Can you sell development kits as products? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mortos360
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 12:05:16 pm
content: I was just wondering if there is some legal stuff that prevents you from doing that?I am talking about very very small quantities.. for example if you had a solution for a problem that effects only a very specific area where you can sell maybe 10-20 boards max.It sounds to me like a very simple solution for alot small problems.There are so many dev ktis out there that come with all the electronics needed for many problems and they just need right software.Anyway... is that possible and if so.. do people actualy do that??

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 12:18:19 pm
content: Do you mean to get around the rules to do with product safety and testing?Like selling a module vs a product?The raspberry pi had an issue in that area.They were trying to sell the pi as dev boards but RS/Farnel wouldn't distribute them without certification because they viewed the pi as a retail product.(At least i think i have that correct)

author: mortos360
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 12:39:48 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on June 26, 2013, 12:18:19 pmHmmm.. well by product I mean a device that does something specific and is sold as it is.Now that you mantion it, I am not even sure if thats legal.Lets say some people need a timeLapse system for their camera and there is nothing on the market they can use. If one would take a DevKit andprogram it to do that... would it be legal to sell that device to a few people?Or lets take a Lab that needs only 1 device for a very specific task.

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:01:25 pm
content: So you want to take something like a Dev kit from Mircochip, add custom code and sell the board & code as a solution to solve some problem? Sure, why not? If you're buying the Dev kit it's your to do what you will with it, subject to a few possible import/export restrictions on high end micros.Many solutions are based on reference designs supplied by a vendor. You're just going one step further if you use their hardware.

author: ddavidebor
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:14:06 pm
content: Remember that we're on an international forum.Laws are different in different country.

author: Jay_Diddy_B
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:15:01 pm
content: Hi,The vendor of the development kit may restrict the number of kits that you can buy.Some may not care.The reason is that sometimes development kits are sold at a loss. The idea is to encourage you to use their part in your projects.Jay_Diddy_B

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:15:56 pm
content: Like Psi said most dev kits lack any certs.In EU its illegal to commercially sell end user products without certs. You can get around that selling for example do it yourself kits, or selling something as a part that goes into finished product, but you cant sell finished product.As for reselling dev kits, who gives a flying Duck what manufacturers think - you bought it, its yours, you can do whatever you want with it (first sale doctrine)

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:26:26 pm
content: Fill out your profile, what country do you live in?!Although you probably talking safe low voltage stuff, I wouldn't sell anything personally, set up an LLC (or your country equivalent). These days someone could poke themselves with a resistor lead and get an infection and take you to court! It's sad but happens.

author: mortos360
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:33:12 pm
content: Quote from: dr.diesel on June 26, 2013, 01:26:26 pmDone!! Wanted to do that for a long time and always got distracted.I am far away from developing anything or even selling... I was just curious since I am buying some kits atm to learn with them and it seems there is a kit for EVERYTHING!!

author: mikeselectricstuff
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 01:42:30 pm
content: For small qtys, unless you kill someone, nobody is going to notice or care.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2013, 03:49:08 pm
content: Some companies try to prevent it. E.g. ST has a hilarious license. If they enforce it, or if it is even enforceable is another thing.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2013, 03:19:05 pm
content: I have seen products shipped with development boards, but they were small production runs (in the order of 10s of units) for very specific applications. In these cases the value added was in the kit surroundings (mechanical assembly and its surroundings, or very specific analog front ends) and therefore it was not advantageous to invest in a board production/redesign.But I have also seen sometimes people fall into the trap of using specific kits that are not tailored for real-world products - due mostly to the lack of proper protection or robustness built into the kit. This happens mostly with analog development boards or reference designs where the main purpose is to showcase the part features and not be a bullet-proof design.If your kit does not fall into that, and your product does not require the certification mentioned by others, I wouldn't see a problem at all, especially with the extremely low-cost dev boards such as Launchpads and Arduinos...