@CHL
If it was $2500 when I had it done, I probably wouldn\'t have gotten it when I did either, but I would have eventually saved up to it. I\'m not defending the pricing or price hike per-se, but rather, just pointing out that the current sum of 3 appointments, and all that it entails, is relatively fair if you consider all other
Girth options available medically-speaking (
FFT, Alloderm, Silicone implant, scaffolding). As it currently stands, you\'re looking at $5,500 vs $4,000 - $10,000. And the latter price range ($4,000 - $10,000) assumes a one-time procedure, not 3 appointments like you have with
PMMA. I\'m not justifying the price hike, nor am I fan of it, but on the same token I wholeheartedly cannot believe the current pricing is unfair, unethical, or egregious- given where the current
Phalloplasty market stands, it\'s actually still pretty reasonable.
I think pricing becomes ridiculous/unsustainable if it disrespects supply & demand. As dcpimpin suggested, if things slow down (demand weakens), it may be an indication that the pricing is stepping out of the market\'s bounds and will force the Doctor to reduce pricing (or at least you\'d hope he would). But on the flip side, if popularity for the Doctor somehow jumps exponentially (hypothetically), then he could easily justify a price increase from an economic/business reason alone, regardless of whether or not his overhead & product costs have changed. There is no other doctor in North America providing
PMMA with his expertise, popularity, & reputation. Supply would be limited, demand would be skyrocketing. What I\'m ultimately getting at here is that the market will dictate the price, the Doctor can only increase the price so much before it becomes unsustainable - if he\'s charging $2,500 and has not announced any potential price decrease, or any sale packages/specials, it\'s likely that he\'s priced well within the markets acceptable range. In time, the price may go up, it may go down, it may stay the same, all depending on what the market dictates.
I\'m no economic expert, but if I were to guess, product & overhead costs, market trends, pricing by bioplasty competitors, and pricing by other
Phalloplasty procedures were in play when they considered the price change - and whatever reason(s) they gave publicly could have been a layman\'s explanation for the sake of convenience - this of course is just a guess and I have no actual evidence or communication from their office to know for certain the exact justification for the price change.
And for those who are still considerably upset over the current pricing, the market may dictate the arrival of (legitimate) competitors, something that I suspect will be inevitable as time goes on, and will balance out pricing & the market even more in favor of the consumer/patient. Time will tell.
That all being said, I\'ve noticed this thread steer further and further from being Kingpin\'s progress report (and I\'m partly to blame lol), and I ask we return to the original topic matter. If you feel the need to continue discussing pricing, etc, there are probably open threads you can find via the Search Function.