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[IC] GMK CYL Delta Round 2 - We need your feedback!

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upas:
GMK Delta R2
Group buy starts Q1/Q2 2024 depending on IC feedback
by CannonKeys


Render Above


R1 Photo Above for Color Reference

Disclaimer
Unless otherwise labeled, images shown are renders.
Renders may not perfectly display the actual colors and/or texture of the keycaps.
Please refer to actual photos of GMK Delta R1 to see the real colors and texture.
We've provided photos in this IC, but there are probably more out there as well.

Colors
The colors (two GMK Stock colors and one custom color matched from Signature Plastics) are unchanged/what we used from GMK Delta R1.
For those interested, the color codes are: WS2, CR, and SP's VBV (Named TU5 by GMK)

Let us know if you're interested:
IC Form

Inspiration

In R1 of GMK Delta - we worked with the former designer, Emil, to create a striking black and teal set. After Delta R1, Emil turned over the IP for this set to CannonKeys.

This time around - we wanted to really lean into the set’s name - and decided to add some new elements to the set! When thinking about the word “Delta” - a few things come to mind - delta is a greek letter, delta is used to represent change, and delta is often used as a symbol in math. 

Given these three things - we wanted to integrate all of them into our 2nd round of GMK Delta. The novelty kit features iconography representative of the history of math (in our heads - how better to represent both change and math by representing the history of math). The XT/Macro column keys are all ancient representations of the concept of “zero” - which was a big leap in mathematics. We’ve also included a proof of the Pythagorean theorem - by one of everyone’s favorite Greek mathematicians/polymaths.

The Fibonacci spiral, conic sections, and trigonometry also make an appearance. And no history of math novelty set would really be complete without a nod to Leonhard Euler - both Euler’s identity and the Delta symbol (which Euler used to represent finite differences) are included in the novelties.

(Note: It’s not just us who think Euler was important - Euler also got his own GMK set already)

Of course, we are notably missing a ton of the history of math, but we also wanted to keep the novelty kit reasonable.

Finally - we’ve added a potential 2nd base kit featuring Greek Sublegends.


Why GMK?
While there have been numerous new manufacturers offering PBT, ABS, and/or PBT/ABS blend doubleshots, we still believe that it’s hard to match GMK’s ABS doubleshot quality and vibrant colors.

All of CannonKeys’s open GMK group buys have already been fulfilled, and GMK has quoted us a 7 month turnaround.

They also have the benefit of having doubleshot molds for Greek sublegends - which other manufacturers don’t have.

Price Drops

For GMK Delta R2, we're going to bring back price drops. This is something that we've historically never done, and most vendors have moved away from them. But given the current GMK environment, we believe price drops are a great way to encourage folks to join this group buy and buy the set. We're planning on running 2 base kits and hope that both hit MOQ!

To learn a little more about the context and reasoning behind price drops, click the button below
More
Context Around Price Drops

Historically, when individuals and older custom keyboard companies like Massdrop (before they became Drop) ran GMK (or SP, or anything) group buys, the sets were advertised at a certain price, and if a certain quantity of sets was reached, savings were passed on to the customer. Typically, the manufacturer provides price drops at certain MOQs (minimum order quantities), and the concept was to use those price drops to also drop the price for customers.

But as the hobby progressed, vendors started moving away from price drops. There are many possible reasons for this, and I can't speak for every vendor, but I can explain why CannonKeys hasn't historically done price drops.

First, price drops were difficult to implement. Some people took approaches of using a google form to collect orders, then separately invoiced each participant based on how many orders were collected on the form. This had the downside of some people failing to pay their invoices - putting the whole group buy at risk. Others ran storefronts like CannonKeys - but faced the potential of having to manually process hundreds to over a thousand refunds. Massdrop had the best system for price drops - they would collect credit card information, and only charge participants at the end - but this was a highly custom solution which even today would be hard for many custom keyboard companies to implement.

Today - CannonKeys has a team of 20+ people, which means if we end up having to manually process hundreds of refunds - we have the capacity to do it. Before, this wasn't the case.

