So what is stopping them from sending the work to China? I would say they are willing to pay for a quality restoration that makes their life easy upon insertion.
I think we can all agree that work sent to china is in a well 'below average' price range. I mean you cant compare a $60 crown to a $200 crown, to a $350 crown.. I think the answer to that question is, nothing is stopping them.. Some are willing to pay more, and I think this forum is proof that most labs are in the middle of the road price wise, and the majority of Drs use labs like those. but still, very few Drs are willing to pay for overpriced crowns.
Are you going to charge the average or below the average? The customer determines the value not you.You will be perceived as average or below average .
Percieved by who as below average?
Just because a crown has a big price tag doesnt mean its 'above average'. I know Drs pay more in Canada and Aus. but if we both took emax crowns of similar quality to 100 Drs in the US, 99 out of 100 would purchase the crown with the lower price tag, especially if its half the cost. If the patient or the Dr cant tell the difference, then they wont pay the difference.
I just finished up a full mouth emax/zir. case, and after all the work of staining, layering etc. to make these crowns actually look like natural teeth, the patient wants it just plain toilet bowl white. So the quality that is percieved by the patient isnt always what a tech or a Dr percieves as quality.
Im not saying you should be the cheapest, but everyone is always looking for a better deal.. and the average price on this forum for labs in the US is within $30-40 it seems. In other words, I could charge $350 for an emax, but its not worth the time it would take to find the 1 out of 100 drs that would actually buy it. In the meantime I couldve sold 50 $200 emax crowns...
All the 'high end' guys (price wise) that I know are sitting on their hands in a slow economy, but Im having record months at an 'average' price range.