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Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#151

Post by 43920 »

wnc3141 wrote: post #138
vidarh wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you need to aim for a luxury-ish niche, or at least a occupy a space where people feel like they're buying a piece of luxury, that's aspirational, where people know they're paying over the odds and that's part of the feel good factor of buying it. A toaster might well be a good space for that - cheap enough that it can be expensive in relative terms without being out of reach. But figuring out the marketing o…

I have a theory that anything that takes permanent, visible-realestate in the household has someone of a niche for people wanting tastefully designed things. In essence, things that do not appear "disposable" as so many kitchen appliances do. People pay extra for designer hot water pots. However purely aesthetic upgrade products will need serious work to maintain differentiation. Dyson is a more glaring example (fans…

There are already companies that make nice-looking, higher-end kitchen appliances though - Breville comes to mind, there are probably others. Speaking from personal experience, I have a toaster oven from them that’s lasted close to ten years with zero problems; I’d have a hard time being convinced to pay more for a “made in USA” one unless there was something truly exceptional about it.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#152

Post by nothercastle »

dheera wrote: post #103
JohnnyHerz wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. The high end of the market is a proven niche and the target high-end buyer has demonstrated a willingness to spend freely on premium grade products. The is a reason why LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is one of the most successful and valuable companies in the world. I'm not saying it's easy. Any business endeavor, regardless of product market fit, still requires execution. Easier said than done, but m…

> premium grade products. Premium grade != Made in USA Here's a $200+ toaster I was seriously considering buying at one point. It is not made in the USA, and most made-in-USA stuff sucks honestly https://www.amazon.com/Mitsubishi-Electric-ST1-T-Toaster-ult...

Yeah it’s a pretty nice toaster.

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#153

Post by nothercastle »

photonbeam wrote: post #128
dylan604 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. Who wants a $75+ toaster just because it was "Made In USA"? Is it going to make toast better than a $15 toaster "Hecho In Mexico" or whatever other country? Even making the infrastructure to make a toaster would not do much in the way of increasing the manufacturing abilities in the US. What co…

Id pay hundreds for a toaster built like a tank Not because I need that, I just enjoy overly heavy things

Why not but one of these? Ours has been going strong for 7 years now https://www.dualit.com/products/2-slice-newgen

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#154

Post by nothercastle »

farhanhubble wrote: post #146

There's always a market for a toaster that looks like a printer with infrared laser head for toasting and costs 100 dollars. Check out Rotimatic: https://rotimatic.com/ I don't own one but it seems to be on the wishlist of every Indian living abroad.

That sounds amazing too bad it works poorly

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#155

Post by philwelch »

photonbeam wrote: post #128
dylan604 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you are greatly over-estimating how many people would be willing to pay the cost of a North American made toaster. Who wants a $75+ toaster just because it was "Made In USA"? Is it going to make toast better than a $15 toaster "Hecho In Mexico" or whatever other country? Even making the infrastructure to make a toaster would not do much in the way of increasing the manufacturing abilities in the US. What co…

Id pay hundreds for a toaster built like a tank Not because I need that, I just enjoy overly heavy things

Do I have the product for you!

https://www.amazon.com/Tungsten-Cube-1-5-One-Kilo/dp/B00XZBI...

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#156

Post by nothercastle »

MostlyStable wrote: post #116

If you make one like the Sunbeam Automatic Beyond Belief toaster, and you can keep the price -edit- After thinking about this a little more, I could go higher than that price point. But higher than that and I'd want any non BIFL parts to be user serviceable/replaceable.

200 seems fair

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#157

Post by tailrecursion »

You appear to have your heart set on toasters, and that's fine. A coffee roaster for the prosumer, however, strikes me as a more interesting product to make. I think there's still an opportunity to make a better or at least different product, and the area has been heating up recently. It's a lot like a toaster, if you think about it. And there's more opportunity for software and hardware integration ("roast profiling").

I also have a question: if a product is sold as a kit where the buyer performs the "final assembly", does that alleviate any of the burden with UL testing, FCC, or product liability?

Re: Ask HN: Should I try to manufacture toasters?

#159

Post by tarikjn »

medler wrote: post #149
tarikjn wrote: post #132

I am a Software Engineer like you. I got started in making physical products in 2017 first with 3d printing, and today I do design for manufacturing. This might surprise some here, but if you can do 100% of the design and get good at it, it's possible to bootstrap a hardware company, even as a solo founder. I know it because I've done it. However I intentionally started with physical products with no electronics in t…

> get good at making drawings and hiring shops What is “hiring shops?”

Machining & Prototyping shops or "on-demand manufacturers". That involves choosing a region, evaluating the options/making a list, contacting a few and having a NNN ready for them to sign, getting 3-4 quotes for every parts in different MOQs, managing information on a need-to-know basis (to have some level protection beyond your NNN), managing these relationships etc. There is a lot more as the processes move to die/mold making as you go up in quantities and these have their own design requirements & ownership agreements.
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