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Sovereign GT increase

In this day and age for a company to raise the price of a unit by that much is puzzling to me, to say the least. I think (hope) that there's something bigger and better happening behind the scenes at Minelab. If not, I think they are shooting themselves in the foot with this move. I guess we'll find out in the near future.
 
You are not the norm as far as averages go ...... You put in more time and have far more finds than the average person ....I would venture to say that you are probably in the top 10 % as far as finds go .......As I said , Minelab is counting on people like you !!..... Frankly, I'm pretty shocked that 4 dectectors are ALL that you own with as many finds as you get and as much time as you put in ..... I thought that you would have at least twice that amount of dectectors .... JIm
 
Why the SE instead of your Explorer II. Just curious.


You jump the price up like that you are entering Explorer prices. Given a choice for close to the same money I choose Explorer.

So if they waterproof it like the AT Pro I guess it goes up another 200.00.

They better be able to explain this to my wife!

She caught me drooling at an E-Trac picture the other day. I'm already on thin ice.
 
Goodmore,
The SE is a newer machine and the fact of the matter was the price was right. and it was a local deal .....a couple of more features on the SE also as icing on the cake so to speak ....Jim
 
synthnut said:
You are not the norm as far as averages go ...... You put in more time and have far more finds than the average person ....I would venture to say that you are probably in the top 10 % as far as finds go .......As I said , Minelab is counting on people like you !!..... Frankly, I'm pretty shocked that 4 dectectors are ALL that you own with as many finds as you get and as much time as you put in ..... I thought that you would have at least twice that amount of dectectors .... JIm
3 excals, Infinium LS, Sea Hunter MK2, BH300, Explorer 2, 2 Fisher f-75's, Fisher 1235x=10 & that is really all I need & if I am in the top 10 as U say it is because I use TOP OF THE LINE DETECTORS. No, Minelab is counting on people who know the best & will buy it. I am sure Tiger Woods isn't playing with Wal-Mart clubs:rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
....ahhhhhhhhhhh haaaaaa .....Now that's more like it !!......You da man Erikk !1.....:rofl: ......MR DECTECTOR !!..........:rofl:
 
synthnut said:
....ahhhhhhhhhhh haaaaaa .....Now that's more like it !!......You da man Erikk !1.....:rofl: ......MR DECTECTOR !!..........:rofl:

Well when U have been doing it for almost 50 years U do learn a few things along the way and second best don't cut it
U will find out when you take the waterproofed SE out into some deeper water & you float like a rubber ducky:goodnight:
 
I'm too darn big to float like a rubber ducky !!!...... This thing will be strapped to me ...I'm not going out in the water up to my neck .....If I go chest deep it will be a lot .....Jim
 
Yes, Minelab is making a BOLD statement-they are saying we make a dammed good detector and if you want one you will pay the price we are asking as we are in the business to MAKE MONEY


This is the first time I've read this statement but ,If this was said, I think Minelab needs some competition.Right now they don't have any when it comes to multfrequency detectors. This statement reeks of arrogance. It's like saying we don't give a damn if you buy our product ot not. Makes me like my XL pro better every day. Pride goes before the fall.
 
I have mine. Hopefully by the time I need a new detector we are looking at a whole new Sovereign. But when it comes to a VLF in salt water it has to be something special. And that usually means a Minelab.
 
or TDI, or V3 or one of the FT LTDs.

I would like to see a reason attached to the price increase(from minelab that is). It does seem strange they singled out the Sov. And now I also see they have discontinued the Advantage.

Erik makes an excellent point about a find or two paying for a detector. When viewed from that perspective they are still a bargain:thumbup:
 
JHM said:
Yes, Minelab is making a BOLD statement-they are saying we make a dammed good detector and if you want one you will pay the price we are asking as we are in the business to MAKE MONEY


Do you not agree that a business SHOULD make money?? The market will decide if they do or not and as long as they ARE making a dammed good detector they WILL. Or, do you believe that they should make detectors below cost so that everyone can have one whether they can afford one or not??
Kinda sounds like the sub-prime mortgage housing bubble problem to me


This is the first time I've read this statement but ,If this was said, I think Minelab needs some competition.Right now they don't have any when it comes to multfrequency detectors. This statement reeks of arrogance. It's like saying we don't give a damn if you buy our product ot not. Makes me like my XL pro better every day. Pride goes before the fall.
 
synthnut said:
I'm too darn big to float like a rubber ducky !!!...... This thing will be strapped to me ...I'm not going out in the water up to my neck .....If I go chest deep it will be a lot .....Jim

:bouncy::bouncy:
 
" Erik makes an excellent point about a find or two paying for a detector. When viewed from that perspective they are still a bargain"


