The $115 seems fine, it's the absurdity of the $100 shipping that is unacceptable, methinks.
On Mon, Dec 29, 2025 at 12:21 AM Richard Scales <[email protected]> wrote: > I have a design for a similar thing though it uses WiFi for NTP and is > based on the 'B-7971 Smart Socket' concept - as for price - I think mine is > similar (though without case) - but I am just a hobbyist who likes to make > my projects available to anyone interested. The economics of R&D, > procurement and production of a kit, software development and support would > mean that selling it for any less would be soul destroying. > I would be interested in hearing opinions from anyone else on this group > who make their projects available to others for construction as to how they > might arrive at a price of a kit that reflects not just the component cost > but all the time that goes in to designing and refining something like > this. If you spend 30 hours doing something - are you then happy to sell > and support it for little more than the cost of the components alone? > > Perhaps if the price is considered 'insane' then one could sit down with a > pencil and paper - rough out a design, prototype it, test it, design the > PCBs, have them made, refine them and re-fab them then sit down and produce > the code that actually runs the thing et voila - all that money saved and > all you have invested just the cost of the components and the PCBs and a > little time. > > I know a few people who actually do this for a living and it's very tough > for them. It's easy to look on ebay where you will almost certainly find > all sorts of kits of very few $$$ - and if you are happy with the > specification and the price and are not up to doing it all yourself then, > why not just buy it and be happy with it. I appreciate that in this case > the price has been sited as 'insane' but then the vendor has only made a > few and perhaps they are just like me - just a hobbyist - it's sometimes > too easy to assume that just because it's coming from China - it should > cost something more like $30 - impossible to say. > > This is absolutely NOT a rant in any way and I most sincerely do not wish > to start some massive thread full of complaints about how expensive > something is or how cheap it should be - if you like it and are not > interested or capable in designing and making one yourself - then why not > go for it. The price on the listing is $115 + shipping - perhaps there is > duty to be added - or perhaps I missed something (apologies if I did). > > Personally, if I was not capable of making my own then $115 seems super > cheap to me when compared to the time and effort it would take me to learn > electronics design, PCB and software development skills. > > Again, this is NOT a rant! > > - Richard > > On Sunday, 28 December 2025 at 12:36:19 UTC Robert G. Schaffrath wrote: > >> Price is insane. With postage it works out to approximately USD$200. If >> it was $30 I would get one as I have spare B7971's packed away but sans a >> tube it isn't worth it. If one had to buy a tube, and could find one, you >> would be looking at double the price IMHO. >> >> On Saturday, December 27, 2025 at 3:08:09 PM UTC-5 Tom Katt wrote: >> >>> I've seen similar single tube clocks before, but not that specific >>> version. Seems a little pricey for a kit requiring you to supply the >>> tube? Granted it's got some acrylic for a case, but I just bought a 6 digit >>> board (also sans tubes) for $38 - see my recent post (of course I found the >>> same thing for $10 less after I purchased lol). Must be because the >>> B7971's are unique... IN18 single tube clock kits go for under $25 >>> <https://www.ebay.com/itm/375930283086?chn=ps&google_free_listing_action=view_item> >>> . >>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/056db7d7-934d-4716-9c18-7e0330ac66b2n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/056db7d7-934d-4716-9c18-7e0330ac66b2n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAJD4P-i4gi0TSyFV3SEU_gsP9WVPr9-fVsQx3kJmEEU8sZBOfQ%40mail.gmail.com.
