty sure the traditional, and traditional style, kiltmakers are "the best" at what they do. If you're looking for "better", you're comparing against the skills of the people who advertise on this forum, and a few more who don't. I suspect there are less than a hundred "traditional" kiltmakers in business (as opposed to hobby) in the Western World. Anyone know for sure?

So let's look at cheaper, because that's the only place you'll make any ground.

Take the almighty dollar (anyone's dollar) as a reference. What is a dollar worth? I can buy a loaf of bread, and a quart of milk, or something like that. In a "developing nation," aka "Western economic opportunity", the same might cost the equivalent of a nickel.

Maybe less.

At any rate, you find a country like that, and you find that there's someone who can build a kilt in three days, so you give them 10$ worth of cheap plastic material, pay them three days' labor, which might be about a dollar...and 300 of that person's friends, so you put out three hundred bucks, 3K in material, fly home with your 300x 11$ kilts, divide your trip costs (let's call it a $3000 dollar round trip with vehicle and lodging to Northern Durkistan) by 300, add between a 10% and 30% markup for profit and overhead, and sell your kilts for about 25$ each.

Or 50$, or 59.98$, or whatever you think the market will bear.

So there you go...if that's "better" to you, then you've got the trifecta in hand. Better yet, if you've cornered the market and are selling to the same uneducated public that assumes shiny = good and inexpensive = deal, then you get...

...The Royal Mile, from what I hear.

Oh, and also Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Lowes, Home Depot, and the majority of the rest of the retail chains in the Western Hemisphere. It's getting harder and harder to find good quality products, but I can't throw a rock without hitting a "luxury" car, condo, or McMansion...all of which seem to be in a constant state of needing one sort of repair or another...go figure ...

-Sean