8 ms·
I am seriously considering creating a dropship company focused exclusively on buying and selling electronic components that are sold for parts and people can as
by rglullis 2y ago
I am seriously considering creating a dropship company focused exclusively on buying and selling electronic components that are sold for parts and people can assemble them at home, Ikea-style.
I would start with selling 50" and 65" inch "dumb" TVs. Just the panel, a nice enclosure and a board with an IR receiver, TV tuner and HDMI outputs. BYO top box and Soundbar. I wonder how fast it would take to get 10000 orders.
- CooCooCaCha 2y agoIs it even possible to just buy panels for normal consumers?
- beAbU 2y agoLook up "large format display". Its basically a TV sans any smart shit. Used in commercial display applications, dynamic menus in restaurants, info panels etc. They are mad expensive because presumably they are not subsidised by the shitware that "smart" tvs ship with.
- wpietri 2y agoI'm sure the ad revenue is part of it, but the commercial ones are also built for 24/7 operation over the course of years. And I expect another part of the added expense is that they know commercial purchasers aren't as price sensitive.
- Ferret7446 2y agoThe entire reason that smart TVs are cheap with ads is because consumers "prefer" that. If (most) people bought expensive TVs with no ads, companies would, you know, sell that.
- kjkjadksj 2y agoConsumers only have a choice among what is already been made available in the marketplace.
- FireBeyond 2y agoEven the high end $3,000, $4,000+ TVs have ads. Show me a mainstream TV that doesn't.
- austinjp 2y agoNah, that's upside down. Consumers buy what they can afford. Wages are low, but companies still want to sell TVs. Advertising to the rescue! And so, as ever, good ol' capitalism pushes quality down while telling the consumer "you've never had it so good!"
- account42 2y agoWhich is of course why cahble TV, which consumers chose as an ad-free alternative to over the air TV, does not have ads. And it's also why premium streaming, which consumers chose as an ad-free alternative over cable TV, does not have ads. You can't buy your way out of ads because paying just means the advertisers have extra incentive to put shit in front of your eyes.
- fy20 2y agoIf you buy a model that's one or two years old, they aren't actually that much. E.g. My company paid €700 for a 55" Samsung digital signage display. I'm not sure about using it as a TV (no speakers, matte display), but as a monitor it looks really nice. The higher cost is because the hardware is designed to run for years 24/7, and the compute hardware is (a little bit) more powerful than regular TVs.
- meindnoch 2y agoCustomer here!
- seletskiy 2y agoDrop me a line if you ever decide to start. Be glad to help.
- pixiemaster 2y agoplease do. but it seems it would be more expensive to produce a tv with less features: https://www.tomsguide.com/features/dumb-tvs-heres-why-you-cant-find-them-anymore https://www.tomsguide.com/features/dumb-tvs-heres-why-you-ca...
- leereeves 2y ago"Google pays between $12 and $15 per unit to a manufacturer like TCL or Hisense per TV that uses Google TV." I'd be willing to pay a $15 premium for a TV that is built to do what I want, not what an advertiser wants.
- neilv 2y agoAs a journalist once said to me, regarding a different topic (local politics in some city), something like: I wasn't surprised that bribes were happening; I was surprised that the bribes were so small. Similar applies here: incredulous that, in various aspects of the tech industry, customers/users are often being sold out for such small amounts of money. (Though manufacturing is easier to understand than a lot of software-only businesses, which aren't about cost engineering.)
- bee_rider 2y agoIt sort of makes sense. Like, I’m very bothered by this spyware-industrial system and put a high value on my privacy. But, objectively, I am extremely boring and seeing what I’m looking at is actually worth much less than $15. It is actually really weird how popular this business model has become (I guess it is a thing because people don’t read the fine print). Invasion of privacy is, I think, extremely asymmetric, so the business model of spying on people is a huge destroyer of value.
- Wowfunhappy 2y agoA problem, as I understand it, is that if you let all the customers with high disposable income pay extra to avoid ads, you're left with a group of lower income customers who are less valuable to advertisers. Manufacturers would rather get $15 for every TV than only $15 for some TVs. If they were to let you pay your way out, you'd have to pay significantly more in order to subsidize the people who won't pay.
- bigstrat2003 2y agoI would absolutely love something like that.
- snakey 2y agoI’ve also thought about this in quite some depth. I think people would be willing to pay a premium for simple, quality electronics. I also think there could be a good opportunity to expand this to kitchen appliances too. Premium quality but really dumb. I would be a loyal customer
- doe_eyes 2y agoWith kitchen appliances, it's already a thing. For example, there's a "retro" brand that sells microwaves with a timer knob: https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-NRMO7YW6A-Countertop-Microwave-700-Watts/dp/B0CNV1D9L3 https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-NRMO7YW6A-Countertop-Microw... The problem in that segment is that it's basically the same disposable, non-repairable tech that's destined to the dumpster in a couple of years. The company is selling the appearance of having a different design philosophy, and it works because the consumer has no way of telling. So, if you want to do anything more profound in that space, it's going to be hard to compete.
