Instrumentation Issues, Changes and Pricing

I wanted to start off this “commercial” portion of the September newsletters with some personal comments. You can see from the history of OIRF included in this issue of “The Bridge” that recommendation (and subsequent sales) of quality German instrumentation has been an integral part of the Institute almost from the beginning.

We have been a legitimate non-profit organization since our return to Canada in 1984, and thus the commercial aspects of selling this instrumentation had to be done carefully. Of course the flip side of that legitimacy coin is the fact that – so far – none of the instrumentation OIRF recommends is registered either with Health and Welfare Canada or the F&DA in the States.

We have been carefully ‘treading water’ on these issues for decades. By making this unregistered instrumentation available on a not-for-profit basis under the umbrella of our non-profit research organization, we have all managed to obtain our needed equipment safely and with relative ease.

But, as with all things, this is changing. A few other companies like Kindling and Regumed have made the investment of time and huge amounts of money to get some of their models registered – some in Canada, some in USA and some in both countries. In many cases they originally registered for veterinary use, or as TENS devices, or as biofeedback devices. They have ‘managed’ to get registration, but not quite for the true purposes intended for their devices. That’s a dangerous game to play, since the registration departments will eventually catch up with the “not quite” truths.

Recently, there have been new categories introduced that include BioResonance – as a category of its own! – and at least Kindling has changed their registrations accordingly. Thus once again, OIRF is forced into that important choice of whether or not to get our recommended instrumentation registered. But, what about the money, and the time, and the consultants? Where will all this come from?

As things stand now, the Institute sells all recommended instrumentation to you at less than factory export prices. Everything is sold individually (equipment, software, accessories, etc.) so that you can choose only those items that will work best in your practice. The Institute takes a small commission on everything and has arranged in all cases for instrumentation to be shipped directly to you from the factories in Europe (Germany or Austria). In this way all shipping, handling, processing and installation costs are minimized and you are receiving the best quality equipment at the lowest possible price.

But I have to be completely honest with you here. Although our membership fees and sales of books and materials cover our basic expenses, there is little left to sponsor seminars and Germany tours or to continue the invaluable research work that we do. Quite simply, it is the proceeds from our instrumentation sales that have kept the Institute going in that regard.

As time has passed, it has become more and more expensive for us to handle all of this instrumentation. In light of increased costs for education and training, changes to shipping methods (going from old fashioned snail-mail to FedEx), individual computer needs (different cables and configurations to match your specific systems), order handling and processing costs, setup and initial service costs after delivery, repair and service issues, and so on, we now have to make some inevitable changes to our sales methods and pricing.

I am not very happy about all this and I have done a great deal of soul searching throughout the slow summer months. Those of you who took advantage of the “hot” mid-summer special discount prices I sent out at the end of July got a really great deal! I have taken a sharp pencil to the price lists and will be able to hold almost everything as it is until about the end of September (barring any major exchange rate fluctuations).

But, Med-Tronik has already announced their price increases will come into effect on November 1, 2007 at 5% across the board. All orders placed before October 31st and delivered before the end of the year will be calculated at current prices. There will not be any extensions or exceptions. The new pricing will be in effect on November 1st. In looking back through my factory price lists I can see this is their first increase in more than seven years, so this is really fair.

Both the Ionized Oxygen therapy and the BioPhoton light therapy devices are also expected to increase dramatically in price later this year – even though no notice has yet been received from the factories. They also have had stable pricing for four to five years.

And then we have to come back to the registration issue. Our little non-profit research organization simply cannot afford the estimated $160,000 to $250,000 necessary to make this happen for all the devices.

The Medical Electronics firm that makes the BioPhoton light therapy devices has already completed certification for registration in Canada. With the help of our own Board of Directors we are prepared to push this device through for registration with Health and Welfare Canada. This will give us the experience to consider registering some of the other devices.

Our biggest stumbling block at this point is convincing the German Med-Tronik (MORA) factory to take the step of getting the mandatory (but costly) Canadian certification.

All of these aspects must now be considered in our pricing structures for future instrumentation sales. For the next month or so, we will continue as we have in the past – trying to make this quality instrumentation available to you as inexpensively as possible. However, here are some of the changes that will be brought into effect over the next few months:

• Costs of handling and processing your orders (like shipping, individual computer connections, initial setup, etc.) will now be added into the selling price of the devices and can no longer be absorbed by the Institute
• Pricing will be increased to cover unanticipated exchange rate fluctuations
• Once registrations are sought, these costs will also have to be added into the selling price of the devices
• We will no longer offer scheduled basic/beginner instrumentation training seminars
• Inclusive package prices for instrumentation with service, installation and basic training will be made available separately
• Private, individual and group training will be available for set fees – please see training schedule attached

In spite of our best attempts, it is sadly time for the Institute to become more conscious of the marketing and financial aspects of continuing to offer this fine German and Austrian instrumentation to you. Even though we will remain altruistic in our approach, and must remain corporately non-profit, we still have to pay the bills.

The bottom line to all of this is that you can expect to see some big price increases in all instrumentation before the end of this year. Once again, I am offering you the opportunity to obtain instrumentation at these literally bargain basement prices – but not for long. Contact Elaine or me now to get quotes or to place your orders, and I thank you for taking the time to read through this wordy but heartfelt explanation.

With all best wishes, I respectfully remain . . .

s/ Carolyn
Carolyn L. Winsor-Sturm
Managing Director

An Informational Supplement for Members
From THE BRIDGE Newsletter of OIRF
Published September 10, 2007

© Copyright 2007, Carolyn L. Winsor, OIRF, BC Canada