The trend seems to be toward more options in copper stars so unless this is mission critical I would advocate waiting unless there is a major increase in demand to defray the tooling cost. In other words, I’m interested but not enough to throw my wallet off the cliff with the other lemmings. Keep the thread open and maybe post updates on demand vs moq.
Here is how I see it. Between BLF + CPF there is a Waiting Demand for 2-3000 16mm Copper Stars. The first manufacture will sell a lot fast. Sink PAD is waiting for a Sucker to pay for Setup + Tooling costs. Then they will crank out 2-3ooo units + Rake in the Big Bucks. If they wait to long and someone else comes out first they will lose a lot of sales. I say we wait, Time is on our side.
Plan B I think we should look for other Manufactures. I think a BLF Member ? has a Design ready to go. A Ready Design should cut Setup Costs. More than one manufacture will reduce Cost also.
No it’s just a thicker board, so if we want a thicker board it will be around $3 each and that is true once we pay for the tools they will make there’s and resell like they did on the 20mm stars
from that quote, it looks like $2.61 per star would cover all charges when buying 690 of them. someone could charge $3 a board and make a cool $270 it looks like
dont know what the e test charge and nre charge is though…
oh, i had added the e test and nre charges to the price too.
so at $3 a board, thats a $441+ profit… hint hint to anyone with the overhead to just buy a lot of them up front and resell. i know people will pay $3+s a board for these
edit: i know thats not a huge profit margin for the initial cost, but it would be a fast turn over i bet :money_mouth_face:
Interesting, I'd have no problem investing, just the shipping and packaging issues - I'm not setup with any eBay store, or USPS shipping account. Probably could even start with a 1,000 and maybe negotiate a little better deal and could offer them for about $2.50 to BLF/CPF w/qty discounts, something like that. Hhhhhmmmmm (rubbing my beard) .
I would not step on anyone's toes here - just an idea. Obviously nitro has 1st dibs, and only by his permission would I even consider it!!
I see no reason to let ebay get a cut - they’re main purpose is to help you find buyers, and there are plenty of those right here, and using paypal is basically zero risk for buyers.
FYI, empty film canisters run about the same cost/pc as bubble mailing envelopes.
Just my opinion, but it seems that we are long overdue and in great need of a source for these. $3 per board seems more than reasonable, and Id want at least 10, maybe 20. I have a feeling that if someone doesnt kick off this sale, it might not happen for a very long time or possibly not at all. The thin Chinese copper stars are to thin to adequately distribute heat to the edges of the board, and also to thin for proper emitter to reflector clearances.
I know someone who knows someone… might be a starter. Here is another angle: how many C8 type lights would a company like the OEM of Ultrafire torches sell in a month?
They are not interested in paying extra for stuff, they would likely rather go with copper boards that have the dielectric if they go copper at all, the end user can’t visually tell the difference without testing equipment.