Huge Minelab Price Increase - And Gold Monster To Come With One Coil?

[WesD]

Maybe they got hopes that gold is rocketing to $3000 next year and all the dreamers will be wanting detectors. Or what Scott said, haha

[jasong]

$1000 increase on the 15 year old 5000? Hilarious. That machine could sell for $1000 total and still make them a profit, not to mention it's patents are going to expire soon, if some haven't already. $1000 increase on the SDC isn't much better. 

Brutally greedy moves there. I'd guess the US price list won't be so shocking, but will be interesting to see. 

[dig4gold]

Maybe they are hoping for a buying spree before the price increases take hold. Wouldn't then be surprised if they back peddle on said price hike, or make it quite a bit less than stated. Seems to me like suicide as gold is getting harder to find day by day & getting a lot smaller when found. So needing to find a lot more to get some weight in your poke. Pretty sure we have had the best of detecting for gold. Down hill from now on, has been for a while. Sad but true.

 

D4G

 

[Digalicious]

In regards to competition for the gold fields, what about the new Axiom? Also, I don't know anything about gold hunting, but I'm seeing posts from Jeff, and he's detecting gold with his D2 and Legend, that can barely be seen with the naked eye 🙂

So, is Minelab even seeing the Axiom as competition? In addition, would a D2 or Legend in Gold Mode be even remote competition to dedicated gold detectors like the Axiom or Minelab's gold detector line up?

[schoolofhardNox]

This is a classic sign of a company that is slowly spiraling downwards. When you concentrate on profit first, and making a great product at a reasonable price 2nd (or not at all), you will eventually turn more and more people away from your brand. Shareholder pressure to continuously make more money can kill any company, no matter how big or small. I don't think there are enough customers that will pay the extra price without at least giving Garrett and other manufacturers a serious look. My next purchase will be a Deus II.

[Jonathan Porter]

I’d say, and this is just my opinion because I actually haven’t discussed the price increases with anyone, but I’d say it’s to do with the Aussie Dollar against the Greenback. Minelab have had no significant price increases in Australia for a long time and have most likely swallowed up the depreciation in our dollars buying power. Considering their main market is largely offshore sales it makes sense they trade in US dollars and that would then flow back to pricing here in OZ.

Everything in Australia has gone through the roof since Covid (there’s that word again 😞), fuel is over $2.10 a litre for diesel here in my home town, electricity has gone up 30% pretty much across the board etc etc. It’s just getting harder and harder to run a business without passing on the cost increases to customers. Property prices are still very high even though the RBA has been lifting interest rates constantly to try and control lending ect, but with the crazy high immigration numbers that’s putting massive pressure on rentals and property values. Probably an over simplified, ill informed understanding of the key drivers behind our economy.

Not trying to defend Minelab’s decision to increase prices here, but I would say that is the key trigger point for the reason to do so. 😞 Thank heavens Gold is AU$99 a gram, especially with a vacuum cleaner of a machine like the 6000.

JP 💸 (Because of inflation I can no longer use just my 2 cents GIF 😂)

[Steve Herschbach]

4 hours ago, Digalicious said:

So, is Minelab even seeing the Axiom as competition? In addition, would a D2 or Legend in Gold Mode be even remote competition to dedicated gold detectors like the Axiom or Minelab's gold detector line up?

I'd say the Axiom sells better than people think, but not nearly so well as to put any fear in Minelab. The sad fact is the Axiom is being sold for twice the magic $2000 mark I think is needed to really put a fire under fast adoption of a PI alternative to VLF for people who can't afford to lay out more than twice what a high end VLF sells for. I am now looking to Nokta to fill that gap.

Which answers the second question. No, VLF is no real alternative for serious gold prospectors. Everybody I know runs a Minelab GPX or GPZ or even older SD/GP models. If you have a good PI it is also good to have a great VLF for trashy areas. Now having said that, a Equinox/Deus 2/Legend can actually do very well in the right locations, typically trash laden tailing piles, where a PI just wears you out digging deep junk. But even in those areas a VLF will play out eventually, and then the hard work begins of using a PI to go after the deeper finds the VLFs leave behind.

[phrunt]

I think the US prices will remain stable, the high USD should shield the US customers from the price hikes, if they don't it's a pure money grab from Minelab.  

Putting up the GM 1000 price while removing one coil from the package is a joke, I pity anyone who buys that, just buy a Garrett 24k if you must have a dedicated gold VLF and get the better detector by far, or if sticking with Minelab just get an Equinox 800 and 6" or 10x5" Coiltek and have the superior detector than the GM, its days are numbered and needs discontinued and replaced with a multi freaker to catch up to the general purpose detectors for prospecting needs not price hikes.

As Malaysia where they're all made has no bad inflation issues, shipping has largely recovered and returned to normal pricing there is little excuse to do this other than trying to make more profits riding on the tails of their previous success, only problem is in coin/jewellery detectors they now have stiff competition, in fact the competitors now really have the edge, especially Nokta with the price / performance ratio.

The mighty always fall at some point and healthy competition is something they're not used to, and clearly don't know how to react to.  The powers that be at Minelab likely know very little about their detectors, and the competitors machines and public opinion of them.

[King-Of-Bling]

Another possibility that no one has considered is the sale of the company. I've seen this before 1st hand in business. A classic pump n dump. Could be the major shareholders/Ceo are in on it. ML has been VERY successful the last 5 years and the dollar has been strong compared to the Aussie. What better time to jack up the prices with their proven track record in all aspects and then sell it off ? I can say I told you so next year !😂

[Digalicious]

18 hours ago, King-Of-Bling said:

Another possibility that no one has considered is the sale of the company. I've seen this before 1st hand in business. A classic pump n dump. Could be the major shareholders/Ceo are in on it. ML has been VERY successful the last 5 years and the dollar has been strong compared to the Aussie. What better time to jack up the prices with their proven track record in all aspects and then sell it off ? I can say I told you so next year !😂

A couple of days ago on a different forum, I predicted that given the recent developments, Codan is gearing up to sell Minelab within a couple of years. So, add me in to the "I told you so" list 🙂