Did I miss something?? Bob lee bows always seemed like the working mans bow. A nice bow at a reasonable price.
But after looking around on their website it appears that they are now pricing themselves along side black widows..
How can they go from a 500.00 bow to 1000.00. And it dosent look like much has changed with the design.. :confused:
Supply & Demand. Bob Lee bows are worth the price to enough folks that he keeps busy at that level. I wish I had pockets that deep. It's the only current production bow I would fork over the $ for . . . but likely never will.
And even in the 1960's he had some stiff priced bows - the Presentation, PII, White Wing and Swift Wing were upscale pricy bows at that time.
I just noticed those prices myself.
Bob Lee bows are comparable in price to plenty of other high quality well known custom bows out there. The quality is there, they are VERY solidly built and hold up great. Very forgiving and pleasing shooters as well, and you can't beat the shape of the 'stock' grip either IMHO. There are plenty of customs in the $900-$1k+ range out there. It's hard to find a decent 3pc bow out there now that doesn't have some amateurish craftsmanship for under $750-$850. It's so funny to me the ridiculous money folks will pay for custom knives and not batt an eye but then an object like a bow with moving parts and a whole list of materials they'll cry foul.
QuoteOriginally posted by nineworlds9:
Bob Lee bows are comparable in price to plenty of other high quality well known custom bows out there. The quality is there, they are VERY solidly built and hold up great. Very forgiving and pleasing shooters as well, and you can't beat the shape of the 'stock' grip either IMHO. There are plenty of customs in the $900-$1k+ range out there. It's hard to find a decent 3pc bow out there now that doesn't have some amateurish craftsmanship for under $750-$850. It's so funny to me the ridiculous money folks will pay for custom knives and not batt an eye but then an object like a bow with moving parts and a whole list of materials they'll cry foul.
x2
i just think its odd that 5 years ago you could get a base model 3 pc recurve for 475.00 and now 1000.00. something doesnt add up.. im not saying they arent good bows. hell, just the opposite. they are great bows. i owned one, but to double the price in such a short time sorta strikes a nerve with me.. just sayin...
If you want a working man's bow, buy a Samick. If you want a custom made bow, hand crafted from exotic hardwoods, built here in the USA to your exact specs by experts... expect to pay.
Bought a used one a few years ago for 300.would not take 900.today.
Quote:
"i just think its odd that 5 years ago you could get a base model 3 pc recurve for 475.00 and now 1000.00. something doesnt add up.. im not saying they arent good bows. hell, just the opposite. they are great bows. i owned one, but to double the price in such a short time sorta strikes a nerve with me.. just sayin..."
I hear ya. Double is a lot. Although if you think about it, It's down to economics man. Inflation is a huge factor in the economy when it comes to pricing goods, as are the rising costs of overhead- electricity, water, advertising, employee wages...all of that trying to balance with inflation of our all mighty dollar.
There are guys who have been at my fire department much longer than me that ON PAPER make double what they made 15 years ago, BUT when we did the math and adjusted for inflation it only came out to like a measly 3 grand, and my dept hasn't had a meaningful raise in years.
Bowyering is skilled labor, heck even artwork in many ways, if you took the price of a bow and divided it into the hourly wage of a high-end skilled labor profession it wouldn't amount to much.
Hey at least oil is cheap right now! Maybe it will help!?
What's the difference between a custom bow and a production bow? Is it the number of bows you sell each year? Is it the number of people who work in the shop? Heck Jamie, with such big bucks to be made by bowyers one would think you would quit your job to become a bowyer and chase all this "easy" money!
Bob Lee bows are great, so is their customer service. OK, everyone knows this... I would have to guess that their prices reflect the economy that we live in today. Off the top of my head I can think of two very fine bowyers that recently stopped making bows. I am sure that they are trying to keep their doors open for business. :archer:
Was on their site the other day and noticed those prices myself and thought wow! :scared:
I have a Bob Lee bow that I like and will probably never sell, even though I have sold a few other bows that I liked almost (but not quite) as much. What something can be sold for is not so much a function of cost, as demand. If the cost is higher than it can be sold for, then that means you go out of business. If you can sell it for much more than the cost, it doesn't mean you reduce your selling price to meet the cost, it just means you're a very happy man.
As has been mentioned, custom bows are partially a work of art. Picasso, at the height of his career, could paint a painting in a few hours that would sell for many thousands of dollars, millions today now that he is dead and his art is still in demand.
You don't have to want a Bob Lee bow or be willing to pay his prices, but evidently enough people do or he would have to lower them.
Bob Lee bows are terrific! I have an Ultimate and 3 sets of recurve limbs for it: 56", 60", and 62".
There are often great deals in the classifieds here. That's where I bought mine.
nevermind
I'm sorry, but I think most are missing my point.. I like bob lee bows, in fact I love them.. I'd love another. Just think it's terr that they doubled the price..
So if it's ok with most of the posters here then if your insurance doubled this yr you'll also be ok with that... What's the difference?
Jamie, I'm not missing your point and completely understand what you are saying. Funny how things have changed and the mentality of the consumer world along with it.
My first Bob Lee takedown was the Hunter model and 64" long. I paid, $475.00 + shipping. Wish I had never got rid of that bow now!
