Pricing for kickstarter. $25 sweet spot? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: rickey1990
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 10:47:44 pm
content: Hithis project has taken lot longer than i fort :0. to many ideas. But i have been wondering about pricing for kickstarter. Apparently 25 american dollars about 18 quid is the best price to set a reward. i have researched the prices for 100kits, components cost about £60 (35pc's per board), the boards to be printed are £154 - total £214, $309.58. Shipping to most parts of the world £3.$25 will get the board and all the components.$30 dollars includes 10 jumper wires and a choice between a PIC or Atmega microcontroller. But from research there's about 150 micro-controllers it will work with.Im also developing a blog for the board, with a step by guide of each module and what you can do with it.Just wondering if that seem's like a good deal.I still got to some small changes like labelling and changing the pin-outs of the 2 rs232's to make them more universal, make the RGB look abit better.When i get boards il be taking high res-photos, setting up afew circuits. below is just me brainstorming and designs from the design process. bit messy but you get the idea.

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 11:20:19 pm
content: Just be careful, to allow for:1) Any extra parts you forgot, eg nuts and bolts or stand offs.2) Packing materials for postage.3) Extras the kit needs. Small roll of solder, printed instructions, little plastic bags to put parts into etc.5) Cost blowouts if your cheap supplier runs out of stuck, or sends you some fake parts.5) Your time, or your friends times when they have to help.I don't think you've painted yourself into a corner though.

author: M_Holden
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 11:35:47 pm
content: Hi, the idea is not bad but in my opinion you should review the layout of the pcb.Change the positions of C2,C4,C5, C6 (put them closer to the max232) and C1,C3 (closer to the regulator and in the path of the current, sorry for the bad english).Use bigger traces or better solid copper pours/fills for the power distribution and use a ground plane.If you don't have any mechanical restriction (case, etc) move the mounting holes to the outside of the pcb and form a rectangle.

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 11:36:04 pm
content: I would question these days of the use of a RS-232 interface rather then a more modern USB serial interface.

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 11:53:56 pm
content: Why would anyone use an RS232 transceiver these days?Oh, and you'd better get someone to proof your KS text for spelling and grammar...

author: rickey1990
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 12:58:29 am
content: Well im using the rs232 because people ask questions like this"Problem Communicating with Medical Equipment over RS232 using Arduino Uno"Mar 23, 2014, 11:48 amI've been trying to send a message from Arduino Uno to a device over an RS232 serial interface, and then receive a reply which will be displayed on the PC serial monitor. I've used the AltSoftSerial library in my code. So far however I have not received any reply from the device. I've used a 'straight-through' cable from my RS232 shield to the device. I've included the following important information from the device manual:And thanks for the advice, moving the caps makes it alot more modular as-well. got some room left for a AV RCA tv out. And the joys of dyslexia.

author: rickey1990
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 01:54:27 am
content: Its the age old question, do you give a man a fish and let him eat for a day, or do you teach a man to fish and let him eat for a life time. After looking at the BBC micro being released this year for every 10 year old in the UK. I felt there's a gap in the market for something that is more than a pre-built product. I wanted something where you have to look at circuit diagrams and where the student has to make the connections between different part's of the circuit. starting with a blank board, getting the basics set up, learning some soldering, learning about the voltage regulator and how to set it to 5v. Adding more functionality to it, indicator led, on off switch, protection diode. Using a basic blink program, rgb led for colour mixing. then logic level converters, serial communication, interfacing with a sd card, voltage dividers, reading and writing information from it. producing a image on a TV screen.Room for further prototyping.

author: ThomasDK
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 03:39:39 am
content: A couple of thoughts:1: You may want to reconsider the voltage dividers on the SD-card signal lines.Depending on the card, it might work at low speeds, or not at all, totally depends on stray capacitance and wire lengths.Use a CD4050 instead, takes up the same space as your resistors, and works fine.2: The 10K/20K divider for the supply of the card looks a little suspicious. Should the card try to draw just half a mA, the supply will collapse.Use a proper 3.3V regulator instead. You will need it anyway for the CD4050. A 78L33 would take up less space than the two resistors.Thomas

author: Tandy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 12:20:24 pm
content: I don't want to discourage you from developing your ideas, but I would suggest that you may struggle to get many backers. Not because there is anything inherently wrong with your board but simply because everyone and their aunt is producing micro controller development boards. You have the very cheap boards from the manufacturers, popular boards with big communities behind them like Arduino & Beaglebone etc. Then you have a handful of specialised boards that are used in specific applications such as industrial or radio controlled modelling or CNC machine builds.You have to ask what sets yours out from the rest, what unique features does it have to compel people to buy it?Mike Hibbit a contributor to Every Day Practical Electronics Magazine ran a kickstarter a few months back for a PIC board with the help of his readers and managed to get a couple of hundred backers. I think if it wasn't for the magazine connection he would have struggled to get the level of interest necessary.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 04:32:31 pm
content: From what I understand of your board's features, I think your pricing is way off. For the $5 you are charging to add the CPU chip, it's possible to buy a complete Arduino clone or ESP8266 module. There are plenty of fancy ARM boards starting under $10. If you could sell a 5 pack of PCBs for $25, you might have something.

author: Fungus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 04:37:21 pm
content: Quote from: rickey1990 on February 10, 2016, 12:58:29 amSoftSerialIn a medical device...

author: rickey1990
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 08:46:07 pm
content: Thanks tom, changing it to a regulator. Hi tandy, just looked at his project, going to email him and ask him for some advice. Well i have 2 electronics blog's, traffics about 3000 people a month. But what il will be doing is sending out review boards. worst case get on my electric bicycle with trailer. visit maker spaces ect. Also found a cheap supply-er of ps/2 sockets. so fort id add 2.and edavid - That would mean selling each full kit for £3.44. A official arduino uno is $25 and there a company. with a factory pumping out the things. i have tried pricing it as fairly as i can, if anything the more i sell the cheaper each one will get.