I don't have a lot in the hopper for pricing on the Sense but I will remind some people of what we've been paying for heaters... And we don't even have to start with torches, which too can be insane for someone as frugal as me.
First of all, what does Orion offer to make it 'special'? The fact that you no longer have to hold down the switch? At what cost - a delay in firing! Couldn't handle that delay and I sold it. Also hated the variance between tips that I rarely experience with my Fluxer Flite.
Now what did you happily pay for that Orion? That's right, $200 plus shipping. How many hundreds of you, if not thousands, happily flocked to the DV website, and others, to be the first to have an Orion? Again, a simple IH that happened to have USB-C charging?
Then comes Fluxer Flite - $220+ [$250 all in] and you get PWM for power level control and customization including tuning. Did the Flite get under-sold? Well, they all sold out within the day of introduction. That should answer the question.
I once was a real fan of the VapMan. I really wanted one. I hate butane. This is what stopped me;
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It's just a conduction heater for $275 because it is an artisan offering. People paid this too for a simple heater.
I could go on but I think you get my drift.
If it was me, and it isn't, this heater would be a $299 MSRP never seeing more than a 10-15% discount. This is your 'Orion' married to a custom MOD. $200 + $100. This is still a steal for the tech and the market. However, not many customers are up to paying market value.
One last note - I have watched Reddit EntExchange and DynavapExchange and you will notice one thing - no artisan heater has ever lost value! Even Orion with all the reports were still selling for 2-bills! Therefore I will put forth for
@Brenyo that any price under 3-bills is a gift to the community. Not because of these costs, but for the fact that the community has promoted these price-points.
I look forward to the day that a Mad Heaters Sense gets compared to the cheap Chinese Orion knockoff, which still comes in at over a bill, and I promise you one thing, you probably won't buy the Chinese heater and you'll be pining over the Sense... and you will probably buy a Caldron or HotShot from Pipes just because you know it will be a great heater as well. So for $150 hopefuls - the market says no - $200 hopefuls; deeply discounted as a market adjuster, maybe - $250 hopefuls; I think you are realistic. $300 will give resellers room to move with sales and specials. Once this heater is tuned and spit-polished there will be nothing to stop it from dominating the market in high end induction heaters. This is no longer an artisan vape, and it is not a Chinese knockoff. This is a product along the lines of Flowermate, S&B, and other volume manufacturers. If this could go out the door for $200, the Orion is dead already. I suspect the manufacturing cost of the unit will easily be double the Orion if not triple.
And as to budgets - What I pay for flower is insane. One trip to the market could buy any heater and I have to do with a little less flower for a while. When the Sense gets its rave reviews, those serious about their VapCap will also get serious about these heaters.
One last reminder of the insanity of Vape Pricing -
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I know some of you paid this!