Don't know how much he's making at $250 a unit- but, know the costs of stainless, there has to be shortcuts taken somewhere to justify the price point. Keeping costs and prices down is pretty elemental- it boils down to basic tenents: supply, demand, and manufacturing.
Assuming a quality product:
Supply hi- demand low= lower $$
Supply low- demand low= lower $$
Supply low- demand hi= higher $$
supply hi- demand hi= higher $$
Most guys who hobby in motorsports understand that it's not exactly the cheapest pasttime to get into; they are also some of the more demanding and anal customers you'll run into. They expect- heck, they demand a product to work as advertised the first time, in all aspects- fit, finish, quality, and performance.The vendors that support our Buick disease aren't giving away their products because they take the time to develop them to work- and they're not working on huge margins, either.
These same vendors also aren't waiting to be beat up on a product from a tightwad that wants everythign for nothing (same tightwad is always the loudest to bitch, whine, and complain about how badly they were treated after they tried to rape the vendor on price).....
I can do basic welding and fabricating- for most, that's not an option, and when they buy a part, the last thing they want to do it to take "X" number of hours to get said cheap part to fit. After unbolting and reinstalling a part for the nth time because of fitment issues, you begin to wonder if you really saved all that much....
I'll agree, there are junk US made products, as there are quality China made products.
You say,
"I've always paid top dollar for the products I've gotten. I spared no expense."
- yet, you want to cheap out on parts (headers) that aren't really a huge benefit to performance, AND take work on your part to fix. I'm a bit confused.....
Next, you say,
"Doesn't mean we have to pay a premium for the parts now that we pay a premium for the Car!
It's great to know I can save some money on parts when I'm paying top dollar just to own one! So I guess to some it's cool that if the price of a Grand National goes up because of demand . . . . . . then so should the parts"
Here's the thing- this market is SMALL! Prices are what they are because of supply vs demand! We are playing with cars that, in a short time, will be the equivalent of the 1969 Z-28 Camaro, the SD-455 Trams-AM, the 1970 R/T Challengers, etc. As in these cars, the parts market will continue to tighten, and parts from reputable vendors will get the lion's share of the market. "Reputable" does not mean that a part needs 10 hours of rabrication/modification for it to work.
Perhaps you're not ready to accept these facts...have fun with your headers!