Instant Pandora with a premium?


craigix

Mega GP Mania
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Hello everyone,


I've been thinking about something for the last few days, well, since the recycled units were sold.


We're building away here but as you know it's slow but we're getting there, we can't go much faster as we're very very careful with money and


do things on a budget of next to nothing which is frustrating as I'd love to hire 3* more people and finish these and start batch 2 within a few weeks.


However, I've had an idea.


The Pandora ended up being sold below cost, but when we put up the 20 recycled units we not only sold them slightly above cost (they might actually have been the first ever Pandora units on which a profit was made) but we have had dozens of requests for more, with even more money offered per unit.


It is now clear to me that we priced the Pandora too low back when preorders started. These things are a learning curve and we didn't foresee all the issues we would face. We now understand why other similar devices were priced so high.


My suggestion is this, for those who want to, the ability to get a Pandora within 7 days for $500.


Wait, let me explain my thinking here:


Rather than slowing down the delivery of your unit - it may well actually speed it up.


We can use that extra money to hire more people and build these units faster and reach batch2 sooner. You will still get your unit for below cost price, and due to the extra labour, faster. The extra units will come from batch2.


My suggestion is to possibly paint part of the more expensive units a different colour, maybe just in a subtle way, to make them a different edition, or change the internal sticker to red.


It's clear to me that if we don't make a move like this we will reach the end of batch2 later in the year and that will be the end of the Pandora project - we just won't have made any money and won't have enough with which to continue to a batch3. If we want to make this a serious business, and create the potential for a Pandora2, we need to make a move like this now rather than later.


Let me know your thoughts.
 
You, sir, are one hell of a businessman. Most people would just go ahead and make a decision like this without any regard for their customers. That makes you one of the good guys.


This idea is pretty sweet. I'd go for something like this (I'd buy one if ebay weren't such a hassle for me to use...), and I'm sure a ton of other people would, too. The idea of making a sort of "special edition" limited run would make it even more valuable. I'd gladly pay $500-$600 dollars for something like this. If you do this (and get some nice custom colors, say... a slightly darker version of this? :p ) I'd be one of the first in line!


And hey, if it helps you guys to scrape buy, I'm all for it! I'd hate to see a company like this die off. I knew you guys priced the Pandora way too low... <.<
 
Craigix


Is that an extra $500 above the original purchase price, or the original purchase price + $200(ish), and guaranteed within 7 days, and I thought the slow production was down to board & nub availability, so what are we saying now that you have enough stock of components to finish off batch two, but you could do it in seven days if you had the extra money and hired more people.


Sorry ifI appear slightly confused, but I've been up all night working, and just read your post before I go to bed.
 
So, you are proposing that those who preordered could pay $500 to order an extra unit, and get their preordered unit in 7 days or so, and the extra unit during Batch 2 build. It doesn't seem a bad proposition for those who want a 2nd unit. This raises a few questions:

  • Do you really mean US Dollars, or did you mean pounds? (I live in the USA.)
  • Would one have to do the weird bank transfer thing again, costing extra wire fees? Or could this be handled via more standard web payment methods? (Since the $500 one would be delivered later, presumable > 30 days from ordering, you couldn't use PayPal or credit cards still. Unless you are officially delivering the $500 one first. Perhaps this is what you are doing?)
  • So that means Batch 2 is sold out?


I'd only bite if my wife wanted one, but then I'd have to explain how she would have to wait for hers until Batch 2. If you do offer this, I do hope that people give it consideration.
 
So what if mine hasn't shipped yet, can I send you and extra $180 and have this happen? I think I paid $320, I'm not sure. I'm right around the corner but I do want to help you guys. If you could paint mine a different color I'd go for it. List a few colors and I'd pay $200 for a paint job and to get it faster and to help you out.


EDIT: I'm confused, so I'd pay $500 for a second unit now that is painted but I'd get my first unit in 7 days?
 
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It's a simple as there will be a button on the website saying 'Buy a Pandora now' and it will be $500.


People who buy that will get their unit within about 7 days. I'd imagine they will be new customers and that you guys will want to wait and still get your unit below cost price.


We will no longer take 'preorders' or sell the Pandora at the old price at all, we will use the extra money to speed up the whole build process.
 