- Nition 2y agoI think you make a good point in general, but the Ikea TILLREDA microwave might be a better example of cheap and simple: https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/tillreda-microwave-oven-white-60493358/ https://www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/tillreda-microwave-oven-white-6... That one you linked has actually quite a lot of features - the 12 presets, auto cooking mode, weight setting, the potentially confusing buttons like "express" and "micro power".
- Tempat 2y agoMicrowaves that are just time and power setting, cooktops that are just four knobs, ovens that are just mode and heat, maybe a simple timer… I’d buy those too.
- bloqs 2y agoSign me up
- jbombadil 2y agoI would love to buy a TV with a great image quality, a bunch of ports, image tweaking and nothing else. No wifi, no cellular, no internet, no speakers. Honestly? Doesn’t even need a remote provided CEC works fine with my Apple TV.
- cassianoleal 2y agoHow would you tweak the image via CEC over the Apple TV?
- throwup238 2y agoPotentiometers on the side. (I’m only half joking)
- meindnoch 2y agoHDMI CEC v1.3 specification, page 38: "Device Menu Control"
- cassianoleal 2y agoIs there an Apple TV app for that? Or do you expect Apple to bake this into tvOS?
- account42 2y agoIdeally you do not need to tweak the image. All I need is a calibrated display, the rest is handled by my computer producing the input.
- cassianoleal 2y agoDo you watch TV through a computer? But also, how does that make the Apple TV able to tweak the image?
- account42 2y agoI don't watch TV as in broadcasts (neither OTA nor cable nor online streaming). I do watch TV shows from BluRay / DVD / files from my friend. I also don't use playback devices that don't let me modify them to work how I want.
- silisili 2y agoI think you'll find the price at that volume and without subsidy a bit higher than a lot of people want to pay. It may be cheaper and even easier to just buy and somehow modify Onn/Hisense into dumb displays, though I've never explored the idea myself to know how feasible it even is.
- neuralRiot 2y agoHonestly when you see what a modern TV has inside and how it is assembled you realize that there’s not much “subsidy”.
- leptons 2y agoJust don't connect the "smart" Tv to the internet. It's still a "dumb display" if you don't give it internet access. Don't give it wifi access, don't plug in an ethernet cable.
- M_bara 2y agoI think the hdmi standard allows for Ethernet over hdmi. That’s a sneaky way in for your tv
- sgerenser 2y agoWhile its allowed by the standard, its not something that is often used. Certainly the AppleTV that I use does not even offer an option to share its network connection over Ethernet. And I’m not aware of any other box that does.
- leptons 2y agoPretty sure you need a special cable that carries ethernet, as well as a device at the other end that supplies ethernet to HDMI, so you have to really want to let your "smart" tv to have access to the internet.
- jodrellblank 2y agoIt’ll only be a matter of a few years before it has a 5G modem and doesn’t give you a choice to “just” not connect it to the internet.
- edgineer 2y agoHow about BYO tuner while you're at it? See the LG 48 CX OLED television versus the Gigabyte AORUS FO48U OLED monitor. The LG was a jump in quality and performance (4K 120Hz) and many people bought it to use as a computer monitor. But it's smart (cannot disable advertising itself over Bluetooth while on), cannot be woken up over HDMI (requires using the remote control to turn on each day) and it does not have displayport in. The Aorus is the same panel but not a TV, functions as a monitor should, and I would have bought that instead had I known. If a product finder like alternativeto.net existed, where you find non-shittified alternatives to a popular appliance, I would use it every time I shop.
- mhuffman 2y agoYou can search NewEgg or Amazon for "Business TV" or "Commercial TV" and they will almost all be "dumb" TVs. They are readily available.
- ska 2y agoReadily available at a good premium. You can sometimes get a great deal on these during liquidation though.
- stavros 2y agoNope, you're getting the ad-infested TVs for a good discount.
- kibwen 2y agoWell, they're at a discount if your privacy has no value.
- avmich 2y agoYou have to decide what's more valuable to you - an extra chunk of money or the privacy which is endangered with the cheaper option.
- account42 2y agoYou do not get to decide because privacy concious options are simply not available at the high end. You'd also need to significantly compromise on quality.
- stavros 2y agoNo, they're at a discount period. They're sold for less money.
- rowanG077 2y agoI really doubt manufacturer lose money on smart tv sales.
