Coug - 6061 Aluminum is sold by the metric ton - and iscurrently priced at only a couple dollars/lb. - so that has nothing to do with the price explosion - the only reason that all of these companies are now charging such ridiculously high prices, is because Hoyt/Easton has set the bar that high.

For example: If Igot into the business of buildingbaseballs, and Rawlings is selling zillions of baseballs at $4 each... It doesn't matter if it costsme .25 cents of $1.50 to build your baseball... You can bet your ass thatI'm gonna charge the consumer between $3 and $5 for your ball. Rawlings already has established a high price, so it's easy for me to just break into the market and set a similar pricing scheme.

Hoyt/Easton has always manipulated market supply/demand to artificially control its market pricing. That has nothing to do with their overhead costs. Everybody else is just eating some of the pie that Hoyt/Easton has already created.

...and as for the argument about the "need" for different sizes - is there actually a "need?" Do you mean to tell me that Easton's constantly-changing shaft interior/exterior diameters just happens by accident? No way. They're deliberately keeping the market cornered in their favor - and keeping competitors from taking a bite of their apple (pun intended) by cutting their throats and competing on component prices. Is the HIT insert "necessary?" LOL I don't think so.

As soon as Joe Schmoe (the insert manufacturer) brings a marketworthy competitorcomponentto Easton's latest arrows -they scap that shaft, and come up with something different - then market the hell out of it and convince every poor schlep in the Union that their "old" arrows are no good, and that they "need" this great new thing...

The fact is, they can't "compete" with everyone else, because they want to price gouge. So, they do what they can to keep the balance tilted in their favor.


And while the "bows are built better - so they must cost more to build" argument may hold a little weight- that has to be offset by the notion that CNC machines (now) can easily do things (like make cleaner, more intricate cuts) than their predecessors could have ever dreamed of. What used to be a labor-intensive paint shop is now a camo dip that takes almost no effort, and is not nearly as labor-intensive. Imported parts and machines are cheaper now, and more readily accessible than ever.