First kit - ways to sell

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magictaler
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:31 pm

First kit - ways to sell

Post by magictaler »

Hello all!

Can anyone share experience of selling his/her own first kit? It looks like there are two possible solutions.

The first one is to design something more or less attractive, buy a domain name, cheapest hosting, create a paypal account and embed puypal's buttons right into your site. At first glance it is a good idea but wait. There are two significant drawbacks: you need to go a long, long way advertising your site in order to draw someone's attention, 'someone' means not just 2-3 visitors a day but at least 20-30. Some internet sources states that 1-2 years should pass until your site reaches that point. The second problem is that even if you have a visitor and he likes your kit but eventually refrains from buying because ONE product in a store looks suspicious. Again, you need to design a few (10, 20) kits to look more reliable in many meanings of this word. Yes, you can pay extra money for web site promotion and spend a couple of years inventing/designing more and more kits but it is a real killer of start up companies and small teams.

The second approach is to try to find already working kit selling company (adafruit for instance, sorry for comparison ;) ) and attempt to persuade them that your product is really useful and could be potentially interesting from end-user point of view. Well, has anyone heard anything about such companies? To be honest, we've failed to find some so far.


Any useful suggestions are appreciated!

Regards,
magictaler

tronixstuff
 
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:59 am

Re: First kit - ways to sell

Post by tronixstuff »

Personally I have been contemplating doing this for over a year now. I am working on seven projects at once, as well as writing English documentation for imported products for an Australian retailer. I believe the key to having someone else sell your product comes down to one thing - does the product sell itself? That is, will someone want to stock your kit because they think it is an awesome kit, or will they stock it only because you can offer them a cheap price. You need a product that makes people want to sell it because they believe in your kit. Case in point - the clock kits here at adafruit. Compare this with the boring BANNED at Jaycar (I think you're Australian as well?) I can literally stare at the wall of kits in there with $100 in my pocket, and walk out without anything.

it is very easy to have an idea, develop it, get to pre-production stage. But then when you sit back, do some further market analysis and research, you realise it isn't really that different or better or awesome. So you file it away and something else comes to mind.

If you have one great product, and nothing else - just become a reseller for someone else... then you can have plenty of great gear, with your own in the mix. Hopefully that will elevate the status of your own product... and you're away! but there is so much more to do, at very little cost in dollars, but a large time cost...

ladyada and friends have posted heaps of stuff about the kit business - a great start is to head over to slideshare.com and search for adafruit.

Anyway, that's my ten cents.

magictaler
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:31 pm

Re: First kit - ways to sell

Post by magictaler »

Thanks Tronixstuff!

No mate, I am afraid I am not a real Australian, I am just a PR, it is an Aussie imitation :) But I know what you mean when you are saying about boring (and expensive!) things in Jaycar. The funny part is that nevertheless Jaycar manages to stay afloat despite selling dull stuff. Not to mention Adafruit company that has the clock kits and many others and it also is doing well. Based on these two examples an unexpected conclusion emerges - kit business and its success does not depend on kits' quality :) Probably, there is something more which right now is beyond my understanding.

Regards,
magictaler

tronixstuff
 
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:59 am

Re: First kit - ways to sell

Post by tronixstuff »

In my opinion Jaycar survive due to three things:
1) they have the "Oh crud, I need it NOW" market wrapped up now that DSE has become DS. They got me last week, I needed an RGB LED. $6.95 each. Ouch. There goes my coffee money. Now I have 100 coming from abroad for a lot less. My local Jaycar on a weekday is generally full of technicians in a hurry who can't wait for overnight delivery from Farnell or RS.
2) People who just don't know any better, internet luddites, old timers. They shop there because they like to wander about and play with things, then return them to the wrong box. :lol:
3) The other overpriced junk, such as power adaptors, shite audio gear, pink toolsets, fart machines and so on.

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