Re: [NTLK] PCBman & SER-001

From: PCBman (pcbman_at_ix.netcom.com)
Date: Mon Dec 30 2002 - 21:45:11 EST


OK. This is how it is...

On Sunday, December 29, 2002, at 10:00 PM, RADAR9999_at_aol.com wrote:

>
> PCBMan, I bought one of the last of your SER-001 cards after your
> last
> production run. I love it. No more scrambling to find a dongle in
> order to
> connect to this or that. Also as you know dongles are getting very
> hard to
> find.

Thanks.

> Perhaps it is just my imagination but there seems to be some level
> of
> demand here for your product

There is always some level of demand.

> , and while I know you do not want to spend an
> inordinate amount of time on a production run without a payback, it
> seems
> that there is sufficient demand to sell out a hundred or two of these.

If this were true then I would be still selling them. Where do you get
the 100-200 that
you speak of? My data is empirical. The number of people, outside of
those already
serviced, is more like 10. There has to be a cut off. Wherever I set
it, there will be
people on the other side of that line.

>
> Perhaps subcontracting them to a small firm hungry for business,
> maybe
> using surface mount & wave solder machines might get your time
> investment
> down while keeping the price down for your customers.

That's exactly what I did. They have minimums too.

> In order to have enough $ to make a run you could take partial
> payment up
> front and use it to pay for the run while charging the balance after
> delivery.

It's not an issue of capital. I have the means to finance whatever I
wish (with, perhaps,
the sole exception of the space-shuttle). Also, I don't want the hassle
of additional
paperwork that partial payments would bring. For example, if someone
made a
partial payment by check, then I would have to wait until it cleared
and then, if they
paid the balance by check, wait for that to clear. All the while I have
inventory hanging
around. No thanks.

> Also the preorders would let you estimate how many to produce while
> having enough left over for stock for the rest of the year.

My experience has shown that while lots of people are quick to shout
their intention to buy,
not all are so quick to 'pony up' the dough. What this does is to tie
up units that I could sell
to other people.

> Well just a thought.
>

And I thank you for it!

> Semper Fi!
>
> Ed Johnson
>

If there are truly 200+ people that want an SER-001 then, of course, I
would build more.

To that end, if you REALLY want to order a SER-001, then send me an
email with the subject

SER-001 survey

Just include your name, mailing address and quantity required ONLY!

Please don't include any comments or questions. Post a separate email
for these.

I will leave this open for a couple of weeks and then we will see just
how the land lies.

pcbman_at_ix.netcom.com

Regards,

PCBman

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