Grench:
No it isnt an excellent idea, because you have to buy all the parts in bulk, and 500-1000 units isnt economically viable.
Nor is buying 5k units with the money from 1000 sales. There just isnt that kind of profit margin.
500 units alone is a very expensive 500 units. It would cost for example 200€ more per unit than doing 5k or 10k.
Yes, it would probably work, but its almost twice the work of getting components.
Also, that funding will could be used for better purposes, read below for my thoughts on that.
KS takes a considerable chunk out of the cake for their service, which is not that of being just a regular shop for finished salable items.
With the help of investors, and community, all the process leading up to when the preorder goes live has happened. That is _extremely_ beneficial for all parts.
What i mean by that is it is an almost ideal time to launch. Products ready for sale would be a little better.
However the tradeoff is grouping up funds from investors and people ready to go in with funds upfront. Luckily both are possible, which is why the next point isnt needed.
Initial monetary perks:
Also it irks me to no end how its most often the case that some early backers get a cheaper price. That triggers either impulse purchases from those who can get them, with buyers remorse. And/or reselling, which is effectively undercutting business.
For the people who cant get them, which is when they are sold out, and only the regular price (as opposed to limited) is offered, it triggers procrastination. People hold off because they feel they should rather have been one of those limited orders.
In essence its an unsocial scheme to promote that initial kick that human psychology is dependant upon.
Since we already have people who want to buy it, that isn't needed. The result is a more evenly priced and more lucrative deal for all.
Yes, even if you go in early, doing so means those who come later will be more plentiful. Thus making the profit margins higher.
And with a project like that, more profits mean good things. ED really deserves all the profits he can get, and beyond that anything is a bonus to me.
Initial affectional value perks:
For example silkscreening, or exclusive colours. This could be ok, but it could also not be. Sociologically i don't want to pick a colour because its limited. I want to pick one that I think is pretty. Those two counteract. And also later comers could prefer an earlier colour but be artificially limited. I don't want to limit anyone with my choices.
Silkscreening didnt work out with the first pandoras. And in retrospect it wasnt needed.
At the time i would have liked to have it, but now im glad I didnt. It easily gets cheesy. And id rather it was subtle. A little note on the sticker behind the battery is ok. A ghastly print to ruin the design isn't. I have a t-shirt that says "I backed gcw-zero on kickstarter" And while probably exclusive, its cheesy and I wont wear it. Because its a bad design and its making me into a tool, an advertising tool. If the Gcw itself was better, maybe, but no, just no. A little forum badge could be good. Humans are more open to being charitable if support can be shown.
Production runs:
I think a select few prototypes should be made, each probably costing 2000€ each to deal with testing, and then sent to the usual suspects. The price seems high, but its not that many, also it has to be done anyway, so its the most bang for the buck.
If many videos and impressions are posted from that, its easy to form and opinion, which can be worked out by the response of the community rather than doing an initial bigger batch. I think these initial devices can be community funded, as I would be more than happy to chip in for that.
Yes it could be done in other ways, with demographic analysis and whatnot, like the bigger companies do, but I think this is the best of what can be had.
Pandora was a success because its made by people who know what its for. The same is true for pyra. Where i think we can be better is cater to more markets. Most prominent, general laptop-use, photographers, and the audiophiles.
Goals and such, I think its very smart to of ED only offer things that are unrelated to the main package. Like the mentioned trip to globalcomponents.
In essence for example a successful kickstarter campaign is in one way just a multiplication of fees for every device sold. 7% of everything adds up linearly.
Just as dumb-limiting promotes some sales, its best to look at the bigger picture. A 7% of every sale is saved by not going kickstarter.
And we are the internet, we dont need store-publicity. The time for kickstarter and indiegogo is over, it isnt novel anymore, and its also saturated. Being crowdfunded alone isnt newsworthy. The pandora was a pioneer in terms of funding, and still is, i think rolling a successful own-funder is how to follow that up.
One lesson from before is to only use one shop. The risk is with someone everyone trusts, and thus, ED is the chain of command that all faith is in. Dragonbox shop, for funding and for sales thereafter. A sale from dragonbox for money upfront even to other shops is easy and nice.
A similar * included with every unit, is somewhat a double project. Cables being easy to procure and wont go wrong, and a whole docking-station on the other side of the scale being more complex.
And the most important goal of all, before any costly promises are made. The more successful, the more profit margin. Which means an inbuilt buffer against things going wrong.
