4 ms·

for me the main problem was the price point of $499 was impossible not to lose money on each drone, even today DJI doesn't manage to get a drone with similar Li

by elmar 9y ago

for me the main problem was the price point of $499 was impossible not to lose money on each drone, even today DJI doesn't manage to get a drone with similar Lily features at that price point. And after you made the pre-sale at that price point you can't go back and say now is $999, and that should have been a more reasonable price for the kickstarter campaign, but then probably they would have sold much less units.

ehnto 9y ago
They could have raised the price I think. Ship your presales at a loss at the original price, say "man this was way harder than we thought!" and ship the rest at $999. It's hard to argue with intrisic value. If it can't be made for $499 then that's a hard fact and I think this particular market is well suited to understand that. I might be super wrong though, it's not really my area of interest or expertise!
mhb 9y ago
Doesn't this $475 DJI drone come close to the Lily features? https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Standard-Quadcopter-Camera/dp/B013U0F6EQ https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Standard-Quadcopter-Camer...
- zootam 9y ago
  Not at all. They are similar in that they both fly, and have a camera. The selling point of the Lily, and the holy Grail of drones is a self flying drone. One that anyone can throw up into the air, follows you around, and gets nice aerial shots while avoiding obstacles and landing safely. At the time, DJI didn't even have these features on drones that cost several times that, so it seemed ridiculous that a startup could provide these features at a price lower than anything else. Even now, there is no drone that exists that provides that experience, but that is what Lily was marketing.
- elmar 9y ago
  The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is probably a Loss Leader and should be sold at the original price of $799. Not even talking about the self-flying funcionality Lily form factor and water resistant was probably more expensive to produce than DJI Phantom.
- arethuza 9y ago
  I note that it says "You can achieve advanced camera perspectives with the Point of Interest, Follow Me and Waypoints modes (pending app feature availability)" What does "pending app feature availability" mean?
  - zootam 9y ago
    I think that's an old description from before those features were in the app
Cthulhu_ 9y ago
As the article later states, they gradually increased the price by $100 over the span of a few months to the intended $999 retail price. Pre-order discount, I guess, to secure money to fund the development - people would've been less likely to shell out if they started off at $999.

by elmar 9y ago

ehnto 9y ago

They could have raised the price I think. Ship your presales at a loss at the original price, say "man this was way harder than we thought!" and ship the rest at $999. It's hard to argue with intrisic value. If it can't be made for $499 then that's a hard fact and I think this particular market is well suited to understand that. I might be super wrong though, it's not really my area of interest or expertise!

mhb 9y ago

Doesn't this $475 DJI drone come close to the Lily features? https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Standard-Quadcopter-Camera/dp/B013U0F6EQ https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Standard-Quadcopter-Camer...

zootam 9y ago
Not at all. They are similar in that they both fly, and have a camera. The selling point of the Lily, and the holy Grail of drones is a self flying drone. One that anyone can throw up into the air, follows you around, and gets nice aerial shots while avoiding obstacles and landing safely. At the time, DJI didn't even have these features on drones that cost several times that, so it seemed ridiculous that a startup could provide these features at a price lower than anything else. Even now, there is no drone that exists that provides that experience, but that is what Lily was marketing.
elmar 9y ago
The DJI Phantom 3 Standard is probably a Loss Leader and should be sold at the original price of $799. Not even talking about the self-flying funcionality Lily form factor and water resistant was probably more expensive to produce than DJI Phantom.
arethuza 9y ago
I note that it says "You can achieve advanced camera perspectives with the Point of Interest, Follow Me and Waypoints modes (pending app feature availability)" What does "pending app feature availability" mean?
- zootam 9y ago
  I think that's an old description from before those features were in the app

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

As the article later states, they gradually increased the price by $100 over the span of a few months to the intended $999 retail price. Pre-order discount, I guess, to secure money to fund the development - people would've been less likely to shell out if they started off at $999.