Rant away Richard! :) I know one person who has made a decent living out of this hobby and that's it really. Personally, I do it because I love old display technologies, especially nixies and dekatrons, making unique functional things (if it can't be made into a clock I am not interested... LOL) and what I sell/trade keeps my hobby *semi *paid for. The clocks generally put a smile on someone's face and I've met a lot of really nice people in the process from all over the world. Anyone who has spent time putting kits together, writing documentation, let alone actually *designing *something from scratch knows that it is mainly a labo(u)r of love and not a real money making enterprise. Pricing things is tricky as you don't want to make things *too *expensive, but need to balance costs, time and *expertise*. I still don't know how some of the kits etc out of China are as cheap as they are... probably just the economics of scale at work. I recently had some PCBs made of a now unobtainable Kabtronics kit (the large Nixie transistor clock that some folks here may be familiar with) with the designers permission (I got a request from a customer who *really wanted to build one..).* They were US made as that's where the designer had them made for me (I do not have the gerbers). Close to $90 a piece!! Having them made at PCBWay or another fab house in China would have been 1/3 that cost. So, whilst I get the 'bring manufacturing home' sentiments, in a global economy, I don't think it's that realistic, especially in the most capitalistic economy on the planet.
Happy New Year to all. Cheers, Nick On Mon, Dec 29, 2025 at 7:16 AM Nick Andrews <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAJD4P-i4gi0TSyFV3SEU_gsP9WVPr9-fVsQx3kJmEEU8sZBOfQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 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