What sort of price are you paying per PCB ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Ram80
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:34:38 am
content: I thought I'd make a few devices for friends. I'm using jlcpcb.For a 5 x 5cm PCB with an MCU, segmented LCD with driver IC, buzzer, few capacitors, resistors, battery holder, header pins and everything on default settings i.e 2-layer, top side only assembly it's going to cost around $6 per assembled PCB.I'm a bit disappointed I thought I could get them for around $2-3, what prices are you paying per PCB assembled or not?

author: ftg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:05:23 pm
content: That sounds very reasonable for a small batch board with assembly.You might get the price lower by avoiding parts from the extended parts library and only using Basic and Preferred Extended parts.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:51:58 pm
content: The very low prices are only for bare PCB's. (2 copper layers, 2 solder masks 2 silk screens, no solder stencil)What is your BOM cost for the parts? uC, LCD, lcd driver, etc. Have you considered that in your price?The problem with small quantity PCB's is that assembly takes a relatively big amount of human intervention. There are problems with standardization to communicate footprint orientation from EDA software to assembler. For making of the PCB it does not matter, the pattern of the copper to be etched and other layers are defined well enough, but once you start assembling, your QFP can be rotated and your diodes can be backwards. Even if it takes only 5 minutes to check this, all profit for the assembler would already have evaporated. Add to that the labor to put the bare PCB's on the assembly line and packaging the PCB and send them to you and it's amazing it can be done for such a low cost at all.For assembling these low prices are also only possible for parts that are already on the machine. Ordering custom parts for you, taking off the packaging and adjusting the P&P machine so it can pick up your custom parts can not be done for EUR6.

author: PGPG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:55:44 pm
content: You didn't said what MCU you used. It can have big influence on price.I'm using AtXmega256A3U (about $8 at mouser.com). I didn't checked it but would not expect JLCPCB to offer me assembled my PCB for $3 (even $6).And there are certainly more expensive MCUs available.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:56:36 pm
content: Considering everyone in Europe was asking 500 EUR + for setup costs for a PCBAs I don't think that JLCPCB prices are unreasonable.I wish they would stop being shady with their arbitrary rules, and shipping surcharges. Otherwise they are incredibly good with small production numbers.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 05:08:31 pm
content: Quote from: Ram80 on August 05, 2024, 10:34:38 amWhat is your BOM price? To get seriously low prices you need to take care to pull in the most economical parts. If you don't, the price can mushroom fast. The price of the MCU, driver and segmented LCD could vary enormously.

author: Ram80
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 05:31:01 pm
content: BOM was $4.50 for a quantity of 5 each. There are two setups fees, one for the PCB and one for the assembly that's where the majority of the cost is going. And I am using an STM8.I guess this is really cheap, I do wonder though how companies make any profit from selling electronic devices, you must have to order a large batch 10k, 100k units before you can make any profit.

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:14:13 pm
content: Quote from: Ram80 on August 05, 2024, 05:31:01 pmYeah, that's cheap for low-volume production. I would jump at that, myself.Making a profit depends on the value of what you are making, and that depends to a large extent on how easy it is for others to make and the size of the market (potential supply and demand). I sell small and medium-sized products in low volume, where the assembled boards cost between $5 and $50. In most cases the enclosures cost as much as the boards. Some of these designs are quite simple. But the demand is too low for anyone to bother competing, and the perceived value is high enough that I can sell them at a reasonable profit.

author: PGPG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:17:48 pm
content: Quote from: Ram80 on August 05, 2024, 05:31:01 pmNot exactly.In 1988 we (me and my brother) set up our small company. Imagine how much we could invest in our company as previously as academic teacher I was earning about $13 per month (not a mistake - we were communist country those time) and my brother about the same.Since then we are selling only designed by us electronic devices. We've been living on this for 36 years, but I've never been a rich man. Our typical order batch is 100 units.If people know that if they select your product then they install it and for 20+ years can just forget about it they are able to pay for it more than for others.An example of a situation that creates a good opinion about your product. About 15 years ago a building where our access control system was just installed was struck by lightning. All of their systems with long cables (alarm panels, telephone exchanges, network cards of most computers) went down, only our system continued to work. The installer wrote that now those who delivered those systems will earn money and he will get nothing

author: Ram80
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:27:24 pm
content: So I was playing around with the panel option on jlc. If I understand it correct you can order a panel of PCBs. So I choose a 5x5 panel (by jlc)which I assume is 25 PCBs. Now the standard 5 units was on as default so that would be 125 PCBs and the price per PCB this way is just over $1 per PCB. That's 6 times cheaper than ordering single pcbs.I don't have a panel Gerber but I could whip one up so I chose the "panel by jlc" option at 5x5.This seems too good to be true, a PCB for $1 each, this is assuming I've understood it and put all my settings in correct.

author: fourfathom
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 07:49:52 pm
content: Quote from: Ram80 on August 05, 2024, 06:27:24 pmFWIW, I just did a run of bare PCBs at JLC: small boards about 3x8 cm, a few holes and cutouts, silk screen text over a blue soldermask (these were used for enclosure front-panels). JLC did their own panelization and cutting, delivering the individual boards. For a quantity of 50,these cost me $0.28 each(not counting tax or shipping). This was part of a larger order, so shipping, while still a significant percentage, was shared with the other boards.These were otherwise basic 2-layer boards, with solid copper ground planes on both sides. There may have been a small discount applied, JLC usually has these available whenever I order something.

author: Ram80
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 09:36:21 pm
content: Quote from: fourfathom on August 05, 2024, 07:49:52 pmI opted for PCBA also in my quote

author: BennoG
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2024, 06:27:53 pm
content: the prices you quote are cheap. If you would order from a European PCB manufacturer you have 5 pcb's without components for 75 euro ex shipping costs.If you want to add parts then it will be around 300 euros for 5 pcb's including components ex shipping costs.That were normal prices for PCB's before JLC and PCBwayBenno

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2024, 08:24:33 am
content: Quote from: Ram80 on August 05, 2024, 06:27:24 pmYes, at JLC the way you want to produce more than ~10 PCBAs is to panelize it. I made that myself the cost per PCBA goes down of course.For me it was 50 PCBAs. I think going for a few hundred pieces, there are other supplier that would be able to handle that better, and give you better pricing.