[GB] GMK NorDeUK (Closed; postmortem inside)

[Krakob]

Postmortem

---
Closed. Original post below:

Order form

Price: €119,47 (of which €12,5 is profit margin)
International shipping: €15,50 (€134,97 total)
Swedish shipping: €10,00 (€129,47 total)

GMK NorDeUK (pronounced noor-doik) is an effort to bring a GMK set to a large portion of the western European community by providing a cheap, ISO based keyset shipped within Europe. ISO UK, DE, SE/FI, NO, and DK are all covered almost perfectly!

Progress:

• Invoicing & payment ← We are here
• Place order with GMK - Done approx. April 24th
• Wait for manufacturing - Done approx. July 24th
• Receiving and packaging - Done approx. August 7th
• Shipping - Done approx. August 21st
• Issue resolution - Done approx. September 21st
• Selling extras - Done approx. Oct 5th

Order progress: 47/150
Invoices are due April 19th
Please submit a few days before that! You can always wait with paying.

---

Read the Interest Check
Other threads: /r/MechanicalKeyboards, /r/Mechmarket, Deskthority

---

I’m aware that I said the profit margin would be €10 in the Interest Check. It was raised to €12.5 in order to cover PayPal fees, which I didn’t quite account for.

I’ll be posting weekly updates here (with exception of the waiting period) in order to keep the GB as transparent as I can!

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask here or PM me!

[Krakob]

Live at last! We have a long way to go for MOQ, but it's entirely possible!

[TalkingTree]

Would it be possible to pay through SEPA to save some PayPal fees?

[BunnyLake]

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

[longtran1568]

Hi,

I live in Finland, is shipping to Finland also qualified as International? Even the cheapest shipping option (sent as large letter) will deliver in 1 week between Sweden and Finland.

Would you consider another, cheaper shipping option for people in neighboring countries like Finland and Norway? 

[Krakob]

Would it be possible to pay through SEPA to save some PayPal fees?

I'm not familiar with the system but from what I gather it's a direct bank transfer, correct? We could absolutely arrange that! Pop me a PM with a bit of an explanation, and send an invoice request (just mention SEPA in the special requests field).

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

Thank you!

Hi,

I live in Finland, is shipping to Finland also qualified as International? Even the cheapest shipping option (sent as large letter) will deliver in 1 week between Sweden and Finland.

Would you consider another, cheaper shipping option for people in neighboring countries like Finland and Norway? 

Only Sweden counts as domestic, all others are international. I'm not entirely sure an envelope would be possible given the dimensions and need for padding. From what I can tell from PostNord's shipping calculator, tracked and insured is the cheapest option anyway.

[TalkingTree]

Would it be possible to pay through SEPA to save some PayPal fees?

I'm not familiar with the system but from what I gather it's a direct bank transfer, correct? We could absolutely arrange that! Pop me a PM with a bit of an explanation, and send an invoice request (just mention SEPA in the special requests field).

I submitted my order but I decided to pay with PayPal anyway, it will be less of a hassle for the both of us if things change.

Keep up the good work.

[Krakob]

Would it be possible to pay through SEPA to save some PayPal fees?

I'm not familiar with the system but from what I gather it's a direct bank transfer, correct? We could absolutely arrange that! Pop me a PM with a bit of an explanation, and send an invoice request (just mention SEPA in the special requests field).

I submitted my order but I decided to pay with PayPal anyway, it will be less of a hassle for the both of us if things change.

Keep up the good work.

Alrighty! Glad to have you aboard! 

[TalkingTree]

Glad to have you aboard! 

My pleasure.

[kevral]

Any chance you can send "Poste Restante" within Sweden?

Asking because that would let me pick it up in Strφmstad and take it across the border to Norway myself, legally avoiding 25 % additional taxes.

[Krakob]

Any chance you can send "Poste Restante" within Sweden?

Asking because that would let me pick it up in Strφmstad and take it across the border to Norway myself, legally avoiding 25 % additional taxes.

