Moved from Introductions : Cable Prices

[admin]

My only point of annoyance is with the cost of the Serial Cable, especially when it can be purchased from ***** I realise that there's development costs involved in the unit as a whole, but feel that £49/£55 for a cable is a bit much when you consider that the 2B kit is 3 times the cost of the Series 1 kits. I also suspect that there would be far greater take up on the PC side of things (and more user involvement) if the cost of the cable were lower, or even included with the Kit...

Ok, I know this has been brought up before. So I will try to explain it again. Firstly the cost of the link is not just for the cable, it also includes the software to perform the upgrades. If you don't purchase a cable from us, then you cannot legally get the software. So stating its £49 for a cable is incorrect. How about the cable is 2p, abd the software is £48.98..would that be easier?

Secondly you need to consider the factors all manufactures have to take into consideration, that of the middle man i.e. wholesalers and shops. If I manufacture an item for £10 cost, I need to add my profitl, profit for the wholesaler and then profit for the shop. This all boils down to £10+£10+£10+£10, which gives a selling price of £40, and is very simplistic and doesn't include VAT, shipping etc. And it would be great if I could make £10 on a £10 cost item!!

Secondly why not give it free? Well for 95% of customers they have no need of the link cable, so from their point of view if they dont have a cable do they get it cheaper?

Lastly having us supply the cable as well as the software means we have some semblence of control. I KNOW the cables we supply will work with the units, but based on experenice with USB/serial modules, I KNOW not all modules are the same, some work better than others.

Hope that helps.

Admin

[Cyberprog]

Ok, I know this has been brought up before. So I will try to explain it again. Firstly the cost of the link is not just for the cable, it also includes the software to perform the upgrades. If you don't purchase a cable from us, then you cannot legally get the software. So stating its £49 for a cable is incorrect. How about the cable is 2p, abd the software is £48.98..would that be easier?

Not really, on a £300 unit it still seems excessive!

Secondly you need to consider the factors all manufactures have to take into consideration, that of the middle man i.e. wholesalers and shops. If I manufacture an item for £10 cost, I need to add my profitl, profit for the wholesaler and then profit for the shop. This all boils down to £10+£10+£10+£10, which gives a selling price of £40, and is very simplistic and doesn't include VAT, shipping etc. And it would be great if I could make £10 on a £10 cost item!!

Of course, but a selling price of £25-£30 inc vat for a £20 inc vat item is much more palatable to the consumer...

Secondly why not give it free? Well for 95% of customers they have no need of the link cable, so from their point of view if they dont have a cable do they get it cheaper?

If you're trying to produce a produce that is miles ahead of the ET-312B (And I think you are trying to do this, and succeeding as I tried to use an ET-312B before purchasing the 2B and couldn't get on with it) then loading in the features gives your customers miles more value for their money. If they don't need the features, but know that they can add them in the future for the cost of the cable, and that's £25 say, you'll be more likely to convert more customers to using the PC link, and increase the word of mouth advertising accordingly, than at £49/£55 for the cable.

Lastly having us supply the cable as well as the software means we have some semblence of control. I KNOW the cables we supply will work with the units, but based on experenice with USB/serial modules, I KNOW not all modules are the same, some work better than others.

[admin]

Of course, but a selling price of £25-£30 inc vat for a £20 inc vat item is much more palatable to the consumer...

I agree, but prices are not always dicated by what I want (I wish they could be). So ok the cable is £30, and the uplink software is £29. I would point out that the cable will work with all of our software, will work with our future linked designs and the similar cable for the ET312 is considerably more £££. We could add the same argument over the power supply, lube and many other items we sell that can be bought cheaper elsewhere, but people like the ease of purchase and the security of buying a known product from a known supplier.


Si

[Cyberprog]

Of course, but a selling price of £25-£30 inc vat for a £20 inc vat item is much more palatable to the consumer...

I agree, but prices are not always dicated by what I want (I wish they could be). So ok the cable is £30, and the uplink software is £29. I would point out that the cable will work with all of our software, will work with our future linked designs and the similar cable for the ET312 is considerably more £££. We could add the same argument over the power supply, lube and many other items we sell that can be bought cheaper elsewhere, but people like the ease of purchase and the security of buying a known product from a known supplier.

Of course, but your power supply was reasonably priced! Why not just adopt that model - allow people to buy the cable for £30 and the software for £25? Or use one of the free user created programs (which I'm sure are only round the corner!) As I said in my PM, what about people who break/lose their cable, they've already paid the "license" cost, or people who buy a second 2B and want a cable for that also?

You'd almost be better off just including the license cost in the cost of the unit, and selling the cables at a more reasonable level IMHO