this might sound strange… but i couldnt give a fuck if you are iffy about me… i am not actually here to make friends with everyone & i don’t want to sell my products to everyone either… I am not here to be the cheapest player there is either! that business model is doomed to fail, just ask @Hummie
I am sure I could make lots of freinds really quickly… i could offer a lovely little discount code to all members and make them really happy… but that is not healthy for my business & i guarantee they will still want high level servie & warranty if the shit aint good. So choose to like me or not… your call… but don’t waste your time telling me how to structure my pricing…
ALSO, I will continue to freely speak my mind (as i hope you all do)…especially when people directly question my decisions, if you want to call it an outburst so be it… i am a fucking passionate guy… maybe i should refrain from typing on this forum late at night after i have had a few single malts… but i really don’t want to filter myself to try & create a false persona so people feel better about themselves…
my primary goal is to build a sustainable business, that is scalable & will be here for the long term… I want to be able to offer a high-level of support & ensure my customers get the best possible electric skateboards.
if people want the low cost option that is fine by me… In fact I made a video explaining exactly how to do it… I litereally give my design away for free… just dont bitch about it if it stuffs up…
Buy my stuff or not, i don’t care… All i care about is that people understand that building their electric skateboard is fun & often much better than what they can buy in a box… But i also want people to understand the cheapest stuff might actually work out to be more costly in the long run…
The false economy will bite you on the arse when you least expect it. so all these people with zero dollar budgets who are trying their hardest to keep the cost down might actually be better off spending a tad more and getting a better result… i know this from experience.
ALSO, buying the cheapest, untested, motors from some random chinese factory is a near-guaranteed way to loose lots of money…once again just ask @Hummie
There are no shortcuts in this game… unless you specifiy every single little detail about how the motor should be manufactured, specify all elements that you desire, you will get their stock standard CHEAPEST model & it will fail…
It takes months to get a product right… it also takes lots of money for samples… lots of paitence…
if you want to get good motors, heres is a rough guide to dealing with china motor factories…
- research your suppliers
- contact between 4 or 5 of them
- if any actually reply try to get some straight answers out of them & convinve them to sell to you… they dont like dealing with the small guys.… ALSO, Don’t directly ask them if they sell this “brand name” motor becasue wether they do, or do not, they will just say YES to try to get your business.
- Spend hours & hours discussing your requiremensts. this could go on for weeks.
- try to convinve them to actually make somthing to your desired spec. (you need to know what you are talking about or they will take advanatage of you)
- finally get a price out of them for samples.
- wait for samples to arrive 4-6 weeks, maybe more.
- test samples, try to determine if everything is up to standard?
- talk with suppliers again, get all the stuff fixed that they missed, get more samples…
- wait another 4-6 weeks. you have probably spent between $500-$1000 already.
- hopefully you now have a working production grade sample, now its time to negotiate.
- try to get the best deal from the final few suppliers you have been dealing with… remember the lower the price the higher the chance of the quality being compromised.
- by this time you should have a decent relationship starting to build, some trust is required in this kind of transaction… & now you will choose your final supplier.
- Now try to convince them to do a small batch of custom motors, they will prpobably be talking 500qty at a minimum.
- if you are lucky you can get the qty lower, but the price will go up.
- they will request 100% upfront, you will try to negotiate just 50% deposit.
- wait for 4-8 weeks, maybe much more for your order to get made… expect delays.
- they will eventually want the rest of payment…
- you will ask for photos to proove that they are making everything to spec… this alone can be a battle
- you also decide it is wise to get another final smaple sent just to be sure… there goes another $100 for shipping.
- you deicede to pay your final installment & get the motors shipped.
- you wait for 7-10 days for shipping & hope you don’t get hit with import duties
- you get the product & pray-to-god that everything is done properly… this is 50/50… there is a good chance they changed somthing without telling you.
anyway… good luck.