Have you ever experienced sticker shock when looking at carbon fiber lip kits? If so, you’re not alone. Carbon fiber lip kits can run hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Carbon fiber lip kits are pretty simple parts, so why are they so expensive? We can think of three reasons.
1. The Raw Material Is Expensive
Carbon fiber lip kit manufacturers have to pay a hefty upfront fee to produce their products. It’s because the material they use is expensive. The majority of carbon fibers are made from organic polymers. These are long and thin strands of the element carbon. To be more technical, these strands are molecules held together by carbon atoms.
Organic polymers can be pretty affordable, but carbon fiber isn’t. Why is that? It’s because it’s difficult and time-consuming to turn organic polymers into carbon fiber. The process involves getting rid of half the acrylic in the organic polymer. That alone doubles the price of the material. Not to mention, to manufacture carbon fiber you would also need to:
- Feed the material into long ovens to achieve oxidization stabilization
- Achieve the carbonization process, which involves putting the material in very hot furnaces.
- Treat the off gasses
- Arrange the material into a lattice
- Ensure the material’s structural integrity
When you factor in the high energy, real estate, and equipment costs, it’s no wonder carbon fiber is quite expensive.
2. Carbon Fiber Lip Kits Are Hard To Make
The raw material is expensive, but it’s not the only reason carbon fiber lip kits cost an arm and a leg. The manufacturing process is very time-consuming and labor intensive. It involves:
- A molding process
- A layering process
The labor and equipment costs add up. Carbon fiber lip kit manufacturers need to factor these costs into their prices. Also, they still need to turn a profit. Even after all that, there’s no guarantee that the carbon fiber kit will fit your car well.
3. Carbon Fiber Lip Kits Aren’t That Popular
Demand isn’t high for carbon fiber lip kits. If manufacturers want to stay in business, they need to set a high price for their products. Their overhead costs – including the mold and equipment costs – are quite high. If many people bought carbon fiber lip kits, manufacturers could spread their overhead costs across more units. This will result in a much lower per-unit price. Demand isn’t high, so their small pool of customers have to pay premium prices to cover the overhead costs.
For example, demand is high for TVs, smartphones, and tablets, so their prices have plummeted over the years. When flat screen TVs came out, they were very expensive because only a few people had them. Today, practically everyone has a flat screen TV. So they’ve become quite affordable.
Let’s say that a carbon fiber kit manufacturer’s overhead costs are $100,000 per month. They get an average of 200 customers per month. That means each customer would need to pay an extra $200 for their carbon fiber kit to help keep the manufacturer in business. What if the company got 10,000 customers a month? Each customer would only need to pay an extra $10 instead of $200. Supply and demand plays a big part in the affordability of a product. In the case of carbon fiber kits, demand is low so the prices are high.
A Much Cheaper Alternative
There are a few reasons carbon fiber kits aren’t so popular:
- They’re expensive
- They break easily
- They don’t always fit right
This post has more information about why carbon fiber lip kits aren’t always a wise purchase.
You could always buy a fake carbon fiber lip kit, which is much cheaper than the real thing. Yet, fake carbon fiber lip kits come with a host of issues. Most of these issues are like the issues that come with real carbon fiber lip kits. For example, the fake ones also aren’t durable and they don’t always fit right.
There’s another option, though, that’s:
- Much cheaper than real and fake carbon fiber lip kits
- Much easier to install
- Much more durable
What is it? An All-Fit Lip Kit. An All-Fit Lip Kit is a durable lip kit that’s made of high quality reinforced rubber.
- All-Fit Lip Kits are more durable than carbon fiber lip kits.
- An All-Fit Lip Kit costs only a small fraction of a carbon fiber lip kit.
- An All-Fit Lip Kit will dial up your vehicle’s appearance in the same way a carbon fiber lip kit would.
- All-Fit Lip Kits are much easier to install because they’re universal and flexible.
In a nutshell, All-Fit Lip Kits make a heck of a lot more sense for daily drivers. Save some money and get yourself an All-Fit Lip Kit today!
