Sorry, but what does a made in China el-cheapo quad bike prove? They have a place in this world, not in racing, in any shape or form. We are not talking backyard gokarts either.
The reality is - a kart manufacturer is probably running around 40% CM , the bigger ones with high automation and volumes probably 60-70%. That is, before subtracting all of the structural costs, salaries, R&D, distribution, tax etcâŚhardly a rich business where the owners are flying private jets. Of course we all would love to pay half of what it costs today, but reality is different and wonât change any time soon. European prices are cheaper, but they also have way less disposable income to throw into activities like karting compared to US, so thatâs an interesting factor too to analyze in all this.
That is exactly what I was thinking right at the begining of this discussion 
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When we were in Italy for the World Finals I was like a kid in a candy store. Bought Ben new everything. The one thing that jumped out at me was a helmet bag that was something like $180 in the USA, but was $35 there. Shoes were the same, visors, etc. Super cheap.
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That stuff didnât have to travel half way around the world to get to Italy. Thereâs some amount of cost add on along the way to, & within the US, some legit, some not.
I agree with what you said, as well as a lot of what wasnât quoted here. Although I still think there are some facets of this sport that can be done better.
Oh absolutely. But itâs easy for us to criticize and see the faults too. âMan in the arenaâ and so on. People are full of ideas (me too). But action and commitment to ideas⌠are hard to find.
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I can directly relate this to my own experience of buying a Rotax kart a few years earlier. As unlikely as it sounds, thereâs a noticeable difference between 15 years ago and 20 years ago.
I bought a Swiss Hutless roller from Bob Falcone at Eurokart in late 2002. At the time these karts were retailing for $2500. But since 2003 was a new homologation, they had a sale on the older 2002 âBreadbox side podâ models and I got my complete roller, brand new, for $2000. Rear-brake only, but the Swiss Hutless Evo 2 was not a âBudget Chassisâ. This was a top-line CIK kart, mag wheels and a 50mm axle, homologated for FA/ICA racing at the time.
I got a new Rotax Max Senior package from Roger at Prospeed in early 2003. The price at the time was $2395, but there was a recent price increase, and had I bought it just a few months earlier, I could have gotten a Rotax Max Sr. for $2095, brand new.
So $2000 and $2400; add in the other necessary items, and I had a complete, turnkey Rotax Senior class kart for about $5,000. Had I been a few months quicker, I could have gotten it even less than that.
What happened between 2002 and 2007? The exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Euro started to swing in favor of the latter. In 2002 the Dollar was still worth more than the Euro, by 2008 it had gotten as bad as almost $1.60 to 1 Euro. Then there was oil. The price was in the $50s late '02, but then came 2005 and Hurricane Katrina, and it was over $100/barrel by the time you bought your kart. Needless to say, they promptly raised the kartâs price tag in adherence.
Whenever someone would ask at the time, such as on the EKN forums, why the prices had gone up so quickly, oil and the exchange rate were very often the answer. But neither of them stayed that high forever; oil has been up and down, but itâs rarely been above $100 since.
Then thereâs the exchange rate, the Euro dropped dramatically in the middle of last decade. For many years, it was hovering around $1.10 and $1.20 to 1 Euro, and even last year, it went down far enough the Dollar was briefly worth more than the Euro again. It has since gone up again to around $1.10, but itâs never been anywhere near that $1.60 mark for a very long time.
Someone will bring up inflation. Itâs obviously an issue now, but I donât think there was anything out of the ordinary before. It really became a big concern post-pandemic.
The rule for setting prices is charge what the market will bear. It seemed to me, watching TonyKart prices over the last 20 years, that the US price was adjusted up for the higher exchange rate but never adjusted down if the exchange rate went down. I think the European kart mfg figured that the USA karter had accepted the new pricing, why lower the price?
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While I only have anecdotal evidence, I know one manufacturer who upped the price of his chassis and sold more. This added psychological element is a factor at play. âCheapâ means slow. Whether itâs true or not doesnât really matter, no one is blind testing chassis. Thus reducing prices isnât as alluring as one might expect.
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Intrepid tried a low cost product (Storm) back then, didnât work because it was too cheap to inspire confidence in the product
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Same is true with engine builders. That one must make more power because it costs more!
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100% a thing in marketing and psychology.
We doubled the prices at the ice track this year and ended up with same revenue for half the work and were able to serve customers better to boot.
We had âNicerâ customers (Less Karens with little Johnnies). On top of that, we had more people book a second or third session after their first. Sure people (That didnât come) complained it was expensive, but we got people complaining about the older previous price point too 
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I observed the same thing. Karts when up when the rates when up, but the kart price stayed the same (or kept increasing) when the exchange rate went down.
At least for chassis. Motors like Rotax and KZ engines did decrease a little bit from what they were, but the chassis never did.
Activity seems to be a big factor in club level racing. Last year I started driving LO206 adding a 5th kart to that class. Another racer moved from flat kart to LO206 to make a six kart field. This year there are 14 karts in the class. All but one kart was purchased used. $6000 to $7000 will get you through your first year of karting if you can avoid major damage and already have a vehicle that can hold the kart. Yea suburban pickup trucks.
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Mondokarts selling a Praga chassis for about $600 less than here in the US with free shipping worldwideâŚ. That is if the Euro is one to one with the dollar still⌠try to support local (US) kart shops when you can but itâs tempting to go with MondokartâŚ
Does that include the duties that should be paid upon arrival in the US?
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Is that $600 less than list price, or $600 less than your dealerâs quote?
They donât mention duties- donât know who would charge them but it is $600 less than online posted pricing⌠dealer or manufacturer suggested???âŚ
Most of the shipping companies will not release to you without paying duties. Which are around 3%