Orvis Catalog Pricing ?

Hi,

Not much to do this afternoon, so I thought I'd post this question regarding
Orvis pricing. Guess it's a bit of a "rant," but am curious about what
others think, or if I am the only one.

Finally got the Orvis Men's wear and Gift catalogs that I had been trying to
get for several weeks now, per
my old post on this.

Looked at the prices for shirts, etc., and all I can say is "Wow !"
Are they kidding ?

I can go to my local Macy's, or LL Bean's catalog, and can get truly the
same quality item for
1/2 or what they are asking, or better. $ 80 cotton shirts ?

Does anyone actually buy at these prices ?

I remember in Eco there is a very interesting graph called, if I remember
right, Laffer's curve.

It shows that if you price an item too low, you'll sell zillions of them,
but your overall profit will be very low. If priced too high, you'll make a
killing on a few sold, but again, the overall profit will be low.
Somewhere between these two extremes is a peak, or a pricing point, which
gives a maximum profit.
The curve always looks like a parabola, of course.

Can't help but feel that if they priced e.g., like Bean, and sell much more,
they would come out way ahead.

I know flyfishermen are rumored to be wealthy (hah !) but even if one is
"comfortable," I can't imagine their spending these kind of for items
priced like this. Or, perhaps they do ?.

Just curious what you folks think ?

Bob