Instant Pandora with a premium?


Craigix said:
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.
Click to expand...
$500 isn't outrageous when you look at other mini computers this size. The Pandora is actually better since it is ARM. I think the reason you don't see more is because the market thinks that everyone needs a windows blanky to feel secure so they slap a power sucking Atom in their devices and that just sucks so they don't sell well.
 
Back in November of 2009 I ordered the full package (all accessories) which ran me about $484 USD but $500 for the unit alone is quite feasible for some folks.


.
 
@Craigix


I understand what your saying Craig, its a difficult one. On one hand you need to up the price to make any kind of profit and keep things ticking for development etc, on the other hand you know the press is not going to take kindly to uping the cost of the Pandora given the limited sales so far, the Headline would be obvious.


You would also be pushing the Pandora into a new league of competition in another price bracket, not with other UMPC's in the same niche but with the Ipad and Notion ink Adam etc etc etc which would be in the $500 dollar price bracket. There different products sure, but no doubt it will be in peoples minds. As I said its a tough call.


The issue was the same with Ford, they couldnt push up the price of there base models because no one would pay extra for them , thats why all there profits came from the premium models or in this case possibly special edition Pandoras as I suggested. It was just another way of trying to solve the profit problem without garnering the negative press , loss of sales volume etc.
 
If the choice is between closing the project or raising the price - you must raise the price.


I think that you should send out e-mails to all the people that paid - asking them if they are willing to pay - lets say - 100$ and get the device within 7 days. Put a time limit of one week for this option.


After that - start selling from the main web page - 600 for one week delivery and 550 for two weeks delivery and so on.


The idea is that new people that didn't take the risk from the start should pay less.


I wish you the best, and hope everything will work out in the end.
 
I agree with second.exodous and would gladly pay an extra $180 to have it shipped right away I wouldn't even care if mine was painted. :D Just to finally have it would be a awesome. B) It would probably be good for you to set up a link on the website for new customers or people who want a double to click on it and order and then for the ones who already have ordered theirs they could send in an E-mail to where they ordered it and make a request and pay the extra on it.
 
I think this would be a great idea. I opted in the first place to purchase everything I could, developers fund/extra everything, in the hopes you guys would make the most profit out of it.


If I could get my pre-ordered Pandora with something special /and/ get it faster, I'd be more than willing to fork out the extra money for it. You guys deserve it for all you've done and had to put up with over the past few years.


Hard to imagine it's been that long since this started :\
 
All I really have to say is make sure you watch the orders closely so you don't take in too many...


What ever happened to the investment thing? If you needed an infusion of money there seemed to be plenty of interest...
 
HTL2001 said:
All I really have to say is make sure you watch the orders closely so you don't take in too many...


What ever happened to the investment thing? If you needed an infusion of money there seemed to be plenty of interest...
Click to expand...

You're right, there was a lot of interest and it's something which we're keeping open as an idea, but the legal side of it is deeply complex and not something I want to rush in to.
 
So I'm a bit confused, but hear me out and tell me if this is close to what you're suggesting Craig:


- From this day forward Pandoras will increase in price (~$500) (batch2, batch3, etc.) since OP (Open Pandora) isn't making money on them


- Batch2 pre-orders will be suspended (if they aren't sold out already)


- In order to get a Pandora in 7 days (pre-orderer or not) you can pay $500, this will be a different looking Pandora than the pre-ordered kind


- The 7-day Pandora will be a color other than Black (some suggest metallic red would be nice [metallic blue would be cool too])


- The revenue increase from the 7-day Pandoras would give OP more cash to pay more workers allowing for the entire project to speed up


- If a pre-orderer chooses to stick with their order they will still receive their Black Pandora, but in due time (maybe a bit faster due to 7-day Pandora sales)


Questions:


- It seems most prefer a custom paint job, Do you already have a paint service lined up that could meet demand of a custom color? Could they meet a 7-day deadline?


- Will the extra paint interfere with the operation of the Pandora (or has this been tested already)?


- This may have been a misconception, but wouldn't the release of the iControlPad generate some extra revenue to help the Pandora project (from where it got it's beginnings (same exterior d-pad, buttons, nubs))?


- As Second Exodus suggested, would batch1/batch2 pre-orderers be able to pay the difference (extra ~$170), and take their Pandora early from the queue?


Comment:


I think I would also be interested in turning my pre-order into a 7-day Pandora and pay ~$170 difference if I were to get a metallic blue or red Pandora (that still functioned great) that came in 7-days from the day I ordered it.
 
