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I can tell you that this has two possible outcomes: 1. You don't sell enough to get by. 2. You sell enough for Chinese knock-offs to come in and offer a good-

I can tell you that this has two possible outcomes: 1. You don't sell enough to get by. 2. You sell enough for Chinese knock-offs to come in and offer a good-enough clone product for 1/3 your raw material cost. Being a first world tiny shop in hardware is near impossible.

masklinn 3y ago
(3) you make good looking gizmos which are not really worth copying seems to be the niche of “William”. Apparently the slides were about 150, and they’re externally simple but good looking. They’re out of stock but the shop has neat kinetic sculpture for high hundreds. Could you get plastic versions for a third the price? Absolutely. Would you? Hell nah. I could see kits of spare parts to print and build your own, maybe, but not ready made.
- itigtohft 3y ago
  If you search for "perpetual motion machine" you can find a ton of cheap knockoffs of this device. You can get a badly made wooden knockoff for $50 or quite a bit less?
newaccount74 3y ago
There are a bunch of tiny hardware shops in the audio community that seem to be doing fine, for example https://neurochrome.com/ https://neurochrome.com/ Of course, running a small business like this is not easy, but it's not impossible either.
- MalcolmDwyer 3y ago
  When it comes to pricing products at absolutely outrageous multiples of material cost, the "audio community" seems to be in its own league. I don't think the desktop toy market is quite there.
quickthrower2 3y ago
You are then no longer selling the toy, but the “My one is OG” status. And the certainty that it will work. Once you reach a certain age fucking about returning stuff to save a few bucks seems silly.
- yencabulator 3y ago
  Not just OG status, quality. The Chinese knock-offs truly are worse. I've seen this gadget on Youtube before, compared to one of the knock-offs. Executive desk toys are a classic premium market!
  - quickthrower2 3y ago
    Yes certainly. This is what I meant when I said "certainty that it will work". A low bar for quality, but a bar knock offs can't reach usually.

masklinn 3y ago

(3) you make good looking gizmos which are not really worth copying seems to be the niche of “William”. Apparently the slides were about 150, and they’re externally simple but good looking. They’re out of stock but the shop has neat kinetic sculpture for high hundreds. Could you get plastic versions for a third the price? Absolutely. Would you? Hell nah. I could see kits of spare parts to print and build your own, maybe, but not ready made.

itigtohft 3y ago
If you search for "perpetual motion machine" you can find a ton of cheap knockoffs of this device. You can get a badly made wooden knockoff for $50 or quite a bit less?

newaccount74 3y ago

There are a bunch of tiny hardware shops in the audio community that seem to be doing fine, for example https://neurochrome.com/ https://neurochrome.com/ Of course, running a small business like this is not easy, but it's not impossible either.

MalcolmDwyer 3y ago
When it comes to pricing products at absolutely outrageous multiples of material cost, the "audio community" seems to be in its own league. I don't think the desktop toy market is quite there.

quickthrower2 3y ago

You are then no longer selling the toy, but the “My one is OG” status. And the certainty that it will work. Once you reach a certain age fucking about returning stuff to save a few bucks seems silly.

yencabulator 3y ago
Not just OG status, quality. The Chinese knock-offs truly are worse. I've seen this gadget on Youtube before, compared to one of the knock-offs. Executive desk toys are a classic premium market!
- quickthrower2 3y ago
  Yes certainly. This is what I meant when I said "certainty that it will work". A low bar for quality, but a bar knock offs can't reach usually.