Cost of manufacturing broadheads
Equipment
Good Day Fellow archers,
Out of curiosity I would like to know what is the actual cost of making a broadhead and I know it varies so lets say for example An iron will at the one end and a slick trick at the other end being a mass produced broadhead.
NB: I am not intending to make my own broadheads nor I am I suggesting that a manufacturer cannot charge what they feel like. Everyone is entitled to make a profit etc etc.
Just was thinking was is the actual cost of making them. The same can be said for any other piece of equipment. I just broadheads would be interesting to know.
Any valid and informative information would be welcomed ??
Thanks
Whatever it is china has figured out how to do it for 1/10 th the cost based on eBay pricing
I think the Slicktricks are made for $72 bucks a piece and the Ironwills for $109 bucks a piece. Is this thread debate free?
Just include all the costs. Raw material, machines, facility, design and production staff, utilities, marketing, sales, accounting, HR, packaging, fulfillment, liability insurance, etc, etc.
Sometimes the actual product isn't the main cost of producing and selling a product.
I understand the manufactures need to make a profit, but no way is there even $10 worth of metal in a $30 broadhead... Price of materials to profit is way out of line if ya ask me...
The cost of material has almost zero to do with the cost of the broadhead…
—Jim
A 1952 Micky Mantle card sold for $12 Million.
MSRP less a 30% profit margin.
What was the cost of materials in that card.
Own a business? What Glunt said has validity
^^^ which part; sunk, fixed, or variable cost?
Cost to mnfr in China is cheaper than you think
I've helped my hunting partner with his new broadhead, made in the USA, available in 2024. Zero chance I'm going to say what it costs to make.
Looks a bit like the old Kolpin design...
"Whatever it is china has figured out how to do it for 1/10 th the cost based on eBay pricing "?
China has no patent protection, so their 'design' cost is zero. And it's a safe bet that the blade steel is inferior, tolerances are looser, concentricity is literally 'hit or miss.'
Anyone remember those cheap Buck knife knock-offs from Pakistan?
Any quality low profile cut on contact (COC) broadhead from a heavy bow will penetrate sheet metal like that, that is nothing more than a marketing ploy for the uninformed...
Heck there are pictures out there (and maybe videos) of old school Bear Razorheads and even 3-blade Snuffers sticking halfway in concrete blocks...
I'd guess the materials cost in the finished product are a very small percentage of what your actually paying for.
Well Mr Umar Docrat from "other " (if that IS your real name) I couldn't begin to guess at what the materials cost, labor, and fixed costs would be in the USA. Do you have any idea what they are in "Other"?
Mr. Umar Docrat was the name of our cover band we did Bobby Sherman and Partridge Family songs.
If a guy had a CNC shop already, a production run of something like a broadhead would be cheap and easy. If someone was starting from scratch that CNC shop would be a huge investment and would likely take forever to pay off with just broadheads. If a guy was using conventional machines, labor and skill costs go way up. So really... it just depends.
Actual raw materials would be cheap. There would be some heat treat required, as well as some finish work and inspection. I'm guessing the actual stock material would be the cheapest part of broadhead.
Quote Highlife: “ Mr. Umar Docrat was the name of our cover band we did Bobby Sherman and Partridge Family songs.”.
Oh oh, I thing Mr. Umar Docrat was the name of our cover band we did Bobby Sherman and Partridge Family songs. Highlife just slipped up and answered from his “Other” identity.
I have multiple buddies that either mnfr overseas or work for companies that do.
The challenge to mnfr in the US is cost of labor being 20x.
The challenge to making stuff overseas is the Quality control- you better have that dialed in. The other- as mentioned- is lack of patent protection. If you do make stuff over there be prepared for them to use the same design on the same production line…and then selling the same product for 1/4 or less than what you charge. Heck, look up Rage BHs on Aliexpress.
Then; many products are made overseas…then ASSEMBLED here to get around import duties for finished goods and so they can make the made in USA claim.
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Catscratch - a start up machine shop for just precision made broadheads would never meet an ROI. Broadheads just aren't that "needed" to fetch a revenue stream to payback that equipment.
But then again, I'm not a business "owner" so...
I showed one of my broadheads to a guy that ran a machining machine. He said that it would cost about $.60 to make that head. However, it would require a $10,000 minimum order before they would go through the trouble to set up. The head was not one like the VAP which is machined from a single piece of metal. The Iron Will head is machined in parts and then assembled so it takes less machine time than the one piece provided they are made out of the same metal. As state above most of the costs are not from making the heads. Retail shops usually have close to a 100% markup.
All Broadheads have a material cost of $9.65 per head.
I don’t know if there’s any legitimacy to this whole thread or not, but I do know that Ace Standard broadheads have been around essentially unchanged since the 1930s. I don’t know how often they need to re-tool, but while tooling is no doubt a major expense, it probably lasts them a while.