Just checked and that works out at £315 which actually is still very reasonable. When I bought my Psion 5, I think I paid £500 and that was 10 years ago (?).
 
I didn't expect many of you would want to pay more to speed up your order, but it's certainly possible.


If you chose to do this we can try to make your unit further customised as I consider you are making a very nice gesture to the project.


We don't want you all to pay extra, that isn't the intention here, we do want to deliver your unit at the price you paid and as quickly as we can now things are moving.


However if you are willing to pay more then the whole team is very grateful. I really don't know what else to say. It's very kind.
 
Craigix: Correct me if I'm wrong, but were you intimating that by making this move, the rest of the pre-orders from Batch 1 and Batch 2 will get delivered a lot faster than they currently are?


I myself don't have any spare cash and wont for months yet. Otherwise I would seriously have concidered the $500 'Instant Pandora'.


Is this an option:


Close Batch 2 preorders now.


Initiate the Special Edition 'Instant Pandora' orders (possibly with a bonus DVD including all the videos, media, and 'legal' software + emulators in the archives)


Announce that Batch 3 pre-orders will be starting soon - at a realistic price (that you make a small profit, but still cheaper than the 'Instant Pandora'


You can communicate that Batch 3 is the last opportunity to get the Pandora at such a great price and all future batches will be delivered within 7 days but also cost as much as the Special Edition (possibly minus DVD + paint job)


This could probably combate any negative media coverage. Just my thoughts.
 
I'm happy to wait for mine. I do like this idea, but I think you should offer all preorders the chance to pay extra to get theirs earlier, and ask them if they want it all black or the new color. I've been wondering why the Pandora sells for such a low price myself. The USD is also extremely cheap now.
 
I don't want to break up the "I'm in" party, but this is not going to go down well with the people who have their place in line for two years and all of a sudden get passed by with the people who have the extra dough. The press will also have a field day, and this will look like a scam for sure. I for one will not be telling my fiancee about this. I think this has a potential for a horrible truck load of bad PR for the Pandora.


I would be loath to say that the team cannot do this, but I know I won't like being passed by. I understand the need to cover costs and make money (everyone has a right to a fair profit for their hard work). But if I needed to cough up another $180 I would have to turn around and ask for my money back. I simply do not have the money and the missus would be furious and outraged (she bought it for a Christmas present 2 years ago).


If this needs to be done to keep the team from going bankrupt I can give it my full backing. But I cannot say this makes me happy. I paid my money two years ago knowing it would come. I then waited with faith and some nice words from a forum. Now I have to let some people with bigger pocket books cut in line? I am patient but this is a lot to bear.


Pardon me if I am misunderstanding the situation. The news about production is so spotty I feel like all I am going on is forum rumors. I am really sorry if I seem grouchy, it is late here and this topic is striking a nerve at the moment.
 
I think hiking the price up will alienate possible sales of the pandora, $500 is a lot of money for the pandora, if it was that price from the start i would have never baught one.
 
XxionxX said:
I don't want to break up the "I'm in" party, but this is not going to go down well with the people who have their place in line for two years and all of a sudden get passed by with the people who have the extra dough. The press will also have a field day, and this will look like a scam for sure. I for one will not be telling my fiancee about this. I think this has a potential for a horrible truck load of bad PR for the Pandora.


I would be loath to say that the team cannot do this, but I know I won't like being passed by. I understand the need to cover costs and make money (everyone has a right to a fair profit for their hard work). But if I needed to cough up another $180 I would have to turn around and ask for my money back. I simply do not have the money and the missus would be furious and outraged (she bought it for a Christmas present 2 years ago).


If this needs to be done to keep the team from going bankrupt I can give it my full backing. But I cannot say this makes me happy. I paid my money two years ago knowing it would come. I then waited with faith and some nice words from a forum. Now I have to let some people with bigger pocket books cut in line? I am patient but this is a lot to bear.


Pardon me if I am misunderstanding the situation. The news about production is so spotty I feel like all I am going on is forum rumors. I am really sorry if I seem grouchy, it is late here and this topic is striking a nerve at the moment.
Click to expand...

But the idea is your will get your unit *faster* than if we didn't do this. CC can now build the boards very fast but we don't have the money to build the full units faster.


If we do this your Pandora will come in to being quicker due to more people building them.


I should expand on this:


We have discovered that 5 people can build 70 units more than twice as fast as 3 people.


This is due to the effect of a production line rather than each person doing several jobs.


So if we have 5 people rather than the current 3, we can produce 150+ units/day rather than the current ~70.


This means although we're selling more we are building more again.


I know it sounds strange but I've spent the last month working on this puzzle and this is the solution.
 
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