Spot on Nick, I too echo your comments. Happy to year to one and all!
- Richard On Monday, 29 December 2025 at 23:32:11 UTC Peter Hall wrote: > I thought it was a Bargain at that price and only $12 mail too Australia 😎 > > From🚨Peter Hall😁 insidiousnixies🦘Utube > > On 30 Dec 2025 6:10 am, Jeff Walton <[email protected]> wrote: > > I appreciate all of the folks that have shared their designs and expertise > on tubes, designs, cases and everything that makes this a fun hobby. I > second Nick’s words about all of the great people that participate in the > forum and I have benefitted greatly from meeting some really bright and > friendly people around the world. > > > > The current shipping/import environment has probably dried up a vast > majority of the international/US transactions. I don’t expect it to last > forever but for the time being, there are items on ebay that would have > normally been snapped up right away which will gather dust. > > > > In addition to paying tariff fees on delivery, some of the carriers are > charging $30-40 for import agent fees. In my business, we ship envelopes > with parts to Canada that used to be routine, inexpensive and easy. Now, > FedEx will no longer ship to Canada or Mexico unless we get license from > those countries, so we can’t use FedEx for anything outside of the US. We > have switched to UPS, who will act as the customs agent and handle the > collections but their agent fees add a bit to the cost. > > > > Anyhow, many of us are frustrated with the unnecessary foolishness. The > postal service reports that shipping into and out of the US has dropped by > 80% since de-minimus rules were suspended. The only people that are > benefitting are big business and the hobbyists are a casualty of the > current policies. > > > > Happy New Year! > > > > Jeff > > > > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf > Of *Nicholas Stock > *Sent:* Monday, December 29, 2025 3:47 PM > *To:* [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [neonixie-l] Re: B7971 single tube clock with no tube > > > > 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. > 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/CAOX%2BRHKi9QPKXwKxCyHW%2BDTcBmKXqvAUC1kHEYCJ-T8zDq8h5g%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOX%2BRHKi9QPKXwKxCyHW%2BDTcBmKXqvAUC1kHEYCJ-T8zDq8h5g%40mail.gmail.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/006d01dc790f%24e1af88c0%24a50e9a40%24%40gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/006d01dc790f%24e1af88c0%24a50e9a40%24%40gmail.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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