They did take the pages down eventually, but it took some back/forth by email. They tried to cop out by saying something to the effect of, "we were just waiting for you to provide us with prices..." even though it'd been 2-3 years since we last spoke. That's when I offered them 20-25% commission and they told me to "have a nice day".
If they provided competent technical service, handled the payment, shipment, returns, follow-up questions competently, I could maybe find 35-40% reasonable. But if they're just looking to have a honey pot to draw people in and dump all the work on me, then 35-40% is way too much in my opinion.
Tom
If they provided competent technical service, handled the payment, shipment, returns, follow-up questions competently, I could maybe find 35-40% reasonable. But if they're just looking to have a honey pot to draw people in and dump all the work on me, then 35-40% is way too much in my opinion.
Tom
I imagine 40% (or more) is quite normal margin for retailers who hold stock, have physical demo locations, and as you say, handle shipping, returns, and real support. But to only offer the same "window shopping" service as one of the big online marketplaces, that seems absurd.
I talked to a local high-end hifi store about carrying my headphone amps. He wanted 38% if I recall correctly. This is a brick-and-mortar storefront with multiple listening rooms, including - at the time - a dedicated headphone space. Unfortunately they were moving away from headphones so we never connected. One of the employees there did buy a Modulus-286 though. 🙂
Distributors typically want 60% so they can offer the stores 35-40%. Think about that for a moment. 60% of the sale price goes to getting the product in front of the customer. That doesn't leave much for the product itself once the manufacturer's overhead is taken into account.
Tom
Distributors typically want 60% so they can offer the stores 35-40%. Think about that for a moment. 60% of the sale price goes to getting the product in front of the customer. That doesn't leave much for the product itself once the manufacturer's overhead is taken into account.
Tom
The only one I can think of is Hifi Collective which is a) more aimed at the valve side of DIY generally so maybe not a natural fit and b) in the UK so not even the EU due to our previous "situation" (and that is as far as I am going to go on that given the site policies...)
Yeah. That's unfortunate. The whole point is that I'd ship some inventory to somewhere in the EU so my customers there wouldn't get dinged with VAT and billing fees when the package arrives.
I thought of Elektor as well and contacted them a while back. Never heard back. I'm not sure if they're still in the UK or if they have a warehouse elsewhere as well.
Sweet! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll reach out to them. They look very turntable oriented, but perhaps they'd be interested in branching out a bit, especially, if I handle the customer support so all they have to do is to ship the products.
Tom
That describes Neurochrome to a T. 🙂
As much as I resisted delivering kits, it's actually been a really good move. I hire the help of a friend to pack the kits which makes it way more fun. And then I just ship kits. All the "this part is out of stock, what can you suggest as a substitute?" questions go away. I don't mind the questions, but I would rater spend my time designing circuits and providing more – shall we say – cerebral help than going through Mouser's catalog to find parts.
Tom
Hi Tom, you could also consider Rumoh. Also based in the Netherlands and very DIY minded...
They used to carry Doede's DDDac. You could reach out to him to see how his experience working with them was.
On the consumer side of things, there's time savings from not having to deal with "damn, Mouser's out. Now I need to find the equivalent Digikey part. Damn - Digi is out. Arrow? Maybe I need to ping Tom".
Just imo, after fulfilling a few BOMs the novelty fades, and the time savings from not having to do so becomes a significant feature.
Yeah, plus cost could go down (or profit up) when ordering parts in bulk...
I agree.
My kits are priced such that it costs you about the same or a little more to order the kit than it would for you to order the boards + parts. I think the few bucks more are well worth it to not have to deal with ordering the parts yourself. The bulk discount provides me with enough cash that I'm willing to invest the several $k it costs to order parts for 50-100 kits and pay my friend for his help in putting the kits together.
Tom
Also (if not already implied above) there's a single, reasonable shipping fee.
In addition, with buying the kit, one is not tempted to substitute parts that might not actually work.
I got my kit last summer or so, but have been very slow in assembling it - I have too many other projects, and have also been interrupted by various life situations such as a heart bypass.
I got my kit last summer or so, but have been very slow in assembling it - I have too many other projects, and have also been interrupted by various life situations such as a heart bypass.
Good point. That makes even less work for me. Less work, same money, happier customers. Ya know... Life could be worse. 🙂
Tom
Tom says "I would rater spend my time designing circuits""
Does that mean there are new circuits in the near future?
t
Does that mean there are new circuits in the near future?
t
I would suggest you've put a lot of work up front into these designs, and deserve less work on the back end of all of this as a result. This is pretty damn cool tech.
+1, it's been a few years since I last ordered from them but they were always very responsive and friendly, and the same goes for Soundimports, also NL-based. In the past both have special ordered for me stuff they didn't have in their catalogue with little delay and no upcharge. They are mainly loudspeaker oriented but also have good selections of amp modules and kits.
SoundImports looks like it could be a good match. Thanks for that!
I'm always working on something. It may be a circuit for a client. It may be a prototype for a new Neurochrome thing. Just a moment ago I finished gluing up a little cubby that I'll use for a nightstand.
Tom
Oh, probably. It depends on what you consider the "near future". Are we talking on a geological scale? 😀
I'm always working on something. It may be a circuit for a client. It may be a prototype for a new Neurochrome thing. Just a moment ago I finished gluing up a little cubby that I'll use for a nightstand.
Tom