You could really carry this over into a bunch of different products, not just bikes. Why does it cost $6.00 for a bag of chips at the store? Why does one place get $20 for a large pizza and another place charges only $5.99? Why would you buy a new Cadillac instead of a new Kia? It's the the beauty of a free economy. Make what people want and sell it for as much of a profit as the market will allow.
You have to break the process down to see the steps of profit along the way. The manufacturer in China is gonna charge Felt $100/bike to make them. Felt turns around and sells them to the dealers for $350-$500 each and then the dealer marks them up. Those are obviously not exact amounts, but it does show the profit chain. Then you have to throw in licensing, employees, insurance, taxes and all of the other overhead each company is responsible for and each step isn't making as much as it seems.
There's a good reason that Felt uses the same frame design on all of their cruisers....new designs are expensive. The fact that they are able to pull off these limited run theme bikes is pretty amazing in itself.
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While I fully understand and agree with what your saying, thank the good lord I really don't care about these bikes. This is truely a bike that if someone would want, they could wait a year or two and find it for a 3rd to a 1/2 of what it's selling for now. Bet ya ten bucks it will show up on the "American Pickers" website listed as a "true collectable". Jokes on the public!!!