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I don't doubt for many products you can assemble it yourself more cheaply with the input of time. But, a price factor of 2.25 over raw parts (COGS, cost of good

by dv_dt 10y ago

I don't doubt for many products you can assemble it yourself more cheaply with the input of time. But, a price factor of 2.25 over raw parts (COGS, cost of goods sold) is pretty reasonable overhead. It's not the best margin, but it's right within reasonable for paying for assembly, inventory housing, warranty coverage, etc. For reference: https://www.eevblog.com/2016/06/03/eevblog-887-the-economics-of-selling-hardware/ https://www.eevblog.com/2016/06/03/eevblog-887-the-economics...

Declanomous 10y ago
I think Adafruit is pushing the limit of reasonable. The price of their products isn't terrible, but with the prices they charge I'd expect a free shipping option or something similar. Their prices are basically in line with what I would expect a retail store to charge. A mail-order warehouse has a much lower overhead per unit than a retail store. They do not need to be as well lit, the fixtures are cheaper over their lifetime, they turn over inventory much faster, products take up less space, etc. I suspect their high prices are dictated by their New York, NY location. The location may help attract talent, but it doesn't make sense to locating the warehouse for a mail-order business in the most expensive city in the United States. I don't want to suggest they shouldn't be located in NYC. That is their prerogative. I think the "Adafruit is way too expensive" argument is valid. They are insanely expensive, and while their documentation is fairly good, they are other companies that provide similar value at a price that is much lower than adafruit.
- markokrajnc 10y ago
  Yes, they/we must pay the rent for their Manhattan location...
kogepathic 10y ago
> But, a price factor of 2.25 over raw parts (COGS, cost of goods sold) is pretty reasonable overhead. If this were a normal commercial product, I would agree with you. But the fact is, when you buy this Adafruit kit, you're getting the raw parts which you have to assemble, the monitor has fewer features than a normal desktop LCD monitor (only one resolution supported, only DisplayPort input) and given that it's the bare LCD, is much more fragile than a commercial monitor. So, yes, normally it is absolutely reasonable and expected for a manufacturer to charge 2-2.5x the price of raw goods. But in this case you're literally paying Adafruit 200% to do simple supply chain logistics for you, and you're getting a pile of parts which you can buy (with free shipping!) from FleaBay/AliExpress with a few clicks of your mouse.
- dv_dt 10y ago
  For this kit, you're assembling the plastic enclosure, but the electronics are pre-assembled (and I assume pre-tested), so it's not exactly a bag of parts. I'd agree that it is not a full retail product. I'd say it is a somewhat boutique, low-volume product - for that I've seen much much higher then 3x COGS. Maybe I'm just at a low hassle tolerance from having to juggle too many past return transactions on AlieBay components and am overvaluing getting the logistics done for getting working electronics without going through the time of finding the right LCD, integrating the parts, getting it to drive correctly, etc. Overall, I guess I'm someone whose also willing to let a bit of extra margin go to Adafruit which keeps doing interesting things. In the end, there's plenty of room for everyone to make their own price/value judgement, I certainly don't think my view should override others in this area.

by dv_dt 10y ago

Declanomous 10y ago

I think Adafruit is pushing the limit of reasonable. The price of their products isn't terrible, but with the prices they charge I'd expect a free shipping option or something similar. Their prices are basically in line with what I would expect a retail store to charge. A mail-order warehouse has a much lower overhead per unit than a retail store. They do not need to be as well lit, the fixtures are cheaper over their lifetime, they turn over inventory much faster, products take up less space, etc. I suspect their high prices are dictated by their New York, NY location. The location may help attract talent, but it doesn't make sense to locating the warehouse for a mail-order business in the most expensive city in the United States. I don't want to suggest they shouldn't be located in NYC. That is their prerogative. I think the "Adafruit is way too expensive" argument is valid. They are insanely expensive, and while their documentation is fairly good, they are other companies that provide similar value at a price that is much lower than adafruit.

markokrajnc 10y ago
Yes, they/we must pay the rent for their Manhattan location...

kogepathic 10y ago

> But, a price factor of 2.25 over raw parts (COGS, cost of goods sold) is pretty reasonable overhead. If this were a normal commercial product, I would agree with you. But the fact is, when you buy this Adafruit kit, you're getting the raw parts which you have to assemble, the monitor has fewer features than a normal desktop LCD monitor (only one resolution supported, only DisplayPort input) and given that it's the bare LCD, is much more fragile than a commercial monitor. So, yes, normally it is absolutely reasonable and expected for a manufacturer to charge 2-2.5x the price of raw goods. But in this case you're literally paying Adafruit 200% to do simple supply chain logistics for you, and you're getting a pile of parts which you can buy (with free shipping!) from FleaBay/AliExpress with a few clicks of your mouse.

dv_dt 10y ago
For this kit, you're assembling the plastic enclosure, but the electronics are pre-assembled (and I assume pre-tested), so it's not exactly a bag of parts. I'd agree that it is not a full retail product. I'd say it is a somewhat boutique, low-volume product - for that I've seen much much higher then 3x COGS. Maybe I'm just at a low hassle tolerance from having to juggle too many past return transactions on AlieBay components and am overvaluing getting the logistics done for getting working electronics without going through the time of finding the right LCD, integrating the parts, getting it to drive correctly, etc. Overall, I guess I'm someone whose also willing to let a bit of extra margin go to Adafruit which keeps doing interesting things. In the end, there's plenty of room for everyone to make their own price/value judgement, I certainly don't think my view should override others in this area.