This was front page all day, I'm surprised he has any left to sell.
Making a Physical Product
101–110 of 134 posts
Re: Making a Physical Product
#102I liked this article and would like to see more like it. With the maker movement, Kickstarter, 3D printing, etc there now seems to be a lot more interest in making physical products. But the isn't a lot of public information about the costs and processes involved, compared to say the number of tutorials on how to build web app or a mobile app. I noticed that the actual cost of the 'product' is less than 40% of the to…
> But the isn't a lot of public information about the costs and processes involved, compared to say the number of tutorials on how to build web app or a mobile app.
This is because your are in the field. Say you were a person, who has never programmed anything in their life, but has a great idea for an app. Where would you even start? It would seem to me that finding good programmers is as difficult as finding good factories.
> I noticed that the actual cost of the 'product' is less than 40% of the total project costs.
This is why Apple is the largest company in the world, not Foxconn.
Re: Making a Physical Product
#103I watched the video on the site and still didn't really get how the game worked. I couldn't find any written instructions on the site.
Neither did I but the video was so cute that I bought a pack (actually three with friends to lower the shipping per pack)
Re: Making a Physical Product
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the idea of an iOS app sounds great. Why waste paper when you can simply click "new game" on your phone?
Why waste plastic on dice when you can click, "new roll" on your phone? Some people might like games like this because they're not digital.
Because it's not as fun as physically rolling the dice. There's not much additional gain to writing down the score on a piece of paper versus keeping score on an app tailored towards the game.
Re: Making a Physical Product
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why waste plastic on dice when you can click, "new roll" on your phone? Some people might like games like this because they're not digital.
Because it's not as fun as physically rolling the dice. There's not much additional gain to writing down the score on a piece of paper versus keeping score on an app tailored towards the game.
Yeah, it's also possible that I considered that and disagree with you. I'm not saying that everyone will prefer keeping score on paper, but some people really do and some other people will appreciate not having an iPhone on the table when they play a dice game.
Re: Making a Physical Product
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good analysis. One comment though - if the intention is to get the game onto the shelf in retail stores, there's not enough margin in it at the current cost/pricing. A store is going to require most (or all) of that margin - in most "dice game" type stores, if you want to put a product on the shelf at $20, you're going to need to sell it to the store for somewhere around $14 or they're not going to be interested. See…
Most retail outlets in my experience would want to purchase the $20 retail item for $8, giving them a 60% margin. Source - 20 years of doing this.
I'm making a product, and selling mostly online.
I was shocked (in the newbies do) to find out about the sort of gross margins retailers want. From where we are now, it seems like the only way we could reach that is through economies of scale that we are uncertain would pay off. Chicken meets egg once again?
In the market we're in (musical instruments/audio) the retailers with stores are going away, sales have moved online.
I'm not sure yet but I think the margins for online retailers could be less?
Re: Making a Physical Product
#107Really cool to see the numbers and congrats on making the product! One nit to emphasize the value in basic accounting knowledge for others when going down the manufacturing route: it's $11.37 _gross_ margin (aka gross profit, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_margin ), not _net_ profit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_Margin ). While this may sound silly and academic, net confers a sense of finality -- it i…
Good analysis. One comment though - if the intention is to get the game onto the shelf in retail stores, there's not enough margin in it at the current cost/pricing. A store is going to require most (or all) of that margin - in most "dice game" type stores, if you want to put a product on the shelf at $20, you're going to need to sell it to the store for somewhere around $14 or they're not going to be interested. See…
Just me being cynical, but this fact is what is wrong with the entire world. Everyone wants to make things as cheap as possible, and then sell them as expensive as possible.
Every single thing in our lives is driven by this dynamic and it is a cancer.
What is the way out of this that keeps people happy and doesn't destroy us?
Re: Making a Physical Product
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good analysis. One comment though - if the intention is to get the game onto the shelf in retail stores, there's not enough margin in it at the current cost/pricing. A store is going to require most (or all) of that margin - in most "dice game" type stores, if you want to put a product on the shelf at $20, you're going to need to sell it to the store for somewhere around $14 or they're not going to be interested. See…
Just me being cynical, but this fact is what is wrong with the entire world. Everyone wants to make things as cheap as possible, and then sell them as expensive as possible. Every single thing in our lives is driven by this dynamic and it is a cancer. What is the way out of this that keeps people happy and doesn't destroy us?
On the contrary, I think this dynamic (combined with strong human rights) is a great blessing to humanity. In a market economy, 'as expensively as possible' tends to mean 'not very expensively', and 'make things as cheap as possible' means 'make your processes more efficient'. And efficiency is the reason why we can have nice things.
Re: Making a Physical Product
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just me being cynical, but this fact is what is wrong with the entire world. Everyone wants to make things as cheap as possible, and then sell them as expensive as possible. Every single thing in our lives is driven by this dynamic and it is a cancer. What is the way out of this that keeps people happy and doesn't destroy us?
On the contrary, I think this dynamic (combined with strong human rights) is a great blessing to humanity. In a market economy, 'as expensively as possible' tends to mean 'not very expensively', and 'make things as cheap as possible' means 'make your processes more efficient'. And efficiency is the reason why we can have nice things.
While I dont take issue with your optimism and logic, I think it is flawed and naive, even if only due to the following:
Go to a grocery store; Safeway or whole foods. Note the prices for items based on their qty/weight/etc.
Now go to a restaurant wholesale style place (not a costco, which is an illusion of savings).
A place like "cash and carry" (there is one in oakland) where the small scale restaurateurs purchase goods for sale and markup to Joe Consumer.
Look at the price difference and what you, even as a non-wholesale-licensed-individual can purchase.
Now, the price you are paying in a place like cash and carry is still a profitable amount for both cash and carry AND the upstream providers to them (distributors, farmers, whomever) - but the prices are far less than a Safeway...
So, while I think that the statement you made is true, to a point, I think that we need a revolution in what industries gouge and which don't.
Food prices are being designed to kill. (I'd love to go into detail but it just hit midnight and I have a GOT episode to rewatch)
Re: Making a Physical Product
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the contrary, I think this dynamic (combined with strong human rights) is a great blessing to humanity. In a market economy, 'as expensively as possible' tends to mean 'not very expensively', and 'make things as cheap as possible' means 'make your processes more efficient'. And efficiency is the reason why we can have nice things.
While I dont take issue with your optimism and logic, I think it is flawed and naive, even if only due to the following: Go to a grocery store; Safeway or whole foods. Note the prices for items based on their qty/weight/etc. Now go to a restaurant wholesale style place (not a costco, which is an illusion of savings). A place like "cash and carry" (there is one in oakland) where the small scale restaurateurs purchase…
Food is a very bad example for you to pick to make your point. Margins are slim, because basically everybody can get in on this game quite easily. If you think you can supply a better product at a better price, or if you think there is demand for a better product at a higher price, why don't you go for it? I'll tell you: because if you'd start doing the math, you'd find out that no, it can't really be done at a much better price/quality ration. And the amount of offerings is already so big, consumers have total choice over their cost vs quality preferences.