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Pricing niche products

kevinlynagh.com

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Re: Pricing niche products

#141

Post by hprotagonist »

phaus wrote: post #107
hprotagonist wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My Keycaps cost 170 of that. They are modelled after the Space Cadet keyboard from an old LISP Machine. This was uneccessary obviously but I liked them. and now provide a link, please :)

My setup is the white version of this with the tenting kit but no wrist-guards (don't need them when its tented). https://imgur.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards/BjycwBN Here's the link to the keycaps alone with better pics. Unfortunately only available aftermarket now. https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-oblotzky-gmk-space-cadet-key... And here's the original: https://www.rcsri.org/collection/symbolics-keyboards/symboli... Ther…

excellent, thanks. I have a deep affection for the buckyboard, so i might have a look to see if can score a set to further annoy my labmates.

Re: Pricing niche products

#142

Post by phaus »

xenihn wrote: post #121
phaus wrote: post #2

I 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…

Which Healios switches did you get? I see Halo Clear 70, Halo clear 90, Halo True 70, Halo True 90, etc.. on Massdrop.

that's different. Those are nice but there's a company called ZealPC that makes a few different models of switches. They don't have to be purchased from his site directly, there are a few other places that have them.

Healios is the name for their silenced linear switch. Its the quietest and smoothest linear switch I've ever tried. They are about $1.50 a switch though, mx's are like a quarter and Box Jades are about 35 cents. IMO they are worth it but some people try MX silenced reds and like them better at a fraction of the cost.

I bought a switch tester with 25 different switches that I thought I might like and then used it to decide what to get.

Healios is sold out on the company site right now but the 67g version of these (roselios) is identical IIRC. I have a mix of both on my keyboard. These were just done with a different color plastic stem for a charity event: https://zealpc.net/collections/switches/products/roselios_sa...

There are other places that likely have healios in stock.

Re: Pricing niche products

#143

Post by tonyedgecombe »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #114

These things have become so esoteric and expensive because the mechanical keyboard hobby is undergoing a more intense version of what happens to most hobbies/pastimes; the purpose of the hobby has transitioned from primarily "making/using the thing" to "obtaining and displaying ever more extreme versions of the thing to impress other people who know about the thing". I feel like this is an outgrowth of the basic huma…

I’d say it’s more about status signalling, even if it’s kept within that small group of keyboard aficionados.

Re: Pricing niche products

#144

Post by phaus »

EDevil wrote: post #57
phaus wrote: post #2

I 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

amazon has them too but I don't want to keep posting links to stores like I have been because I don't know if it violates the rules and I'm certainly not trying to sell anything.

search box jade switches and you should get something.

Re: Pricing niche products

#145

Post by panopticon »

james-mcelwain wrote: post #131
phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN lambasts audiophiles every time stupid expensive audio gear comes up, yet here we are paying $hundreds for gimmick keyboard stuff. SF developers making $100k or two a year just aren't in the same money league of the audiophiles spending $thousands on speaker wire. EDIT: I'm not mad at any of the above groups I've mentioned; everybody gets their kicks from something, as well they should. I'm just mentioning what I…

The key difference being audiophiles often fail A/B tests comparing audio quality. You would definitely notice how nice an expensive mechanical keyboard feels. Whether you think that is worth luxury pricing is another story, but the quality is at least more immediately appreciable.

I'm curious how many could distinguish a $400 keyboard from a $1200 keyboard. Once you get into a certain price point, the returns diminish so quickly that I figure most would be unable to tell a difference.

Re: Pricing niche products

#146

Post by 0wis »

omarhaneef wrote: post #18

I hate to nitpick but I assume you want to know: "I cannot understate the benefits of knowing the demand curve." I think you mean "I cannot overstate the benefits of knowing the demand curve." Because you seem to imply that it is a good thing to know the demand curve.

Why, on a seller standpoint, would it be a bad thing to know the demand curve ? For me it is actionnable marketing data, I cannot see a way in which it’s not good.

Even if you not use it directly, it is still data on your customer base that can help you understand them more...

Re: Pricing niche products

#147

Post by antoinealb »

james-mcelwain wrote: post #131
phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN lambasts audiophiles every time stupid expensive audio gear comes up, yet here we are paying $hundreds for gimmick keyboard stuff. SF developers making $100k or two a year just aren't in the same money league of the audiophiles spending $thousands on speaker wire. EDIT: I'm not mad at any of the above groups I've mentioned; everybody gets their kicks from something, as well they should. I'm just mentioning what I…

The key difference being audiophiles often fail A/B tests comparing audio quality. You would definitely notice how nice an expensive mechanical keyboard feels. Whether you think that is worth luxury pricing is another story, but the quality is at least more immediately appreciable.

I would be interested in seeing an AB test of keyboard enthusiast between say a 200$ keyboard and one that is 5x as expensive. Audiophiles also claimed that they would definitely notice a difference.

Re: Pricing niche products

#148

Post by vlunkr »

james-mcelwain wrote: post #131
phjesusthatguy3 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN lambasts audiophiles every time stupid expensive audio gear comes up, yet here we are paying $hundreds for gimmick keyboard stuff. SF developers making $100k or two a year just aren't in the same money league of the audiophiles spending $thousands on speaker wire. EDIT: I'm not mad at any of the above groups I've mentioned; everybody gets their kicks from something, as well they should. I'm just mentioning what I…

The key difference being audiophiles often fail A/B tests comparing audio quality. You would definitely notice how nice an expensive mechanical keyboard feels. Whether you think that is worth luxury pricing is another story, but the quality is at least more immediately appreciable.

I don’t think it’s different actually. Sure, jumping from a 20$ keyboard to a 200$ one makes a massive difference, but from 200$ to 2000$, the benefits are marginal, (outside of aesthetics). Similar comparisons can be made to any category of audio equipment.

Re: Pricing niche products

#149

Post by d--b »

One point that is not much discussed here is that software programmers earn generally quite a lot of money, and do tend to spend less on luxury items than bankers, which often means they have some cash on hands for this sort of things.

The custom keyboard kit is like the banker's rollex.

Re: Pricing niche products

#150

Post by phaus »

hprotagonist wrote: post #141
phaus wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My setup is the white version of this with the tenting kit but no wrist-guards (don't need them when its tented). https://imgur.com/r/mechanicalkeyboards/BjycwBN Here's the link to the keycaps alone with better pics. Unfortunately only available aftermarket now. https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-x-oblotzky-gmk-space-cadet-key... And here's the original: https://www.rcsri.org/collection/symbolics-keyboards/symboli... Ther…

excellent, thanks. I have a deep affection for the buckyboard, so i might have a look to see if can score a set to further annoy my labmates.

there will probably be another edition eventually but as someone still somewhat noobish to this hobby i've heard lots of people are ok waiting a year or two for a new group buy to start for a specific set. If you want one now keep searching /r/mechmarket for "space cadet" and make sure you look into the different kinds of sets. Mine was $170 with shipping from europe, but there are less keys on my ergodox keyboard and the set was made specifically for them. A full set is probably somewhere between $200-300. I think I've seen them for the low end of that but I'm not sure. If you don't have to have something identical, there's an SA profile set for $100 that's just blue/gray without the special characters you see in the photos. You'd have to do some googling to make sure the sa profile fits on your keyboard though. Usually they will but sometimes people have issues so I'd research:

This is a chinese site, but very reputable. There are other places that stock the same set:

https://kbdfans.com/products/bfcmmaxkey-blue-gray-sa-keycaps...

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