@Eridger


Dude you have great taste, thats an awesome color, I little darker as you mentioned would be perfect also.
 
It's a simple as there will be a button on the website saying 'Buy a Pandora now' and it will be $500.


People who buy that will get their unit within about 7 days. I'd imagine they will be new customers and that you guys will want to wait and still get your unit below cost price.


We will no longer take 'preorders' or sell the Pandora at the old price at all, we will use the extra money to speed up the whole build process.
Hmm, don't know, slow me down? Can I pay extra for a paint job and for it to ship in 7 days? Maybe have two buttons, one for people that didn't pre-order that costs $500 and one for those that did for an extra $200?
 
Blimey what a question.


I'm kind of torn. I really want the project to be a success, for OPT to be able to continue to produce Pandora inspired devices for a very long time, and for you to make lots of money and be very successful. So anything that can help this happen I want to support.


However, I WANT MY PANDORA!! :wacko: ;)


Ok, so I ordered back in May 2009 so therefore I'm ordering from Batch 1. I have never waited for anything for so long and as I get nearer and nearer to imminent delivery, and seeing all the photos, discussions and videos, the excitement and frustration is driving me to distraction.


So if the "7 Day Pandoras" are going to delay delivery of my unit I don't want anything else to delay it, but if they are coming from Batch 2 and it means that no one is "stealing" my Pandora then I fully support it and it's a fantastic idea.


Edit: Typo
 
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Yes, I thought I'd get mine this week, my queue position was under 1000 so I thought mine should ship soon. If it slows mine down I'd vote no. I'd be interested in paying an extra $200 to have it painted though.
 
Blimey what a question.


I'm kind of torn. I really want the project to be a success for OPT to be able to continue to produce Pandora inspired devices for a very long time and for you to make lots of money and be very successful. So anything that can help this happen I want to support.


However, I WANT MY PANDORA!! :wacko: ;)


Ok, so I ordered back in May 2009 so therefore I'm ordering from Batch 1. I have never waited for anything for so long and as I get nearer and nearer to imminent delivery, and seeing all the photos, discussions and video, the excitement and frustration is driving me to distraction.


So if the "7 Day Pandoras" are going to delay delivery of my unit I don't want anything else to delay it, but if they are coming from Batch 2 and it means that no one is stealing my Pandora then I fully support it and it's a fantastic idea.

Well we should be able to keep up due to simply having more money, so there should not be a further delay on your unit, you should get it sooner if this plan works out.


It just finally feels to me that the Pandora is solid and ready for this move, software is moving forward well, the build is solid, batch2 is slowly coming together.


We need to push things along now we know we can build these faster.
 
I think this is a great idea, looking at it from a financial point of view, it makes sense that you would up the price but only do it to actually give something back. A normal business would just up the price in general on a new batch untill it is satisfied with the amount of money coming in and going out. You guys don't have that luxury.


I'd say do it, I don't have the money to buy one like that, and if I understand it correctly ( I might have this wrong) the situation works as follows:


At whichever point you say go (I reckon after batch 1 is finished?):


- That button will be placed on the website so people can buy special 7 day orders for 500 dollars.


- There are enough components to build those ones AND the batch we're currently in.


- The old crew works on the normal batch (batch 2 at that point?) while anyone that is hired in, is purely there to work the 7 day order crew.


---- If all 7 day units are done, that extra crew will work on older orders, possibly speeding that up as well ? ---


In that way, anyone that buys the special 7 day order, won't have an impact on the older orders that are being populated slowly. Am I right ?
 
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Yes, I thought I'd get mine this week, my queue position was under 1000 so I thought mine should ship soon. If it slows mine down I'd vote no. I'd be interested in paying an extra $200 to have it painted though.

The intention of making something different about them was to make your 'First batch' unit more unique, not the other way around! :)


In the long run the 'all black' unit will be far more rare.
 
Yes, I thought I'd get mine this week, my queue position was under 1000 so I thought mine should ship soon. If it slows mine down I'd vote no. I'd be interested in paying an extra $200 to have it painted though.

