Here's my $.02
I can understand wanting to deliever the best product possible to the customer, and therefore wanting to be better educated on the product.
Based on what I've read here, there are very few definites. Like Smitty finding the white gold that was supposed to be platinum, unless every kit line is tested, we pretty much have to go by what the manufacture/supplier claimes.
Maybe some consumers demand that the pen they buy labled as Rhodium have a certain minimum amount of Rhodium in it. If they are paying that much, then I can understand. However, I think the main motivating factor behind such discussions is often, "How to justify prices."
When buying kits, I'm more concerned with how well the plating wears.
I am still new at this, but I hear different opinions from different sources. One sources says "X" has the best transmissions, the other source claims it's "Y". Untill I recieve market feedback, I really don't know how one kit will perform over the other.
Do I price Gold Ti, more than 24K? (It costs me more). OTH, PSI's 24K line has a lifetime warranty, while their Gold Ti does not.
In the end, what I decided was, "Regardless of which kit I use, I will "make it right" no matter the kit." If that means a 24K pen comes back with worn plating, and I have to replace it with Gold Ti, so be it. I price my pens accordingly, knowing I may have to cover replacement costs in the future. In the end, regardless of how "good" the plating is, I'm hard pressed to believe that there is one that will never wear. I happens, and my goal is to minimize that. When I sell a pen (or anything really) to someone, I feel my personal service is more important than which plating.
I thought about giving people the option of "24k, or Gold Ti", but came to believe that for the most part, the main difference to the end line user is quality (in this case, wear). I doubt that there is enough gold in the 24K kits to be of any value if melted down, and I believe the same for the Rhodium, Titanium, etc...
I remember buying my first black ti cigar kit, and asking the salesman if the plating was actually titanium. The current price earlier this year was about $13 IIRC, and his response was along the line of, "It should be if it's going to cost that much, so I'm sure it is." He actually thought the whole part was titanium, not just the plating, so that's when I realized to not place much stock in valuing the plating.
PSI sells lots of neat stuff, and lots of people here use their kits. However, they don't get a bad rap for the quality of their kits, it's their service that people think about most.