Sure! You're gonna have to tell me where to send it though. Info here: http://www.postnord.se/ta-emot/hantera-post/poste-restante

You can submit an invoice request with the Swedish postal number and location and note Poste Restante in the requests field and I should have all necessary information.

[pon10]

thanks for setting this up! signed up for 2 sets

[Krakob]

thanks for setting this up! signed up for 2 sets

Sweet! You're invoiced 

[pon10]

Tack! Jeg hεber vi for nok med til at kψre den igennem!

[pon10]

Good people remember, its GMK happy hour if you are in Europe Get on!

[Felion]

Joining shortly!  (Prolly for 2 sets)

[Krakob]

Joining shortly!  (Prolly for 2 sets)

I love everyone who's joining the buy, but I just wanted to point out that I love everyone who purchases two sets twice as much

[My_Thoughts]

need to work some money out and get an order in for this

[Felion]

Joining shortly!  (Prolly for 2 sets)

I love everyone who's joining the buy, but I just wanted to point out that I love everyone who purchases two sets twice as much

you only billed me for one set, so far... I Belive I order 2? (Felion1337, #00014)

[Krakob]

Joining shortly!  (Prolly for 2 sets)

I love everyone who's joining the buy, but I just wanted to point out that I love everyone who purchases two sets twice as much

you only billed me for one set, so far... I Belive I order 2? (Felion1337, #00014)

Woops! I'll send a new one

[Petch]

Would have been perfect for me if that R2 1.5u had a backspace legend rather than being blank
And also  a #~ and \| keys for R1, for HHKB
Edit: aaaand `¬ R1 for UK

[Krakob]

Would have been perfect for me if that R2 1.5u had a backspace legend rather than being blank
And also  a #~ key for R1, for HHKB

Since that key varies so much between layouts, we opted for the blank instead of having to add about 5 different keys.

[My_Thoughts]

Edit: aaaand `¬ R1 for UK

Do you ever use that key?

[Petch]

Edit: aaaand `¬ R1 for UK

Do you ever use that key?

Yes

I will just wait for a perfect set to come along one day. I'm fine with blanks and would rather have no legends than wrong/inconsistent ones 

[Krakob]

Update when update is due!

Currently, things aren't looking too good. We are at 29/150 kits, of which 15 are from buyers (17 counting myself), and 12 are for coverage and fixes. The majority of buyers are from Reddit, or have at least signed up with a a Reddit name. It's no secret that Reddit has the biggest buyer potential, but it's also hard to get seen there. The posts have gotten about 30-40 upvotes: two at launch for /r/mk and /r/mm, and then one a few days ago on Reddit again. I would have to guess a part of a successful Reddit GB post involves either having a wow-factor, or building on hype. This set isn't all that interesting if you just take a quick peek at it.

The GH thread has received decent enough reception to catch the eye of most potential GH buyers, anyhow. The DT post has had no replies yet, but is still lingering on the front page.

Proceeding from here, the set is going to need more exposure on Reddit to succeed, no doubt. However, I don't want to annoy the users or mods too much so I'll be somewhat conservative in posting there. If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me! Also make sure to tell your eurokeyboardfriends

[My_Thoughts]

Yes

I will just wait for a perfect set to come along one day. I'm fine with blanks and would rather have no legends than wrong/inconsistent ones 

Out of interest what do you use the symbols on it for?  I have no idea what ¬ is for and while ¦ looks like pipe, pipe is next to the left shift |

I'm intrigued

[TalkingTree]

I have no idea what ¬ is for

Negation.

[dfrib]

I will most likely (~90%) sign up for a set shortly; finally a chance to fix a complete ISO/SE setup for my wife's kb (not that she really cares, but we want what's best ... ).

I'll just drive-by point out (as I totally missed the IC for this one) that I would have been even more thrilled if this drop ran in black legends on white base (but biased, I guess, towards all my existing mods that would run well with such alphas )

[Fullcream]

Really dissapointed with the lack of traction this is getting.

Everyone's so entertained by all those woohoo rainbow fun colours childs play toy keysets yet the best of the best conservative WoB with icon mods gets no respect.

[Khers]

.

[Krakob]

Update when update is due!

