Really fantastic write-up and, "why the hell not get a flushed out demand curve?" duh! Brilliant!
We sell an online digital product that is subscription based. Do you think such a mechanism makes sense there, too?
Pricing niche products
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Re: Pricing niche products
#62It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. The emergence of row-staggered 40…
It's disappointing how a $100,000 watch still has a big and little hand going around a conventional 12 hour dial ...
Re: Pricing niche products
#63Re: Pricing niche products
#64A technical question, how was the Vickrey auction done to ensure that you can't just enter a bogus high price?
Re: Pricing niche products
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There's nothing wrong with any of this There isn't? Deliberately understocking so that some of your users miss out and the rest have to pay more seems like it's all bad for the users, even if it's making money for somebody.
A vendor doesn’t have to offer the socially optimal package. Other vendors can fill in other gaps.
The GP said:
> The hobby intentionally does nothing to try to improve [the drawbacks of the small scale] because the exclusivity drives prices up to an insane point. [...] There is nothing wrong with any of this.
If it's still worth it for you, that's fine. Or if you figure that selling a few blinged-out "designer" models at ultra-premium prices helps support the main product, or if you don't care either way because you don't buy the top models, or you admire the designer's business savvy, or any other thoughtful reason that hasn't occurred to me, that's all fine.
But describing that situation I quoted above, and saying "there is nothing wrong with this," is pretty debatable! And I'm getting downvote-bombed for politely debating it. Hacker News is weird sometimes.
Re: Pricing niche products
#66There's even Keycon https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=98877.0
If you want to see the full range and get a sense of what this is about: https://old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/ https://old.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/
1.6K seems a bit steep. You can find most kits in the low 00s However mechanical keyboards are popular with gamers and more about collectibles / art than anything, so price becomes less relevant.
If you're after ergonomics and efficiency Keyboard.io and Ergodox offer decently priced pre built split keyboards.
I personally find the keyboard.io camera mount genius - take a look at a few setups here https://community.keyboard.io/t/what-does-your-rsi-helping-s...
More resources: https://unikeyboard.io https://clueboard.co/ https://www.dygma.com/raise/
Re: Pricing niche products
#67I suspect a set of shill bidders may be at work here.
Is there a way to guard against the seller inflating prices by bidding?
Re: Pricing niche products
#68It's disappointing how so much money is being poured into "mechanical keyboard kits" that simply re-create the old ANSI/ISO layouts that are rooted in old limitations from the days of the typewriter. Alternate layouts & ortholinear/ergonomic designs should be the forefront of the movement. All this focus on outdated designs makes the community "accessible" but also holds people back. The emergence of row-staggered 40…
Take a look at ergodox, keyboardio, dactyl, etc. and you'll see more innovation than in the MacBooks.
Re: Pricing niche products
#69I have a $600+ keyboard so I'm a part of this hobby. However, only a part of this can be explained by the expense of manufacturing at a small scale. The hobby fully embraces the drawbacks of the small scale and intentionally does nothing to try to improve it because the exclusivity drives prices up to an insane point. A typical group buy for a popular case sells out in minutes or days time after time. Clearly some of…
Are those box jade switches some kind of special version? I can't find them here: https://www.pcgamingrace.com/products/kailh-mx-switches
You can try here https://novelkeys.xyz/products/novelkeys-x-kailh-box-thick-c...
Re: Pricing niche products
#70I wish there was a niche that involved making replacement keycaps for Macs that brought back the Apple logos on the Command keys.