Actually, if the insurance market were as competitive as the bow market, there would be no difference. If my insurance company doubled its price, I would just go somewhere else. Maybe insurance companies are as competitive as bowyers; I don't know. But we really aren't sure if the insurance market is that competitive, so if insurance costs doubled, we might wonder if something underhanded might be going on.
With the bow market, I don't think we can have that doubt. Nobody would seriously believe that Bob Lee and Black Widow and Kirk Lavender would get together to set prices. So if one of those companies decides to triple or quadruple its prices, it's fine with me. I probably wouldn't decide to buy any of their bows at that price, any more than I would buy a million dollar Picasso, but I wouldn't worry about it; it's really not my problem. That's the way capitalism is supposed to work in the USA, and more power to them.
Any ideas on used value of a bicentennial with 2 sets of limbs. I have a friend wanting to sell me one. Its got phenolic in the riser and shoots great. I believe the bow is about 10 yrs old but like new. Thanks
QuoteOriginally posted by Gaff:
I'm sorry, but I think most are missing my point.. I like bob lee bows, in fact I love them.. I'd love another. Just think it's terr that they doubled the price..
So if it's ok with most of the posters here then if your insurance doubled this yr you'll also be ok with that... What's the difference?
I think if bobs insurance /and electric/and glue/ and wood/sandpaper/and gasoline/and grocery's--doubled---and his prices were a tad low a few years ago--then it would be more than fair!--even though it might seem like a lot some!!
I think for a long time Bob Lee was the king of a great bow at a great price in their hunter model, look at some of the old "bob lee vs. black widow" threads, plus you could still get a deluxe model lee if you wanted one...seems like people now, including myself, have visited the lee site with the same expectation that is no longer a reality...leaves some of us with the bad taste of feeling outclassed by the working mans bow, despite the quality of the product.
Well, my house insurance DID almost double. I called another company and since we live in a 125 year old farm house with wood heat the closest offer was $1000.00 more and only after a site visit. I paid the old company's price.
Didn't Bob Lee build a new facility? That would necessitate some more funds, I'd think. If the bows are that good, as folks are saying, the demand will decide the price. Surely they won't price themselves into bankruptcy.
And no more one-piece bows it seems. The grips look fantastic.
As always, you get what you pay for... unless you get lucky. North American made is more, nowadays.
Gaff,
I understood your question. I'm just not inclined to comment on a company's pricing strategy.
I bought my first Bear Custom Kodiak (Type 1) for $150. But that was way back in the early 80's (used). The price is 15-20 times that now.
If Bob Lee compared its bow to some of the custom bows and those prices I can see why they (BL) figured their bow was worth quite a bit more. I have a handful of beautiful custom bows and love them. But they have zero on the BL Ultimate. In fact, all of them except a 25 year old Habu stayed on the rack all of this year's deer season. The Lee went hunting.
I'm not buying a new $60000 pickup truck or a new Bob Lee bow....would like to but it ain't gonna happen....
I was on his site last night thinking the same thing. Bill
I've had several Bob Lee's, and one which I wish I hadn't sold. That being said, they are stable shooters but not what I would call "performance" bows for the most part. Not in the same class as a Widow,Morrison, A&H. Unless something's changed and that 's why the high-dollar prices. The ones I had all cost around $500, and that was not so long ago.
Bob Lee Archery is not the same thing as Wing Archery. Wing Archery mass produced bows just like Pearson and Bear and used materials that permitted them to keep the price down. Bob Lee Archery is custom making bows using more expensive woods and they have upgraded the old product line to produce better-performing bows. Last time I checked, the new Bear Archery product line was not exactly cheap in price.
I was looking at the website the other day and, wow, there are some gorgeous bows on there... A bit too pricey for me but I would love to have one.
I just got the new 2015 black widow catalog today and there is not a bow in there under a $1000.
Do you consider Bob Lee Bows a Custom Bow or a Production Bow. I just traded for a Bob Lee Ultimate that I really like. Just does not seem like a custom bow to me. I consider a custom bow a one of a kind built by a crafted individual from raw materials to meet a certain custom order. Not a factory produced riser off a shelf and a mass produced set of limbs ?? Set me straight.
I think in the case of a Bob Lee you get what you pay for. Not every one is willing or has the resources to buy a bow in the $1,000 price range but yet there are many builders that offer bows in that range and higher. I have killed deer with a $50 bow and also a $1000 bow and every price tag in between. Bob Lee builds a high quality product and I think their service is second to none in fact after my last purchase from them Bob Lee called me himself to thank me for supporting their company. They are a family run business and I don't begrudge them for making a living in fact if we don't support these small family operations they will soon vanish forever.
I guess they're as custom as you want them to be. Higher production bowyers like Black Widow and Bob Lee have standard models you can buy, where all you specify is the length, tiller, weight, grip, and RH/LH. But either of them will make modifications to their standard designs to suit your tastes in type of wood,, etc. if you want. I don't know that either will make you a totally custom bow from the ground up, as they have standard forms, templates, clamps, etc., to produce the various models they offer, but I think the same would be true of most smaller volume bowyers too, other than someone who starts with a piece of wood and makes a totally unique self bow from it.
By rlc1959's definition of a custom bow I don't know of any currently being made.
I'm probably below the curve but I wouldn't trust my knowledge to provide guidance to build a 100% custom bow. The most I try to do is pick the woods, limb length, tiller, and draw weight. That's custom enough for me.