I have thought about selling amplifiers on ebay.
So I had a look around on ebay to see what there was and at what price.
From what I could make out I cant even buy the components for what some people are selling the completed item for.
So it seems buyers have never had it so good.
I guess if I want to make money I would have to specialise in something that isn't main stream.
So I had a look around on ebay to see what there was and at what price.
From what I could make out I cant even buy the components for what some people are selling the completed item for.
So it seems buyers have never had it so good.
I guess if I want to make money I would have to specialise in something that isn't main stream.
Yea, hard to beat thousand lot parts out the factory back door and child labor in China. Of course, you never know if the parts are what is marked.
The sad thing is that if you tried to have a Unique Selling Point of amplifiers which fully satisfy the EMC (=RF interference) and Low Voltage (=safety) Directives, and made reasonable and verifiable claims on power output, distortion etc. you would find that most people would still prefer to buy cheap junk which doesn't work too well and might burn their house down or electrocute their children - but has lovely chromework and polished wood.
Don't forget that there are enough people who would buy yours BECAUSE they cost more.
You should never price something according to what it cost YOU, anyway.
You should never price something according to what it cost YOU, anyway.
It helps if you can write a good story too. Make sure every component is 'carefully selected' after 'listening tests', casually name-drop a few boutique brands for some random components, and invent a fancy new name for a circuit invented in the 1930s.
I'm not convinced it's so easy to cheat the buyers
yeah, some buy it, sure
but maybe not as many as it appears to be
ofcourse they like us to believe it's exstremely popular, and sells well
.... another option is to make it a tweaker's dream
yeah, some buy it, sure
but maybe not as many as it appears to be
ofcourse they like us to believe it's exstremely popular, and sells well
.... another option is to make it a tweaker's dream
One thing that is difficult to buy at a reasonable price is an enclosure. Even a decent brushed aluminium faceplate seems to cost the earth.
With steel being so cheap, it seems incredible that our projects can't find a decent home without taking out a mortgage.
The cheapest I have found a reasonable case with heatsinks for comes in at just over £100 after you have added tax and postage.
With steel being so cheap, it seems incredible that our projects can't find a decent home without taking out a mortgage.
The cheapest I have found a reasonable case with heatsinks for comes in at just over £100 after you have added tax and postage.
Build yourself something like a 2A3 PSE amp, use a common, well known circuit, use all the "good stuff" inside, over-engineer it to the hilt, EG. your going to dissipate 1.2W in a wirewound......use a Ten Watt. Your 'draw' is going to be 200mA off a PS.........design it with a 2A capable, etc. etc. Build it bullet-proof.
Market it as a "classic" design, make it look as pretty as you can, exotic woods & all.....have it fan-cooled, even if you know it doesn't need it.
Tally up your parts costs (expensive yes).....sell it for Four times the amount in parts. Build about three of them, note in your literature " Very limited supply" or "Only Twelve to be ever built!"......depending on if it really takes off to wit "Due to amazingly popular demand more models to be built!"
Build the three, put them on Ebay & wait...be patient. Create a web-site to hawk your creation, tell them the truth, tell them why you built it why you did.
Don't interact with questions & arguments by prospective customers...stay with your initial marketing points, don't stray into bizaar areas.
Just some ideas....Even if they don't sell they're still yours and a trio of amps can always find a home at your place.
_______________________________________________Rick.......
Market it as a "classic" design, make it look as pretty as you can, exotic woods & all.....have it fan-cooled, even if you know it doesn't need it.
Tally up your parts costs (expensive yes).....sell it for Four times the amount in parts. Build about three of them, note in your literature " Very limited supply" or "Only Twelve to be ever built!"......depending on if it really takes off to wit "Due to amazingly popular demand more models to be built!"
Build the three, put them on Ebay & wait...be patient. Create a web-site to hawk your creation, tell them the truth, tell them why you built it why you did.
Don't interact with questions & arguments by prospective customers...stay with your initial marketing points, don't stray into bizaar areas.
Just some ideas....Even if they don't sell they're still yours and a trio of amps can always find a home at your place.
_______________________________________________Rick.......
One shoiuld settle on a price that rflects the value put in by the buyers, not attempt to set that value with arbritaty pricing. A friend owned a speaker company and built a nice budget 12 inch 3-wy which he could sell for $300 pair. ( long time ago). Could not give them away. Raised the price to $400 and could not make enough. $400 to $500 is what people set as the correct value. The flip side is that you won't get many takers if you set it at $1000 without something to back it up as people won't stretch their perception of value that far.
Current example, Emo makes amps really cheap. Some claim they must be trash because they are cheap. Some rave about them as the best sounding miracle amp. Others actually have some reasonably informed perception by listening to them, but they are in a minority. It IS hard to believe the price for their lower end ones, but I know professional sound engineers that say they are fine. Who knows?
That's why all my amps are ****-ugly. Made out of sheet aluminum that comes in 4x8 foot panels, cut up on a table saw, and bolted together with angle aluminum. I refuse to spend any more than that....
And NEVER pay full price for a transformer, caps or heat sink.
One thing that also helps (at least in a backwater town like the one that I live in:
Totally abuse your buyers prejudices; for example, if I were to (finally) build (and bloody finish) an amp, the last thing I would do is to put it on ebay or any such site sice people around here think that everyone on ebay'll rip you off.
I'd build at least 3 amps, package them in a clean, sleek box, think up a snazzy name for the type, register a small company to sell them under a company name, and either find a shop that'll sell them or a band/musician to promote it (this will of course only work if the amp is built with attention to detail and produces an actual good sound).
People around these parts still believe in shops, they'll go for exclusive pricing, and if you'll craft a lot of the parts for yourself, it'll be hand-made, wich is a major selling point.
So thank god for down-to-earth people, that still appreciate a good piece of kit (and then: thank god for mouth-to mouth advertising)
Totally abuse your buyers prejudices; for example, if I were to (finally) build (and bloody finish) an amp, the last thing I would do is to put it on ebay or any such site sice people around here think that everyone on ebay'll rip you off.
I'd build at least 3 amps, package them in a clean, sleek box, think up a snazzy name for the type, register a small company to sell them under a company name, and either find a shop that'll sell them or a band/musician to promote it (this will of course only work if the amp is built with attention to detail and produces an actual good sound).
People around these parts still believe in shops, they'll go for exclusive pricing, and if you'll craft a lot of the parts for yourself, it'll be hand-made, wich is a major selling point.
So thank god for down-to-earth people, that still appreciate a good piece of kit (and then: thank god for mouth-to mouth advertising)
that would teach them to stay away from dad´s amps
😀 just kidding , i dont have any children in the house and i always keep the fire extinguisher at hand when i use my chinese amps
I can only imagine you've bought a set of chinese extinguishers... They're a lot cheaper, you know....
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