Customers do not see it as their job to ensure that manufacturers make a profit.

Most American and European companies set their prices by adding up costs and then putting a profit margin on top. And then, as soon as they have introduced the product or service, they have to start cutting the price, have to redesign the product at enormous expense, have to take losses—and, often, have to drop a perfectly good product or service because it is priced incorrectly. Their argument? “We have to recover our costs and make a profit.” But the only sound way to price is to start out with what the market is willing to pay and design to that price specification. To start out with price and then whittle down costs is certainly ...

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