Beam mounts vs. Standoffs
Neither is really better than the other. Beam mounts usually need a separate additional mount to be added to the firewall. Standoffs mount directly to the firewall. Overall weights for beam mounts usually end up being only very slightly heavier than a rear standoff mount. As long as the rear mount system is properly designed and sized, it really makes very little difference which mounting system is used.
Cheap sources of engines.
The Chinese export economy has thrived to date on selling at low cost. In fact they have been so very successful at doing that that they now have rampant true inflation whilst controlling a large chunk of cash from other countries. Why is that? - Because we let them by buying on cost (Think nearly every purchase you make these days - they come from chain suppliers - heck, Even RCU is now owned by the owners of a bunch of other forums).
DLE became popular and the value of the product increased because they started out cheap with a few problems, addressed those problems and became a low cost and reasonable product. The original DL50. Version 1 had a number of issues such as thin mounting lugs, prop shaft issues etc - look at what a gem they have evolved into now yet they got their start in life because they were a low cost "ready to enjoy alternative to the other offerings at the time. They were supported by a distributor who genuinely cared about the product and worked hard with the factory to feed back the improvements required and those improvements got done. I understand that distributor is no longer around in their original form due to the market being flooded with the low cost alternative sources of the product once the engine became popular.
If a brand chooses to raise their prices and limit their distributorship once they become sought after, sure they will lose some sales but their overall profit will probably stay the same with a lot less headaches associated with high sales rates. This opens the door for some of the other up and coming manufacturers to improve and get to the same standard (Hasn't happened with any others yet - but you can live in vain hope that it may one day).
There will always be a low cost alternative to bolt onto the front of our planes, some will be acceptable, some will need "assistance". Just because one brand decides to raise their pricing because they now have the reputation doesn't mean the end of the world - just move on to the next "low purchase price" brand and assist them to increase their game to match that of DLE. If the "next best manufacturer" manages to get their product up to spec (hasn't happened yet) then there will be some competition out there that will drive prices down again.
Market Saturation
I often have a laugh at the engine companies that send me e-mails offering to let me be their "distributor" then within a month they send other e-mails to my other address offering to sell direct to me as an end user at about $20 - $50 more per engine that the "distributor" price. A typical 50 - 60cc engine at "distributor" price is between $160 and $200 (plus shipping).
The difference in the factory offered "Distributor price" and "End user price" at $50 mark-up on a $200 purchase price may sound like a good margin to some but consider these costs that need to be taken out of that margin.
"Free shipping"
This does not really exist. Somewhere in the chain the transport companies get paid to ship from China to the end user - either by a drop shipping arrangement (at about $20 per engine through the likes of EMS) or in two or 3 steps from the factory to the distributor then to the end user with possibly a retailer in between. Someone somewhere pays for this.
Support costs - these are a real cost as they do take up a staff members time.
Because the target audience for the low purchase price engines are often less experienced, there will be a significant amount of support time required (this is not guesswork, it is based on experience). Some brands require more support than others and the irony is that as the brand becomes more popular and the value of the brand increases, there is more general support available and less support required from the distributors.
Warranty issues
These are rarely covered by the factory and the associated labor costs are pretty much never covered. Again, as the brand improves the warranty issues become less and the brand value increases.
Stock holding costs
Distributors typically have a MOQ of between 8 engines per model or 50 engines in total depending on the supplier’s dreams. That costs money to keep on the shelf. Again the irony is that as the brand becomes more popular, the stock turns over faster and the cost of stockholding reduces.
Promotion costs
These are also rarely covered by the factory. Again, as the popularity increases and the quality is proven, the promotion costs reduce per unit. These costs include advertisements, special deals, "freebies" etc.
Unfortunately for the distributors of the "unproven brands", the Chinese business "ethic" will bite them. As soon as the brand becomes popular after all those costs plus more are worn by the original importer of the brand, the next move by the factory is usually to appoint more distributors and allow a price war to commence. The "manufacturer" wins out because they sell a lot of "MOQ" orders in a short time at the same prices as they always sold at.
I've said it many times over - if low purchase price is the target, buy from the lowest cost source of acceptable power, ignore the brand name as there are in fact very few actual manufacturers and expect to do your own product support with the factory / overseas seller. If local product support is wanted, expect the local supplier to want to be able to feed his family at the end of the week and allow him to at least make a wage. If top quality in all areas is wanted (such as a proper proven power curve, proper manufacturing and assembly techniques and tolerances and a manufacturer that has a quality sales support team), then chances are that the product isn't coming from China nor is it going to be low purchase prices to the end user.
And to answer a question I often get asked
IF I was to buy any Chinese engine (which I do not plan to do any time soon). There is only one brand I would purchase. DLE from the local supplier.
Why? - they are the only one to have shown they genuinely understand the needs of the end user adn the needs of their genuine distributor. Sure they may have wavered in earlier days but they fixed the issues instead of just trying to sell more.