Bare Bones Kit?

I have had a few people comment on the price of the Altair
Kit.  Currently 
it takes a LOT of time to prepare a kit because of the
amount of small 
parts involved.  (resistors, capacitors, IC sockets).

I am considering a kit that contains only custom parts and
parts that get a 
big benefit from quantity orders.  For example, I would ONLY
include the 
case, power supplies, PCBs, ICs, switches, wire, and
fasteners.

I would provide a BOM with parts, quantity, and DigiKey part
numbers (for 
the exact parts I would have bought)

Making this change reduces the number of parts in the kit
from 820 to 124.  

The overall price would go down because of the parts not
included, and even 
more for handling.

I want to price it so I don't loose money, but also make it
available to 
more people.  What is the price threshold you would have on
buying one of 
these things?

Grant

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007, Grant Stockly wrote:

> I have had a few people comment on the price of the
Altair Kit.  Currently
> it takes a LOT of time to prepare a kit because of the
amount of small
> parts involved.  (resistors, capacitors, IC sockets).
>
> I am considering a kit that contains only custom parts
and parts that get a
> big benefit from quantity orders.  For example, I would
ONLY include the
> case, power supplies, PCBs, ICs, switches, wire, and
fasteners.
>
> I would provide a BOM with parts, quantity, and DigiKey
part numbers (for
> the exact parts I would have bought)
>
> Making this change reduces the number of parts in the
kit from 820 to 124.  
>
> The overall price would go down because of the parts
not included, and even
> more for handling.
>
> I want to price it so I don't loose money, but also
make it available to
> more people.  What is the price threshold you would
have on buying one of
> these things?

I sympathize with you on the parts thing.  I'd be willing to
buy such a
kit.

-- 
David Griffith
dgriffics.csubak.edu

A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read
text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?