I couldn't agree more , but when I think about what I can get for spending a little bit more , and get the top of the line machine ( E Trac ) that's what I will do ....and that's what I did !!!......It doesn't pay for someone like Erikk , who I see has mostly water machines , to pay the extra money for an E Trac that is not waterproof ....... For him , having a bunch of water machines makes complete sense .... I give the same argument to those who tell me " ......Yeah , but look how expensive the E Trac is " ........Sure it's expeansive , but it has also paid for itself in finds !!.... So in reality , it's not expensive at all .... I don't see the Soveriegn as one of the machines that I couldn't do without ..... and I will do without due to the price increase ...... Maybe I'll buy a new one before the increase just to have it on hand, maybe I won't .....It's STILL worth the asking price , but not the increase ......This holds true for ME ....YMMV .....Jim
 
I called ML today and asked why the increase in price on the GT? This IS was what I was told:
The GT has not had a price increase in years. The cost of components has increased so much that they decided that now is the best time to increase the price. They are not increasing the price of their other detectors.
As I said previously, It will take 5 Obama bucks to print a Washington in 2011. Look for other items to increase in price in 2011 (gas, food etc.) as our US Dollar turns into coupons in the months ahead.
If you have the money spend it now on what you need now before what you need its out of reach. HH
 
Have you ever taken a sovereign apart to see what's inside. Electronic parts are cheap . Not sure what it would add up to but combined with the cheap overseas labor I don't see how they could keep from making money. What would do some good, is some competition. That's what makes this economy work isn't it? And it's good for the consumer. But if your the only guy on the block that makes this type of product, you can charge what you want and a 6 week repair turnaround is( no big deal). Not selling any parts to the public (no big deal). Only 1 place to get them repaired (no big deal). Not repairing older models (no big deal). The consumers can handle it if they want our products.The sovereign is a good detector I love minelab products. I have a Sovereign but I can tell you that it's much lighter and better balanced than it was when I bought it. So improvements can be made. I'm thinking the only improvement we will see after Jan 1st will be a 28% price increase. But if they want to charge $1000 for a detector and people don't rush out to clean the inventory off the shelves, the the line will most likely be discontinued like the advantage. I think that would be a shame.
 
Minelab has great equipment that performs at a high level!!!
Many hunters unfamilar with their performance will go else where espeacially with other newer vlf units that are going deep. Example I picked up beleive it or not a bounty hunter platinum detector is their new top of line unit with the 8 coil. This detector hits 2 dimes buried at 9.5" with ease that my once xl pro with 9.5 coil, musky advantage with 10" coil could not pick up! Newer electronics! Its the same circuitry thats in the fisher F5 only differant software.
Lets not forget were comming out and still in some ways of tough economic times. The ace series,teknetics and fisher are making some interesting strids with detectors with many features that is pumping in the depth as well oh don't forget under 3lbs. and super recovery speed. These units are killer park/competition detectors.

I hope the price of the exterra series don't jump as high. I can see how sales will drop; $1,000 for a BBS technology. Many hunters would love a BBs machine, I bought mine used! That was over 5 years ago. Its gonna get interesting in the next year and beyond.

The Best is truly going to cost!!! Than again nothing like a sovereign on this planet!

Keep an eye out for used units as well.

Wil
 
arod777 said:
I called ML today and asked why the increase in price on the GT? This IS was what I was told:
The GT has not had a price increase in years. The cost of components has increased so much that they decided that now is the best time to increase the price. They are not increasing the price of their other detectors.
As I said previously, It will take 5 Obama bucks to print a Washington in 2011. Look for other items to increase in price in 2011 (gas, food etc.) as our US Dollar turns into coupons in the months ahead.
If you have the money spend it now on what you need now before what you need its out of reach. HH

Minelab's response is ridiculous, IMHO. The price of advanced electronics as a rule falls over time, not the other way around. The Sovereign GT comes with very few standard accessories, so most folks wind up buying other stuff, pushing the cost up even more. Check out the following configuration with accessory prices pulled from Kellyco rounded to the nearest dollar:

Sovereign GT: $999
Digital Meter: $214
Headphones: $54
Alkaline Battery Pack $29
----------------------------------------
$1296

Compare that to a new Explorer, on sale right now for $1099, that already has the meter, headphones, and alkaline battery pack. Granted the Explorer won't be on sale forever, but even when the sale is over it will ring up around the price of a Sovereign GT with popular accessories. I suspect the used market for the Soveriegn GT will heat up over the next 6 to 12 months and new sales will plummet, eventually leading the way for Minelab to drop the line all together. I would not be surprised if this is what Minelab wants because the Sovereign GT is pretty much left out of their advertising these days.
 
Hey everyone, I don't have a dog to hunt in this increase on the Sov but am I the only one who thinks
all detector prices are too high and getting out of hand?
Unfortunately for all of us, ML has set the prices on most mid to upper priced detectors.
I doubt very seriously flagship metal detectors from the other brands would cost 1000 to 1500
if ML hadn't set their prices in the past few years.
Now don't get me wrong, I use an old XS Explorer and bought it new for 900 dollars many years ago
however I thought that was way too high even back then and yet they keep adding more price increases
every time we turn around.
They may have a few hundred dollars in a top of the line but that is all.
No other consumer product users are getting ripped like we are.
 
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