4 ms·

We definitely can. Our BOM comes in well under the planned selling price, and we're totally confident of hitting the $25/$35 price points.

0x12 15y ago
Very impressive, really. Will you be offering quantum discounts?
trafficlight 15y ago
That's really incredible.
liz_upton 15y ago
We're selling too close to cost to make any discounts workable, but we can discount on shipping if people buy lots in one go.
- 0x12 15y ago
  That's actually quite scary. If you sell 'close to cost' then your margins are going to be razor thin even with just a little overhead it might not be viable. Beware of selling too cheap.
  - baxter 15y ago
    AFAICT they are a registered charity with the goal of promoting computer science education, so I suspect large profit margins matter less than if they were a business.
    - sciurus 15y ago
      They don't need large profit margins, but they should try to have enough for an office and staff.
      - wccrawford 15y ago
        Profit is what you have after paying for costs, including staff.
  - sitkack 15y ago
    I think they should increase the single unit cost to $45 or higher (49 or 63). Have it a vote on the main page so people feel like they have some input, the higher cost can support discounts for bulk buys and other non-profits (think give one get one). Explain the rational for the price increase on the poll. The geeks that are making single purchases can definitely pay the higher price. Have a discount kick in @ qty 10 or 20 (down to $35). The at cost (which is never really @ cost, ever) discount shouldn't kick in till either non-profit status or qty 100. ---- You are going to have a problem meeting demand. And some for profit shop is going to use these as digital signage and suck up all the supply. Beware of unintended consequences, everyone that buys them isn't going to be doing good in the world. Capitalism is faceless and cares about us much gravity or water. ---- Another option is to have a classroom in a box package where you sell 30, power supplies, keyboards and an app that runs on all operating systems so you can DD pre-canned images onto end user supplied SD cards (point them at preferred cards on newegg).
    - Sapient 15y ago
      I think this is a terrible idea, unless that price only applied to buyers in first world countries. At $25 for the board + shipping to South Africa + power supplies I can afford twice the boards I would buy. And even at $25, I can't buy as many as I would actually need. I plan on giving them to interested school kids from the local squatter camp (slum for non-South Africans) and hopefully teaching them a bit of programming and general computer skills. The charities that service these kids have a hard time getting them food, so getting them to shell out for computers (even at $25ea) is a complete non-starter. Since I will be paying for every single one myself, and will be scrounging up the rest of the parts wherever I can, an extra $20 - $40 would make a massive difference to me.
      - 0x12 15y ago
        Good points. Still, it would be terrible if they ended up not surviving because of pricing it too low. Even a charity has to somehow make ends meet and if they end up going out of business everybody loses. I really hope they can make it work at the price points indicated but I'd rather have them a bit more expensive than not at all.
- wtracy 15y ago
  Are you planning on making these available to the public at this price point? I personally would be tempted to hang on to the $25 price point for non-profit/educational institutions, and sell them to the general public at $50 a pop.
wccrawford 15y ago
Don't get me wrong, I'm really hoping you do. But I've been bit too many times before by vaporware, so until you actually ship, I'm going to continue saying 'IF'.

0x12 15y ago

Very impressive, really. Will you be offering quantum discounts?

trafficlight 15y ago

That's really incredible.

liz_upton 15y ago

We're selling too close to cost to make any discounts workable, but we can discount on shipping if people buy lots in one go.

0x12 15y ago
That's actually quite scary. If you sell 'close to cost' then your margins are going to be razor thin even with just a little overhead it might not be viable. Beware of selling too cheap.
- baxter 15y ago
  AFAICT they are a registered charity with the goal of promoting computer science education, so I suspect large profit margins matter less than if they were a business.
  - sciurus 15y ago
    They don't need large profit margins, but they should try to have enough for an office and staff.
    - wccrawford 15y ago
      Profit is what you have after paying for costs, including staff.
- sitkack 15y ago
  I think they should increase the single unit cost to $45 or higher (49 or 63). Have it a vote on the main page so people feel like they have some input, the higher cost can support discounts for bulk buys and other non-profits (think give one get one). Explain the rational for the price increase on the poll. The geeks that are making single purchases can definitely pay the higher price. Have a discount kick in @ qty 10 or 20 (down to $35). The at cost (which is never really @ cost, ever) discount shouldn't kick in till either non-profit status or qty 100. ---- You are going to have a problem meeting demand. And some for profit shop is going to use these as digital signage and suck up all the supply. Beware of unintended consequences, everyone that buys them isn't going to be doing good in the world. Capitalism is faceless and cares about us much gravity or water. ---- Another option is to have a classroom in a box package where you sell 30, power supplies, keyboards and an app that runs on all operating systems so you can DD pre-canned images onto end user supplied SD cards (point them at preferred cards on newegg).
  - Sapient 15y ago
    I think this is a terrible idea, unless that price only applied to buyers in first world countries. At $25 for the board + shipping to South Africa + power supplies I can afford twice the boards I would buy. And even at $25, I can't buy as many as I would actually need. I plan on giving them to interested school kids from the local squatter camp (slum for non-South Africans) and hopefully teaching them a bit of programming and general computer skills. The charities that service these kids have a hard time getting them food, so getting them to shell out for computers (even at $25ea) is a complete non-starter. Since I will be paying for every single one myself, and will be scrounging up the rest of the parts wherever I can, an extra $20 - $40 would make a massive difference to me.
    - 0x12 15y ago
      Good points. Still, it would be terrible if they ended up not surviving because of pricing it too low. Even a charity has to somehow make ends meet and if they end up going out of business everybody loses. I really hope they can make it work at the price points indicated but I'd rather have them a bit more expensive than not at all.
wtracy 15y ago
Are you planning on making these available to the public at this price point? I personally would be tempted to hang on to the $25 price point for non-profit/educational institutions, and sell them to the general public at $50 a pop.

wccrawford 15y ago

Don't get me wrong, I'm really hoping you do. But I've been bit too many times before by vaporware, so until you actually ship, I'm going to continue saying 'IF'.