- Ancapistani 2y agoIR receiver is optional IMO. Most people would plug an Android TV box or media PC into it anyhow, which will handle volume control and power via HDMI.
- mananaysiempre 2y agoThe Framework folks hit an unexpected snag with a similar idea: turns out the US tax on a laptop assembled in Taiwan is much lower than on a box of parts made in Taiwan that you can assemble into a laptop yourself. (Why? Because.) Thus the strange not-really-DIY “DIY edition”.
- bee_rider 2y agoWhat is a laptop anyway? Can somebody sell 60 2-in-1 convertible laptops where the top bit comes off and also has an HDMI in port? The computer could be a raspberry pi or something…
- borski 2y agoProbably. This is a thing with guns, too. In CA, for example, owning an AR15 with certain features is illegal. But separate the upper from the lower, and you no longer have an AR15; now you have parts, none of which are semiautomatic and center-fire on their own. That’s no longer illegal (though if they can prove intent everything changes, of course). IANAL, but I always found that kind of loophole fascinating.
- pc86 2y agoNo, the lower is still legally considered a firearm. It can't fire anything, and it's not a gun in practical purposes, but for purposes of regulation it is still a firearm. The reason it's probably still legal to have in California is that California bans a lot of largely cosmetic or non-functional items. For example, many states ban threaded barrels which by itself doesn't change any characteristics of the barrel other than the fact that it has a thread on the end of it.
- everforward 2y agoI believe California has some laws that specifically apply to semiautomatic firearms, which an AR15 lower is not. The lower is incapable of semiautomatic fire (as in the gas blowback/piston system is in the upper). They sell single-shot .50 BMG uppers, non-semiautomatic AR15 uppers do exist. I believe the majority of stuff California regulates attaches to the upper anyways, which isn’t a firearm under federal law (unsure if Cali is weird about that). Bump stocks and responsive triggers are the only things I can think of California might regulate that go on the lower, and last I heard the ATF was tracking those down as an NFA violation.
- svilen_dobrev 2y agoi think somebody is already doing it - you may combine forces. Check this thread, about year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35484594 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35484594 also, check this one from yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41855403 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41855403
- epcoa 2y agoWouldn’t hold my breath. The relevant subthread really is this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35487062 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35487062 Industrial panels make horrible TVs. Even if you use an appropriate panel, there’s more than just designing a sheet metal case. Based on people suggesting commercial large format displays, apparently some don’t understand this. The market for someone foolish enough to drop $3k on a large screen without Dolby Vision is very small though. People that are absolutely cost conscious will continue to buy the loss leader crap TVs.
- alkonaut 2y agoTry buying the regular smart ones and disabling the spyware while keeping the rest of the subsidized price. It would be a legal battle about whether you can actually enforce some terms of use that would prohibit it. The rough part is having to cover the warranty when resold which will cost a lot. But probably still cheaper than the dropshipped dumb panels.
- sgerenser 2y agoI recently picked up an 85” Sony TV from Costco on clearance for $1399 (this model originally retailed for $2500, its only a step or two down from their top-of-the-line). I connected it to a hardwired ethernet cable, let it do the software updates, then unplugged it. No need for it to be online if I’m just using it with an AppleTV box anyway. I’d suspect an 85” “business TV” would be at least 4-5x the price. Funny thing was after the software updates, the next day the TV prompted me to install a firmware update on the remote. First time I’ve ever seen that one.
- Wowfunhappy 2y agoWhy did you do the software update at all?
- gambiting 2y agoBecause sometimes it's necessary to make sure basic features work correctly, I remember my LG Oled didn't work with 4K 120Hz sources until LG released a firmware update for it.
- oynqr 2y agoMost TV manufacturers still supply firmware updates as a separate download for installing from a USB drive. I just checked Sony's site for a model that sounds like yours, and they do offer this.
- account42 2y agoGood to know but don't expect this to completely protect you from ads since they could be baked into the new firmware.
- White_Wolf 2y agoJust order a standard, add infested one, and a basic chinese board for it. Sellers will flash them for your panel and all. It can't any more basic than that.
- Whatarethese 2y agoSimple. Buy TV, never connect to wifi. Plug in Apple TV. Never worry about ads or anything.
- camgunz 2y agoI love this idea; it really does seem like us geeks need to come to the rescue here.
- m463 2y agosoundbars suck too. All of them have wireless subwoofers, which require wifi or bluetooth. Really, why can't they do cables or spdif?
- rglullis 2y agoEverything sucks where the hardware is a loss leader and just good enough to perform its function and the software is developed as a trojan horse for the actual revenue generating business. Soundbars, "smart" speakers, printers...