The intention of making something different about them was to make your 'First batch' unit more unique, not the other way around! :)


In the long run the 'all black' unit will be far more rare.
Ahh, but I like the dark red one. Oh well, I don't know how much money I have right now I was mainly thinking of helping you guys out.
 
The hefty sum an original, batch-1 black Pandora will sell for on eBay will entirely finance the purchase price of a Pandora3! Hooray!


(Posted from my original, batch-1 black Pandora)
 
If I already had my unit I'd be delighted by this move, as it would get more pandoras out there -> larger community and user base -> more software. However, as I'm still waiting for mine I'm kinda uneasy about this. I understand that you could step up production with more people and it would get us a larger throughput if the current bottleneck is in the assembly phase. However if the bottleneck turns out to be somewhere else you'll have more people twiddling their thumbs waiting for parts, which would be even worse and would probably only get me my pandora slower.


My suggestions: Try this out, make it a limited time offer at first and see if the rest of the supply chain can keep up with the increased demand. If they can't, scale back the production until you reach a cost-effective point where you get pandoras to preorderees at least at current rate. Moreover, limit the amount of instant-buyable pandoras to the estimated surplus you get from the increased throughput, so you can guarantee people are moving in the Great Line as well. I'm imagining a counter on the purchase page "27 ready for purchase!".


How does this sound?


EDIT: missing critical comma ;)
 
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I think if what you are saying is that New orders for the Pandora will be $500 , then that could actually backfire. Your taking a gamble and are basically presuming that people havent ordered a Pandora yet in any numbers because its only on Order with a delivery delay at the moment and that is shying people away. Your also saying that those people will pay the $500 if they could get it now. Some will I think, but how many?. Hiking the price at this stage would be picked up by the media and probably would be seen very negatively given the small numbers sold so far. That could backfire real bad.


I think if you were to continue with the preorders at $350 for the basic black model. Then also have a "Special Edition" Pandora (and I like the concept of the Red one that was proposed) and say sell that at a limited run of 2000 units at $600, then people would buy it as a collectors item . There would be a reason to buy it, and it would not garner the negative press a price hike would. Back in my day working for Ford , a number of people told me that the company didnt make any money on the basic car models and that all the profit was derived from the Premium models that sold for a premium profit. Same model could work here.
 
I think if what you are saying is that New orders for the Pandora will be $500 , then that could actually backfire. Your taking a gamble and are basically presuming that people havent ordered a Pandora yet in any numbers because its only on Order with a delivery delay at the moment and that is shying people away. Your also saying that those people will pay the $500 if they could get it now. Some will I think, but how many?. Hiking the price at this stage would be picked up by the media and probably would be seen very negatively given the small numbers sold so far. That could backfire real bad.


I think if you were to continue with the preorders at $350 for the basic black model. Then also have a "Special Edition" Pandora (and I like the concept of the Red one that was proposed) and say sell that at a limited run of 2000 units at $600, then people would buy it as a collectors item . There would be a reason to buy it, and it would not garner the negative press a price hike would. Back in my day working for Ford , a number of people told me that the company didnt make any money on the basic car models and that all the profit was derived from the Premium models that sold for a premium profit. Same model could work here.

It's not possible to keep selling the Pandora for $350 though - it costs more than $350 to build it. The OMAP3 chipset is a very nice bit of kit (notice how people are surprised at the power of something which is supposed to be 'last generation') but it requires specialist equipment to build something this powerful with all these features this small.


We have to come to terms with the fact you can't build a mini-computer for $350, the clue was when other manufacturers were charging $500+ for devices using the same hardware with fewer features. We have tried *everything* to cut costs but we are still, two years later, on the edge of what is possible with mini-computers. The reason you don't see other tiny computers is because this took an extraordinary amount of work and was exceedingly difficult to accomplish.


But now we are making them and have a working continuous production line going we have to face facts - the Pandora needs to be $500. It isn't a games console, it's a fully working mini computer with a 14 hour battery life. We're not in the GP2X zone anymore.
 
I'd be cool with it, as I already opted for a one nubber, but it is a bit mean on those waiting, as it'll feel like its a longer wait


If there's enough money, and the next shipments of cases etc can be delivered on time it should work though, maybe limiting the amount of instant pandoras would be a good idea
 
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