Kamuii Chalk!!!!!
- Thread starter Black Cat 5791
- Start date
Part of the allure of something like this is the exclusivity of it. If someone made a run of the material at a substantially lower price then it loses that aspect.
People like to state that they'd buy Kamui at $5 (or some arbitrary figure), and while that may be true, my guess is that at least some of those people actually wouldn't. Kamui gets most of the discussion because of its high price, not in spite of it. People often buy it for no other reason than to see what can be so special about a cube of chalk that costs that much. Once bought people will often subconsciously rationalize the cost to themselves. Psychology is a big reason much of the anecdotal claims, regardless of whether of one's bias, are so suspect as evidence.
I miscued once last night. That was the first time in a few months that I miscued and I would have miscued even if I had used Kamui Chalk. How often are people miscuing? I have tried Kamui chalk and it was ok but not better than Masters or Blue Diamond in my opinion. If one factors in cost to value Masters spots Kamui the Orange Crush and two games on the wire.
Obviously some people like the chalk and like to encourage others to jump on the band wagon. Thats ok.
Yes Patrick, I haven't seen any reports nor have I conducted any sort of scientific experiments. I'm not sure you've used it yet or not but in case you haven't, the moment you do, you'll quickly see why this stuff is going to do what everyone claims it does.
On the other hand and in support of your argument, I believe there may be other things that should be considered when comparing chalks. Kamuii is clearly softer, almost paste-like. What sort of residue is left on the balls and does this residue contribute to skidding?
I would be very interested in seeing some objective evidence too.
I know where you're going with this. If I make a cup of coffee for $20, someone is going to say, "I need to see what $20 coffee tastes like!" Of course, a good chunk of Kamuii's business is curiosity. However, most pool players (I'll exclude 3c and snooker players) use community chalk provided by the venue. We're used to this practice and will undoubtedly lose our Kamuii chalk before we're done with it. It's hard for many players to justify spending hundreds of dollars a year on chalk. If it were $5, you'd still have an incredible mark-up from the current prices from top competitors.
Right now, Kamuii prices rival pure silver. Really.
But could you sell $5 chalk without the exclusivity?
Luxury cars could be produced significantly less than they already are. They're often throwing components in that aren't necessarily better, just more exotic.
Now, if we reduced the price of the car to something more resembling what most would consider reasonable, how would that affect sales? Does owning a Ferrari mean as much without the prestige of owning such a thing......a prestige that is at least partially created by price and intentionally limited production numbers.
Kamui does the same thing, with the same target in mind. We can pull up just about any of the numerous threads on this board alone and find at least a handful of people who express their pride in the fact they bought a piece of chalk that cost that much. It's more than curiosity that's attracting these cats. The mere fact people did pay that much can cause people to believe the item is doing more than it may be doing as a mechanism to convince themselves of some merit in the decision. It can also do the opposite and create a negative expectation in the consumer's mind feeling that such a product that far out of its expected price range couldn't possibly be worth it.
We've certainly seen both sides. Kamui has a carefully considered marketing strategy here and that includes price.
That is a very complex game far more sexy than the lemonade stand prices I'm used to setting. I get you. I can't say I agree with you.
Supply x Price - Cost = Profit
Everybody knows this formula and I would venture to say that most people believe that reducing your price will increase your demand not linearly but exponentially. Who knows? Perhaps, like you say, the opposite is true. If it is, I'm sure we'll be seeing a competitor in the very near future.
I have used it, but only very briefly. It was a borrowed cube that I had to return right away, so I didn't get to do any experiments, but I also didn't notice any obvious improvement over Masters.
pj
chgo
Yeah, you really need to get your own cube and use it for an entire day. Look, it's still just chalk. It's not gonna make any balls for you. And, contrary to what some people are saying, you'll still find ways to miscue. It just takes a lot more work to miscue.
That's not going to happen. As I've said before, I don't have a $25-$30 problem with Masters.
pj
chgo
So then why would you care about objective evidence? You're not going to use it because it's $25.
I don't have to "care" in order to know and say the claims are unsupported.
pj
chgo
Is this some strange game you're playing. The thread is about chalk you've barely used and have no interest in using. You're an amateur lawyer and practicing cross-examination!
It would make compliance much easier if you'd post your criteria for who should comment on what subject, Jude. Maybe the mods will make a sticky for you.
pj
chgo
Sorry, feel free to flame as you please.
I want to see pj and that English guy start going back and forth lol
As I had mentioned in a previous post, I bought a piece.
First and last time. If it were $10, I would continue to use it and probably buy 4 pieces the next time. Kamui got $25 from me once.
How many people bought a piece out of curiosity?
100 people buy one piece for $25.
75 people never buy it again but would continue to use it if it were $10 a piece.
25 people continue to use it at $25 a piece.
At some point in time, Kamui will run out of people that will try it out of curiosity and be left with X amount of loyal users.
Is it worth their while to continue to upgrade their chalk and charge an extra $5 each time.
Sell more for less for a long time or sell a little for too much and eventually run out of customers or not enuff loyal ones to make it worth your while to continue making it?
Eventually a knock off is going to be introduced.
People will try it for a fraction of the price and there won't be enuff difference in the two to justify the higher priced Kamui.
Sell it for less and corner the market before your competition puts you in a spot to lower your prices or go out of the chalk business. At 5 or 10 bucks a cube, it won't be worth your future competitors time to bother knocking it off.
Kamui has already shot themselves in the foot. Its just a matter of time before the foot has to be amputated.
You're out with a bunch of friends and new acquaintances. The discussion turns to house and car prices.
Do you tell everyone that you live in a 500K house even tho you only paid 250K for it. No, you want everyone to know that you live in a 500K house.
You also have a brand new Corvette sitting in your driveway. Do you tell everyone that you paid 150K for it or the fact that you got a heck of a steal on it from the salesman and you drove off the lot in a Vette that you only paid 75K for. You brag to everyone on how you totally screwed the dealership out of 75K.
Everyone at my hall thinks I'm a complete retard for paying 25 bucks for a
piece of chalk. Meanwhile, I'm getting my butt handed to me by people who are using hall provided Master chalk.
Yeah, it all makes perfect sense doesn't it?
No doubt their is a lot of psychology involved in the sales and marketing of the stuff.
At the same time there is no denying it is unlike any other chalk...and in a very substantial way I think.