Would you buy a ‘Flashlight Host’ from this man and opt for him to do all the work for you for $5.50?
I know that I would, and have done so twice with excellent results! - That’s because I don’t mod and he provides this service just for guys like me.
However, this is too cheap (IMHO), and his time and skills are worth more. - I figure that he loves doing it, but still; there is only so much one person can do in a work day.
If you are in a business and have too much work, raise the price and it will over time balance out at the point at what it’s really worth to the customer. - Just like water does.
I just know that I am gonna be Tarred & Feathered for saying this, but clearly something must be done to give Richard a little relief. - He can only do so much and I am sure that he will not rush at the expense of quality. - But what about his personal life with his family when he gets behind on his orders? - There are only 24hrs in a day.
R&D, a lot of the builds Richard does take extensive research and development. Richard refuses to send out anything he hasn’t thoroughly tested first, so that too takes up a great deal of time. He’s out of law school now, and is working harder than ever developing new drivers for us.
Balance, like water… interesting theory. Doesn’t rushing water cut a deeper pathway, run faster, and hence take more water to fill the void? That’s like what is happening here, growing and expanding and developing and restocking and packing and shipping and giving Lisa a peck on the cheek now and then.
Our hobby is all consuming, as a great many of you are well versed with. :bigsmile:
Richards kids will be big enough to pack boxes soon and he’ll be able to expand further, will need more kids to help out, see what a vicious circle it is? lol Ah to be young and intelligent….
Totally agree. If he doubled that 5.50 to $11, some people will opt to learn to do it themselves. Say 4 people were willing to pay 5.50, but at $11 two of them just learn to do it themselves. He has more time with his kids, works less, and makes the same money.
I order from RMM all the time. Sometimes the stuff I want is there, sometimes it’s out of stock. If it’s something I need pretty quick, I may order it elsewhere but I usually just wait. Not to take any business away from RMM but if something you want is out of stock, look elsewhere. According to a few of your posts, you don’t seem to mind paying extra money…
And he really gets to expand the hobby of modding!
As for me; I’m 66yrs old and in failing ‘whatever’ (you name it), so these little tiny things that look so Big in photos kinda scare me. - Anyone have any advice? - I am about 20/30, vision wise. - When I was young, it was 20/15.
I really Hate not being able to tackle a new frontier; (all my life I have never encountered something that others were doing that I couldn’t do for myself) , and so I have decided to get into modding, even though I am old;) . I have ordered that 936 Clone from Hobby King, and will see where this takes me. - Also ordered some Kestler 63/37 (sp?) solder from eBay…. What else can you suggest I get?
Richard will still be my First Choice for my component needs, just that he is not gonna have to do all the work for me.
This should actually help him (RMM) some, ya think?
Correct, price isn’t the only thing that makes a sale. If there’s a store like Richard’s where you know you will get exactly what was advertised - and get reliably in less time - that is worth something. I think you are suggesting those of us willing to pay more should move on. But how long can Richard handle the pressure to deliver to everyone at near zero profit? And this guy went to Law School? And has a family? If he doesn’t get demand under control soon he will cave under the pressure and choose his family and law career. And shutdown the store. What if that’s what’s happening with things not coming back into stock? What if that were true?
The first reaction of the selfish flashaholic inside me was, “How long will mtnelectronics stay in business before Richard moves on to focus on his law practice.”
After all, Richard does have a commitment to provide for his family, and doing both might not be possible.
Or it may be?… I’m thinking that he may be able to pull it off, but it’s going to require some hired help. - This might entail just selling ‘parts’, and leaving the custom stuff off?
For those that have not followed RMM's thread all the way through here is a quote from him awhile ago. There was also mention somewhere that he was looking at possibly putting someone on to help out. Richard has done far more to help members out here than 99% of others here in all manners. From custom drivers to customer service and all other matters to do with our hobby.
Put LD30 in the Search box (upper left corner) and pick one of the several topics dedicated to “that driver” — there are several different versions that behave rather differently. Pictures and identifying where and when purchased help narrow down which one you have — I have gotten several different “LD30” drivers but so far none of them survive 3V input.
Pick one of those topics, it’s worth going into more.
“Lots of questions being asked which would normally be common tribal knowledge. Also, new types of expectations which were less common before. A subtle re-balancing from makers to consumers, from a community to a market….”
A car forum that I won’t mention had a policy that if a thread was started where a question being asked was considered to be so basic and just common knowledge the thread in question stood a good chance of being deleted.
Obviously a trader wouldn’t want to do that.
When sending a pm to someone like Richard a message should pop up:
” Can you find the answer to your question by doing a simple search on here or on Google?”
Yes - lots more questions, lot more newbies, but also lot more complexity in drivers, firmware, and all the million combos of options offered. Dunno how he does, and had done it at the prices he charges - for parts, mods, shipping etc. Many of the most knowledgeable that built up foundations here are gone now, so there's not much extra support going on. There's also a lot more options today with things like chargers, and hard to find good specs for quick reference on which is best for what (high amps? lo amps? can it do 2 26650 cells? do protected cells fit, etc...). The manufacturer specs lack greatly and they are bad for updating specs with new improved models, etc.
I'm not surprised bout the inventory issues - it's a full-time job to even attempt to keep up the inventory of the off-the-shelf items, yet alone the custom stuff. He has the same problems with his sources as we do - unexpected long lead times, damaged or lost shipments, mis-understandings in order/options, etc.
I've thought a couple times if I could do something like this, and then reason sets in... What am I suicidal?
I know that you are a Lawyer now, but you still look like a Flashaholic to me
Enjoy your youth! (I’m jealous;-)
Seriously - You can have what you have right now, or wait 40yrs and have 30 million dollars - Looking back, you will probably want to go back to where you are now. - Nothing Beats Good Health and Youth!
Life should be ‘planned’, of course, but the real enjoyment of life can only be in the ‘here and now’. - What is past is but a memory - What is future is but a hope.
Live life NOW to the fullest each and every day!
Please don’t ask me how I know, as I would have to lie to you about the 30 million dollar part
Take care,
-Chuck
PS - Sorry to seem like I lecture, but I really wish that my present self could go back in time to tell my young self these things. - But don’t we all
