Contaced a Factory in China about producing a run of fully populated Mini-migs

[tonyyeb]

Crom00 wrote:
Not before Christmas unfortunately.

Any other news to keep us going?

[acidrain]

I have found this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minimig-v1-1-PCB-Bare-Gold-finish-Nusim_W0QQitemZ290183063173QQihZ019QQcategoryZ4193QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#paymentmethods

[tonyyeb]

acidrain wrote:
I have found this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minimig-v1-1-PCB-Bare-Gold-finish-Nusim_W0QQitemZ290183063173QQihZ019QQcategoryZ4193QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#paymentmethods

Cheers for that mate but Nusim and his bare minimig boards are well known around here. There was a front page news item about them not so long back.

[Crom00]

Got back info today but factory although experienced will only do mass numbers after all. +(1000) ARGHH! Agent is moving to quotes with factories that do smaller quantities and stressing the conecpt of small quantities.

[tonyyeb]

Crom00 wrote:
Got back info today but factory although experienced will only do mass numbers after all. +(1000) ARGHH! Agent is moving to quotes with factories that do smaller quantities and stressing the conecpt of small quantities.

Not wanting to teach grandma to suck eggs but wouldn't that have been an important factor when choosing who to get quotes from in the first place?

[Crom00]

Sure was clear about all that... but I can't balme them for wanting larger quantities, after all they're running a business where volume pricing is a key factor.

Maybee we should start chuch of "MiniMig" where we take collections, and make low cost MiniMIG boards for our members. Amen!

[tonyyeb]

Crom00 wrote:
Sure was clear about all that... but I can't balme them for wanting larger quantities, after all they're running a business where volume pricing is a key factor.

Maybee we should start chuch of "MiniMig" where we take collections, and make low cost MiniMIG boards for our members. Amen!

Whatever it takes for me to get a minimig!  :lol:

[Crom00]

I feel your pain. Imagine the horror of having one and having to box it up becuase you're not getting any other work done!

Welcome to hell...I even sold my immaculate A1200 becuase I started tinkerig with that again too. Friggin addictive.

[tonyyeb]

Any update?

[Crom00]

Everyones interested in doing mass numbers... 10k or more.
These are factories that do popular kids learning computers. Those are all FPGA based solutions.

That so far is the problem. The backup plan is moving on to factories more receptive to doing small numbers we shall see... quite a challenge.

Also preparing for trade shows so have been quite busy.

Staying upbeat about this but this is the nature of the business. Will advise further.

[HenryCase]

Crom00 wrote:
after all they're running a business where volume pricing is a key factor.

Maybe I'm being dumb here... if Minimigs are only profitable for these factories in 1000+ volumes, why don't they sell us the price to produce 100+ units? If potential Minimig owners are still prepared to pay the higher unit price then everyone wins, right?

[unknown1]

Got back info today but factory although experienced will only do mass numbers after all. +(1000) ARGHH! Agent is moving to quotes with factories that do smaller quantities and stressing the concept of small quantities.

Out of curiosity, what kind of prices are they in the 1000 unit quantities?

[Darrin]

The sad thing is, 1000 units is moveable, but who has a spare (for example) $50,000 - $100,000 to initiate the production run?

If the batch was smaller and in the $5,000 - $10,000 range and being produced by a trustworthy source, then I might be willing to chip in 10-20% of the production cost on the understanding that I get my money back when the boards are sold.

I'm sure a run of 100 produced and "advertised" via a slashdot article would produce enough interest to sell all of them on eBay using "buy-it-now" quite quickly.

[tonyyeb]

Darrin wrote:
The sad thing is, 1000 units is moveable, but who has a spare (for example) $50,000 - $100,000 to initiate the production run?

If the batch was smaller and in the $5,000 - $10,000 range and being produced by a trustworthy source, then I might be willing to chip in 10-20% of the production cost on the understanding that I get my money back when the boards are sold.

I'm sure a run of 100 produced and "advertised" via a slashdot article would produce enough interest to sell all of them on eBay using "buy-it-now" quite quickly.

Totally agree with that, but its all about the initial risk.

[Darrin]

tonyyeb wrote:

Totally agree with that, but its all about the initial risk.

I'm willing to share the risk of the production run not selling out, but I'm not prepared to risk handing over $1000 or more and then having the person vanish without a trace.  I already have a $50 coupon for OS4/AmigaOne and an "IOU $50 off the price of an Amiga on a PCI card".

So, let's say a run of 100 boards was made and several people chipped in $1000 each for it to happen.  If only 50% of the boards sold then I could live with only getting $500 back and a Minimig board (with the possibility that some more might be repaid over time of the remaining stock sold).

[HenryCase]

@Crom00
Two questions:
1. What quotes have you had for 1000+ production runs?
2. Would subsequent runs be cheaper?