Getting ripped off?

[michael_m]

Why are pedals so expensive? Even on trademe, I have to fork out hundreds of dollars for even half-decent pedals. I'm new to this whole thing, so can someone clear it up for me if I'm getting ripped off for paying this kind of money? It seems to me that building your own is much much cheaper. Am I right?

[jeremyb]

Building your own is not really any cheaper than a boss pedal second hand that does effectively the same thing, but you get the enjoyment of building it and having something a bit different, if you want cheap effects get a multi-effects pedal unit

[shinenz]

get a multi-effects pedal unit

Digitech if you can

[Aquila Rossa]

Building your own is not really any cheaper than a boss pedal second hand that does effectively the same thing, but you get the enjoyment of building it and having something a bit different, if you want cheap effects get a multi-effects pedal unit

It's matter of buying the right pedal.
Just because a good handmade overdrive may go for 300-500 new, it doesn't mean every other pedal with a similar price tag is anywhere near as good. You have to get to know what is good and what the resale value on TM is.
For $100 bucks on TM you can get some good pedals.
Last week I picked up a MXR Zakk Wilde Overdrive in brand new condition for $100, a steal really and a great sound.
Then you find guys buying 2nd hand pedals for $80, spending $1.50 changing some parts and trying to sell it for $180 as a modded pedal. Blah.
Analog Delay pedals are pricey. But no other 2nd hand pedal on TM should be much more than $100-200 unless it's something special.
All Boss pedal should only be $80-$130 used on TM (Distortion, Overdrive, EQ, Chorus, Flanger) but a delay again will cost a bit more.

[crushing day]

just a few that i can think of off the top of my head relating to pedals ..

material/component costs
design and paint/screenprinting costs
labour costs
ongoing research and development costs
advertising costs
packaging costs
shipping costs
warranty and repair costs
customer support hours/costs
all associated business costs (insurance, compliance, accountants, lawyers, telephone, internet/web, ACC etc etc etc)

+ plenty of costs that i've missed in this brief post

Any item manufactured by a business that wants to stay in business, includes these costs.

[TmcB]

I've found that if you get all the parts yourself, a pedal costs around at least $60, not taking into account time spent building or debugging

[rocklander]

I've found that if you get all the parts yourself, a pedal costs around at least $60, not taking into account time spent building or debugging

yep.. that's pretty close.. depending on what one is making.. if it has special components worth a bit more then the price goes up. including shipping the ones I build cost $50 - $100, but costs are rising cos of our @rse dollar.

what isn't included is all the fails I gots plenty of them.
but if you're comparing a generic pedal to a DIY, it's prolly 6 of one ½ dozen of the other, but compare a DIY to say a ZVEX.. you'll save a BUNCH, and not have that ugly @se artwork that like like a primary school reject has attacked your pedal.