Earlier, Mark Zivley wrote:

If someone can afford the cost of
a new glider, it isn't going to break
them to pay for BOTH nose and CG hooks.
I don't see why SH (or any other
manufacturer) would waste the time with
"options" on this subject...

The issue here isn't getting the buyer to pay for both hooks. It's
getting them to pay _more_ for them. That's where the profit margin
is.

A year or so ago, I had the experience of observing a friend select
and purchase a brand-new European racer. Just about everything that
wasn't absolutely required was optional. Even the canopy sliding
window was "optional."

With that experience in mind, I'd say that the factories play the
"option" game for the same reason that car dealers do it: It's a
relatively easy way to make the basic price tag look attractive, while
increasing the profit margin on the typical sale. It's not at all a
time-waster, except perhaps for the purchaser.

For all the relatively high prices the factories charge for new
sailplanes, they are still operating on relatively slender profit
margins. Even high-production types are pretty much hand-built by
skilled workers using some pretty expensive materials. It's hard to
fault them for getting all the market will bear, any way they
reasonably can.

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24