Did some calculations between DIY and KIT's

MIDIbox SID
1

So i decided to do little calculations because i wanted to know how much cheaper it will be to order everything from reichelt than SmashTV or Mikes Shop

So its: Reichelt VS SmashTV and Mikes MidiShop

(The Reichelt prices are based on the partslist which you can find from ucapps)

(SmashTV and Mikes MidiShop prices i took from their site)

Module-Name Reichelt SmashTV Mikes MidiShop

Core(with PIC) 19,5€   18€       23€

Core(without PIC)   13€     12€       12,5€

SID               5€       12€          12,5€

DinX4(2-pieces)   12€     18€       17,5€

DoutX4(3-pieces)   15€    29€     26,5€

TOTALS(With PIC): 52€       77€     80€

TOTALS(Without PIC):  45€       71€     69€

4x Core+PIC+SID: 111€       157€   149€

4x Core+SID:   84€ 133€     107€

Note that Reichelt prices don’t include Premade PCB:s or anykind PCB.

Amount of blank PCB for this project costs about ~10€

So here comes the packages:

Package:

Core(without PIC)

SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:      55€

SmashTV:    70€

Mikes:       69€

DIY-Saves:  14€

Package:

Core(with PIC)

SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:      62€

SmashTV:    77€

Mikes:        80€

DIY-Saves:  15€

Package:

4x Core(without PIC)

4x SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:    84€

SmashTV:  138€

Mikes:       144€

DIY-Saves:  54€

2

DIY if you are already set up to etch your own PCBs, and don’t have to buy chemicals, tanks, waste one or two PCBs learning etc etc etc.

And if you live in the EU

And Reichelt don’t support midibox.org

3

I think you may have missed something here..

The prices from SmashTV are in dollars. When you convert the dollars to euro’s you’ll see that there is almost no difference between prices from Mike and Smash.

About two weeks ago I checked Reichelt for parts, and I found that on most parts they added a couple cents to the price (when compared to the orderlist on ucapss).

Also keep in mind that Reichelt has a minimum order of €150 for shipping abroad..

4

I think this pretty much shows that you should use SmashTV and Mikes Midishop because they are not SO expensive. And afterall they support the MIDIBox community :slight_smile:

Couple minuses i discovered:

SmashTV:

Lower your DIN/DOUT module prices?

Get some new LCD’s?

Mikes MIDIShop:

Rotary Encoders??

And maybe you could sell component kits?

5

There’s one more advantage of buying a handy kit, at least when your time is limited:

If I buy from Digikey (or Mouser, or Reichelt, pick your favourite store) and buy some components, they get nicely organized into parts containers.  That’s great.  Still, when I want to go and build something I have to go and find all of the components.  It’s not that time-consuming, but it takes a while.

When I get a nicely packaged kit from Smash, I leave it in its wrapping until I have time to build it.  Open it up, and everything is all ready on my desk for me to go.  Instant gratification!

6

I think this pretty much shows that you should use SmashTV and Mikes Midishop because they are not SO expensive. And afterall they support the MIDIBox community :slight_smile:

Correct.  The average builder won’t be able to DIY the boards and buy all needed parts for the prices that are offered in our stores.  That is the reason I do what I do.  If it were about making money, there would not be enough profit to justify doing this all these years.  :wink:

Couple minuses i discovered:

SmashTV:

Lower your DIN/DOUT module prices?

Price is tied directly to the average of fluctuating component costs on my end, And my tendency to stick with known quality brands on the parts makes this higher than it could be if I were to use no-name parts of questionable quality.  A kit builder should -never- have to wonder if a malfunction is due to a bad (but new) part.  In that context even one bad part per 5000 is too many.  :wink:

My price is .88€ higher on the DOUT and .23€ on the DIN, so given the rate of decline of the dollar vs other currencies, the difference will probably be automatically corrected sometime next week by the world market.  ;D

Get some new LCD’s?

I am trying to scare up some decent deals on these.  Cost to stock is very high on these considering all of the sizes/backlight/color variants available.  I have to be careful not to over extend myself financially, so properly stocking a few thousand dollars worth of a high cost+low markup item is something I am planning carefully.  :slight_smile:

The great surplus deals (like the last one on 2x20s) are few unless you like no backlight.  RoHS has made this worse, there are a few good large lot surplus deals here in the US I would be buying for the store if they were RoHS compliant. :-\

And maybe you could sell component kits?

Do you mean a parts kit without the board?  I already do by special request.  I want to keep the order page simple so it’s not an option there.

I have to comment on your price table for future readers, I realize you know this already but $1 does not equal 1€, and my store prices are in Dollar not Euro.

My added text is in RED below and using this morning’s forex rates:

So here comes the packages:

Package:

Core(without PIC)

SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:      55€

SmashTV:    93€ This should read 69.97€.  ($93.00 USD=69.97€)

Mikes:       69€

DIY-Saves:  14€

Package:

Core(with PIC)

SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:      62€

SmashTV:    112€ This should read 76.71€.  ($101.95 USD=76.71€)

Mikes:        90€   I get 80.10€?

DIY-Saves:  28€

Package:

4x Core(without PIC)

4x SID

DinX4(2-pieces)

DoutX4(3-pieces)

Blank PCB

Reichelt:    84€

SmashTV:  138€ This should read 137.66€.  ($183.00 USD=137.66€)

Mikes:       107€ I get 144.70€?

DIY-Saves:  23€

Best Regards

SmashTV

7

Oh geez, i´m very sorry that i didn’t notice your prices were in dollar$ :frowning:

I obviously didn’t spent enough time making the table. I bet there are still errors ;(

But i think the basic idea in the chart is pretty nice. Maybe someone should make better one?

And maybe the someone is me? ionno :stuck_out_tongue:

Does anyone know the prices of those “Parts Kit’s” or can you calculate it by taking the kit’s price and then minus the PCB´s price

For example in SmashTV “Core Module” is 15$ and “Core Module PCB” is 6$ so would the “Core Module Parts” be somewhere around 9$?

8

But i think the basic idea in the chart is pretty nice. Maybe someone should make better one?

And maybe the someone is me? ionno :stuck_out_tongue:

You can, but the minute anything changes price the value of the whole thing goes out the window for comparison purposes.  And then there are the changes in currency valuation, sometimes Mike is cheaper, sometimes I am cheaper, without either of us changing our prices.  :wink:

Does anyone know the prices of those “Parts Kit’s” or can you calculate it by taking the kit’s price and then minus the PCB´s price

For example in SmashTV “Core Module” is 15$ and “Core Module PCB” is 6$ so would the “Core Module Parts” be somewhere around 9$?

Yes.

Best

SmashTV