Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #13664
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 100 06:51:30 GMT
Subject: Re: Costings in Australia
Peter,
I think it's a bit rough to criticise Ben's understanding of price setting.
All he's really saying is that he can get the same parts cheaper elsewhere.
Regardless of the causes of that situation, the statement is true. Your
explanation of WHY things cost so much more from RobotOz is actually an
eloquent and very convincing argument for buying overseas.
The implication of that may be that it really isn't in your interest to sell
BEAM parts at all. Personally, I would be disappointed if you made that
decision since I like the idea that if I just want a handful of parts, rather
than a big order, I can save on postage by getting them from you and even if
the parts are more expensive I still make a net saving. Probably 1381s and
capacitors are the only things I'd want, though. Maybe solar cells as well.
The motors you currently sell are just way outside my price range.
I do think, however, that there are things you could do to improve your BEAM
sales strategy. I understand that you probably don't want to buy yet more BEAM
stuff if you aren't seeing much of it move, but I know that I'd be much more
interested in buying from you if you were selling stuff that I CAN'T GET
elsewhere.
A lot of the $1 and $2 surplus pager motors sold at places like MPJA and
Electronics Goldmine are outside my reach because the minimum order is $50 or
$100 USD and I really don't want 100 pager motors. I've run into this
situation quite a lot and would be only too happy to buy smaller quantities
from you at a substantial markup. They'd still work out at a fraction of the
cost of the Solarbotics ones you currently stock. I certainly don't mind using
surplus stuff if its less than half the price and I'm sure most of the other
BEAMers agree.
Also, there are things BEAMers want that Solarbotics doesn't sell at all. If
you could source some of those it would be great. How about some mechanical
stuff, such as miniature sprockets and plastic chains (or timing belts and
pulleys etc) for tracked robots? (check out the tracks on The Ants to see what
I mean - sorry, can't remember the URL) Gears or even gearboxes (I've heard of
cheap gear replacement sets for servos, but never seen one retail)? Electronic
components that are common in beam circuits, such as 2n7000, 2n2222, 2n2907 etc
(particularly the 2n7000, which isn't sold at DSE)?
What about solar cells from an Australian source? Supposedly we lead the world
in solar cell research and some of the best SCs are made here, but I've never
seen one for sale. If you could get some of those it would be great.
Also, a lot of the stuff we buy from the US probably came from Asia
originally. You could probably undersell North American suppliers by getting
those things straight from the source.
Even if not all of those suggestions are practical, I'm sure you could move a
lot more BEAM stuff by having a more diverse range of products, including some
that aren't easy to get elsewhere, and sourcing some of them from cheaper
places.
Anyway, I hope that provides some food for thought.
Simon.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This message was sent using Dynamite Internet's Web Mail System.
http://home.dynamite.com.au/
Home