Can someone explain the pros and cons of both GB and in stock. I would pick GB so that it is more available and cheaper. But if it’s a limited raffle or fcfs GB I guess it wouldn’t make much difference other than preventing bots.
In stock is nice because the process from order -> having the keyboard in hand is quicker. QC can also be better with less boards. Overall, in-stock is just a far simpler process for runner, manufacturer, and buyer. The con of this is that not everyone gets the keyboard. I respect that to be a con for sure, I just personally don't think it trumps the pros of fcfs in-stock.
I agree with all of your points about In-stock being better, but I voted for GB in the poll because my priority is being able to get one of these boards. If there's an accurate way to gauge supply + demand and provide enough boards for an in-stock buy then that'd be great but with the speed some recent FCFS buys have sold out I'd prefer not to be frustrated with this one..
the biggest disadvantage of the in-stock option is that the capital costs are carried by the vendor/gok, and they won't make those back until a certain number of boards have sold. in-stock supply will be limited to how many boards they can purchase outright. however, once that number is established, managing the risk is much more straight forward than a group buy. I could see how this approach would be preferable to gok/vendor.
This. What people don't get is that the GB model is specially bad for the vendor/runner because the risks of production and logistics are concentrated on him. Myself I prefer GB because this board deserves to be appreciated by as many people as possible, but we have to admit that in stock is simpler for everyone
What do you mean that the risk of the GB is on the vendor/runner? The money is fronted by the consumer. If something goes wrong, it's ultimately the consumer that loses the most.
The vendor/designer loses time, but the capital is funded by the consumer.
We have a premise here, that gok is a serious designer and Deskeys serious runners. This is not always true and due to the nature of group buys an ill-intended person can (theoretically) run away with everyone's money with little to no consequences. That being known, a serious runner will do what it takes to deliver a good product, and it is very hard to do when you are dealing with other people's money.
Take for example me. I have ran a GB of my Lasgweloth PCB, 30 people fronted 35 USD each and when I got to manufacturing, the price of the MCU rose threefold and availability got ridiculously limited. I had to pay 350USD from my pocket and delay the GB for more than a year (it's still not delivered). I will more than likely have to also pay more 100USD in shipping fees. That alone made me realize I'm not running GBs myself.
A keyboard is a much, much more sophisticated product financially, logistically and manufacture wise. Not only the sums involved are huge, quality control is very strict and subjective and logistics suck because it's heavy. Manufacture wise, aluminum machining is terribly hard to control and QC.
So yes, a GB is also very dangerous to the runner, given we are talking about a serious person. I suggest you take a look into the Xeno drama which nearly drove Wilba and Pwner out of the hobby due to the stress. That drama also stained ZealPC's reputation pretty badly.