Second, as interest in the mechanical keyboard hobby increased, it became possible to price keycaps at higher MOQs by default. For a lot of newer customers who weren't familiar with price drops, a lower list price looks more appealing. As soon as one vendor started pricing their sets at higher MOQs, competition encouraged other vendors do the same. As an example - someone new to the hobby looking at GMK Voyage might ask why GMK Olivia was so much cheaper, for the same number of keys, and wouldn't necessarily understand that one set had price drops implemented and the other didn't. And while designs aren't the same, someone might like two designs and use price as a tiebreaker - so a lower list price can make a big difference.

Unfortunately, many companies made the wrong bet. They priced keycaps at higher MOQs, but those sets didn't hit those MOQs. Many of them ended up buying those sets out, counting on being able to make the money back by selling extras. In the worst cases, we can see how that worked out for them.

Now that CannonKeys can implement price drops, it's less risky for us to price a set at a 250 MOQ and provide refunds to customers if we hit 500 MOQ compared to pricing the set at 500 MOQ to begin with. And with the departure of many vendors, and lower volume of GMK CYL sets being run - there isn't as much competitive pressure to risk pricing at a higher MOQ by default.

Finally, implementing price drops also required vendors to post sales numbers of each set. This doesn't seem like a big deal - but it does put vendors that post sales numbers at a competitive disadvantage compared to those who don't. And while GMK quotes, designer payouts, and other sensitive pieces of business related information are supposed to be protected under NDA - word still gets around. So basically, if you post sales numbers, other vendors can see how many sets got sold, how many extras you bought... and get a pretty good estimate of your revenue and sales. This allows them to adapt their plans accordingly. I forget which vendor initially stopped posting numbers - but once they did many other vendors (including CannonKeys) followed suit.

All of this is still true today - but the market for custom keyboards and keycaps has expanded to a place where we're not all so reliant on GMK anymore. From 2019-2021, if someone knew your GMK sales numbers, they probably could probably deduce a lot of information about your business. As we've diversified and as GMK has become a smaller part of everything we do, the impact of other vendors and competitors knowing our GMK sales number isn't as great -- which opens up the possibility of price drops.




Light Base Kit
At 250 MOQ, USD $135
At 500 MOQ, USD $125
At 1000 MOQ, USD $115


GMK Delta R1 with significant upgrades:  Basic spacebars for Alice layout, 3-key 40s support and minimal ISO support included.




Dark Base Kit
At 250 MOQ, USD $135
At 500 MOQ, USD $125
At 1000 MOQ, USD $115

The newly proposed kit during this new run, with Greek sublegends. We prefer having this as a full base kit instead of offering an alternate alphas kit which is more expensive in total if you buy 2 kits.  The Kitting is nearly identical to the Light Base kit - we’ve just removed the keys that would be duplicated between mod and alpha color.




Novelties
At 100 MOQ, USD $52
At 150 MOQ, USD $46
At 250 MOQ, USD $42


Macro/XT column, with several bottom row modifier novelties and accent color novelties. We’d like to keep this Novelties kit at an affordable price. See above for the explanation of the novelties.



Spacebars Kit
At 100 MOQ, USD $30
At 150 MOQ, USD $28
At 250 MOQ, USD $26

We're not sure if we're going to run this kit yet - but this is the proposed spacebars kit.
The white bars are WS2 stock colors which means it can be used for other sets with WS2. The teal bars are SP's VBV color - which match GMK Tokyo Nights as well.



None of the kits are necessarily locked in, but we hope we've proposed some good kits. Help us decide if we need to make any changes, and let us know if you're interested by filling the
IC Form

Renders



Dark base kit with Novelties on Ripple TKL



Light base kit with Novelties on Brutal60 v2

GMK Delta R1 Photos




Vendors
US: CannonKeys
Other regions TBA.

IC Form
CannonKeys Coming Soon Page


Special Thanks to:
rayhhdailo for IC help
OneCreativeMind for Novelty Design
Emil for coming up with Delta in the first place

upas:
Deskmats
We have 6 new potential deskmat ideas and we'll likely run the top 2 designs during the group buy.
There are watermarks on these images which won't actually be on the deskmats, but are here just so we can show off the designs.









The IC form has been updated to ask for opinions on these mats!

Kokaloo:
badass

i really like the idea of bringing back price drops. might help motivate a few people to help out to get it cheaper, really bring people back together.

iamtragic:
Has GMK fixed their yellowing issue with WS2?

Either way, in.

EDIT: Are the row labels in the IC form renders flipped around? If not, wilding.

Meepergon:
Goated for adding price drops again. In.

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