So I don’t think they’re getting fabulously wealthy selling heads at $40/half dozen, and I have been quite happy supporting them as a small, US business.
100% margin means zero cost. 100% markup is 50% gross margin. This thread is fascinating. ??
Corax, me also but I have Zwickey's. I would use Ace's also. I cannot see launching a $40+ head out through the woods or into a rock!!! Also, the dead deer with my Zwickeys were the same dead as any other head.
Hardly Ambush lol I actually find some of these threads hilarious. People bitching about the cost and how they feel thier being ripped off. Here's an idea come up with your own design pay all the costs it takes to get it to market. Than you can tell all of us how you can't make any money selling it cheaper. Now back to hunting.
I don’t care what the manufacturing costs area and if I were making them, I’d not share that cost with others. If you don’t like the cost, make your own or take up another hobby.
Who cares, even Iron Wills are worth the money to me, that spike of adrenaline and excitement when you launch an arrow at a living animal is cheap at twice the price, who’s not an addict of that..
“I'd guess the materials cost in the finished product are a very small percentage of what your actually paying for.”
Just thinking…. What’s the “material cost” of six 95% matched, knapped stone heads??
After all, “rocks” are pretty much free, so how much could the heads be worth???
As a former retail shop owner, I would have been excited to have 30% margins...
It's more about the scale of production than the raw material costs. Fixed costs (ie: overhead, engineering, CNC programming and setup, etc...) don't change whether you make 10 or 10,000 heads. But per unit production costs, and profitability, certainly do.
Matt
Thanks for the comments all of you.
Seems like it might have offended some of you. Never meant that. I just wanted to know like what is the actual profit margins, costs etc.
@fuzzy, is “other” not the option outside USA. Not sure what the costs are here to make broadheads in RSA. Didn’t even do a check. I just buy from my local archery stores who keep good quality US products like magnus, g5 iron will easton etc etc.
WapitiBob…..I hope your hunting partner does well. Their cough drops were terrific….
Sorry Dox but you "smelled" like a scammer/bot. Lots of those here lately. Returning to the thread established you're legitimate. Sincerest apologies. To answer your question, production cost is a small percentage of retail price point. Maybe 15%.
There is a very limited market for broadheads, especially true for broadheads appealing to traditional shooters. Gene Wensel once told me that after paying another company to manufacture and assemble his Woodsman broadheads, and then factoring in advertisement costs, he was making only or buck or two per 6 pack of broadheads. Hardly a lucrative business for him and a motivating factor for him to sell the broadhead rights to 3 Rivers Archery.
Part of the cost is material. Most will make their broadheads with something that comes in bar form or plate form (Iron will). Others will use dies to cut them from steel sheet and weld/spot weld/braze together (Zwikey) making them cheaper. I make mines from billet (read big freaking chunk) that needs to be saw cut each from. Material is very expensive and runs about 15$ each before you do anything to it . Add to that packaging, some fancy (Iron Will) , some simple and cheap (Zwikey). Regardless of what you do with the packaging, (95% or more goes to the garbage), you must pay for it too.
Juancho I follow this. I wonder if folks would buy heads with minimal packaging. Say heavy shrink wrap or something.
I think i can speak on this topic with alot of experience as 2024 will be our 40th year making broadheads since I started Magnus in 1984. I am going to list some of what goes into the cost of broadheads without giving you a cost. Our broadheads are made in America.costs include Cost of the building if you own the building or lease the building, cost of materials, cost of labor, cost of unemployment insurance, cost of workmans comp. cost of product liability insurance, cost of overhead including electricity, gas, cost of screw machines, cost of oil for screw machine, cost of tooling for screw machines, cost of computers and all equipment related to being in business. this is just a partial list, people have no clue the cost of cooling oil for the screw machine it runs 1200 bucks a month. There are costs i have not even listed. tooling costs as an exsample is high and one cost which every broadhead manufacturer has is federal excise tax, and no you donot collect it when you sell a broadhead, like a sales tax is collected, it is in your cost of making a broadhead and it is a 11% tax and is required by law to be paid each and every quarter of the year. WapitiBob you might want to tell your friend to get registered for a registration 637 which is to pay excise tax or 720 tax. . Not complaining on any of this just saw the post and replying, we have been very blessed for going on 40 years in business, we are not perfect but we do our very best to make quality broadheads and take care of the bowhunter. We have been very blessed to have hard working americans working at Magnus. Thank you
They've been making the industries best target points for a few years now, he's up to speed on the taxes.
Compared to the other costs associated with hunting, the Broadhead cost is minimal. I just killed my 4th deer with the same Iron Will 125 head. $33 per head when I bought them but divided by the number of times reused, it’s not expensive. I don’t begrudge anyone running a business an appropriate profit margin
