In the last $6$ months, demand for one of Appleby Company$$s products has dropped off considerably, due mainly to it becoming obsolescent as a result of technological change. Knowing that the equipment used in the manufacture of this product may not be easy to sell, Appleby spent $$50,000$ on consultants to determine whether it could use the equipment to produce a new product under license by another company. The consultant has determined that this product would have variable production costs of $$65$ per unit and should sell at a price of $$90/$unit$.$ The licensing royalty is $5\%$ of gross product revenue. Estimated annual demand is $20,000$ units per year. Additional annual operating costs related to this product are $$30,000/$year $($excluding depreciation$).$ Depreciation on the equipment is $$15,000/$year$.$

Costs that are irrelevant to the decision to manufacture the new product include all of the following except: