33 ms·

Cool project! I'd buy one of these if they were pre-assembled.

by ffujdefvjg 2y ago

RamboRogers 2y ago
Thanks, it costs about 30$ in parts. Not sure what a fair price would be.
- ffujdefvjg 2y ago
  Not sure what the time/labor looks like, but I'd easily pay $60 bucks for that. You may be able to sell them at $100 and still move quite a few. Honestly if you dressed it up a little you could probably charge quite a bit, it's just a matter of reaching that audience.
  - _dark_matter_ 2y ago
    Agreed, I'd buy this at $100 for sure. I stay at a lot of airbnbs and am the kind of person who regularly checks those places for bedbugs.
    - woleium 2y ago
      i just disconnect the provided router in airbnbs i stay at. Turns out the host usually drops round all worried if there is a hidden camera.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - RamboRogers 2y ago
        This is a great idea.
    - b112 2y ago
      It's sad we're letting bedbugs return.
- tomcam 2y ago
  Rule of thumb in manufacturing is 5x BOM costs. This comment will be downvoted but only by people who have not been associated with a successful manufacturer. I’d be happy to pay $150 for this.
  - ffujdefvjg 2y ago
    That...doesn't sound unreasonable.
  - Eisenstein 2y ago
    But does that work for putting together what are essentially modular pre-assembled boards? The RF detector, display, charge controller, and ESP are already consumer parts, and they are put together not unlike how a desktop computer can be built from retail parts. Would you say that 5x retail cost for the parts is fair for a custom built PC?
    - tomcam 2y ago
      The custom PC components are already finished goods by the time they get to your PC assembly person. Most of the markup is already baked in. I would in fact expect to pay $120 or so to have a PC assembled for me, so we still get to the $150 figure in either scenario. I assume you have never worked for, or originated, any such business. That $150 has to cover overhead like assembly labor, rent, credit card charges, insurance, accounting, bookkeeping, excise tax, chargebacks and refunds, advertising, website development and social media, bookkeeping, software subscriptions, fulfillment, compliance, and so on. Running any business in the western world is complicated and expensive these days. If you’re imagining you can take $30 worth of parts, sell the finished item for $60 or $90, and sustain that enterprise, it’s time to reconsider your business acumen.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - ted_dunning 2y ago
        There's a lot of ways to rephrase this to be less insulting. For instance, "lots of people have started with the idea that they could sell at retail for only 3-4x parts cost and failed" or "I have had personal experience trying (and failing) to drive down retail cost of electronics below this rule of thumb" This last has the advantage of making the advice more personal.

Cool project! I'd buy one of these if they were pre-assembled.

RamboRogers 2y ago

Thanks, it costs about 30$ in parts. Not sure what a fair price would be.

ffujdefvjg 2y ago
Not sure what the time/labor looks like, but I'd easily pay $60 bucks for that. You may be able to sell them at $100 and still move quite a few. Honestly if you dressed it up a little you could probably charge quite a bit, it's just a matter of reaching that audience.
- _dark_matter_ 2y ago
  Agreed, I'd buy this at $100 for sure. I stay at a lot of airbnbs and am the kind of person who regularly checks those places for bedbugs.
  - woleium 2y ago
    i just disconnect the provided router in airbnbs i stay at. Turns out the host usually drops round all worried if there is a hidden camera.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - RamboRogers 2y ago
      This is a great idea.
  - b112 2y ago
    It's sad we're letting bedbugs return.
tomcam 2y ago
Rule of thumb in manufacturing is 5x BOM costs. This comment will be downvoted but only by people who have not been associated with a successful manufacturer. I’d be happy to pay $150 for this.
- ffujdefvjg 2y ago
  That...doesn't sound unreasonable.
- Eisenstein 2y ago
  But does that work for putting together what are essentially modular pre-assembled boards? The RF detector, display, charge controller, and ESP are already consumer parts, and they are put together not unlike how a desktop computer can be built from retail parts. Would you say that 5x retail cost for the parts is fair for a custom built PC?
  - tomcam 2y ago
    The custom PC components are already finished goods by the time they get to your PC assembly person. Most of the markup is already baked in. I would in fact expect to pay $120 or so to have a PC assembled for me, so we still get to the $150 figure in either scenario. I assume you have never worked for, or originated, any such business. That $150 has to cover overhead like assembly labor, rent, credit card charges, insurance, accounting, bookkeeping, excise tax, chargebacks and refunds, advertising, website development and social media, bookkeeping, software subscriptions, fulfillment, compliance, and so on. Running any business in the western world is complicated and expensive these days. If you’re imagining you can take $30 worth of parts, sell the finished item for $60 or $90, and sustain that enterprise, it’s time to reconsider your business acumen.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - ted_dunning 2y ago
      There's a lot of ways to rephrase this to be less insulting. For instance, "lots of people have started with the idea that they could sell at retail for only 3-4x parts cost and failed" or "I have had personal experience trying (and failing) to drive down retail cost of electronics below this rule of thumb" This last has the advantage of making the advice more personal.