Currently, things aren't looking too good. We are at 29/150 kits, of which 15 are from buyers (17 counting myself), and 12 are for coverage and fixes. The majority of buyers are from Reddit, or have at least signed up with a a Reddit name. It's no secret that Reddit has the biggest buyer potential, but it's also hard to get seen there. The posts have gotten about 30-40 upvotes: two at launch for /r/mk and /r/mm, and then one a few days ago on Reddit again. I would have to guess a part of a successful Reddit GB post involves either having a wow-factor, or building on hype. This set isn't all that interesting if you just take a quick peek at it.

The GH thread has received decent enough reception to catch the eye of most potential GH buyers, anyhow. The DT post has had no replies yet, but is still lingering on the front page.

Proceeding from here, the set is going to need more exposure on Reddit to succeed, no doubt. However, I don't want to annoy the users or mods too much so I'll be somewhat conservative in posting there. If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me! Also make sure to tell your eurokeyboardfriends

Have you thought about actively promoting the buy on the forums using the locales you're supporting with the set (e.g. Sweclockers in SE)? I'd be happy support the set, but I can't justify yet another WoB set...

I did look into SweClockers. However, they don't permit commercial posts and since I'm not an established member of that community, I certainly wouldn't want to try to play around their rules for the explicit sake of promoting a sale. I have no real clue where else to post about it outside the mech community, to be quite frank.

I will most likely (~90%) sign up for a set shortly; finally a chance to fix a complete ISO/SE setup for my wife's kb (not that she really cares, but we want what's best ... ).

I'll just drive-by point out (as I totally missed the IC for this one) that I would have been even more thrilled if this drop ran in black legends on white base (but biased, I guess, towards all my existing mods that would run well with such alphas )

One of the reasons I opted not to is that black on white is a lot easier to make/acquire. You can get it from vintage boards, and dye-subbed PBT is another method of producing top quality keycaps. Black on white, on the contrary, usually comes with bad legends since double shots are the only way to make good black on white that won't wear down.

[xondat]

How come the set doesn't support ISO-UK or ANSI natively? And why did that backspace make it? Those are the two major pitfalls for me.

I can't comment on the other languages, but the usage of blanks isn't the greatest when you want to sell a set specifically for having correct legends.

[Krakob]

How come the set doesn't support ISO-UK or ANSI natively? And why did that backspace make it? Those are the two major pitfalls for me.

I can't comment on the other languages, but the usage of blanks isn't the greatest when you want to sell a set specifically for having correct legends.

ISO UK is nearly perfectly supported. The only missing parts are the € on the 4 key and the top left key, which differs between every supported language. As such it was opted to just be blanked out in order to save on the costs. ANSI was an afterthought and is merely included for compatibility. The backspace was chosen in the IC and was never brought up, hence why it's in the GB. I understand a lot would prefer the arrow but that's just a bit late.

[TalkingTree]

Perhaps, for the future, we could do without the F-row (including Print, Pause and Scroll Lock) and maybe even the bottom row, for popular sets.

Anyhow, how many orders have been placed so far?

[Krakob]

Perhaps, for the future, we could do without the F-row (including Print, Pause and Scroll Lock) and maybe even the bottom row, for popular sets.

Anyhow, how many orders have been placed so far?

If I get you correctly, that's basically an international kit. They're usually launched along the main group buy but fail to reach MOQ with a few exceptions like Carbon and Plum.

Sitting at 31 orders right now, so we're a fifth through!

[TalkingTree]

If I get you correctly, that's basically an international kit. They're usually launched along the main group buy but fail to reach MOQ with a few exceptions like Carbon and Plum.

You're right on both accounts, International kits do fail when launched along with the main set, which happens to be already quite expensive. What I'm hinting here is to try and sell an international kit in at a later time, when people basically refills their wallets.

Sitting at 31 orders right now, so we're a fifth through!

With twenty more days to go, I guess that's an encouraging result.

[Puddsy]

Orders will spike at the end, like any other GB.

I don't need (and moreover, can't afford) a set, so I'll sit this one out, but it looks like a goodun.

[Krakob]

Orders will spike at the end, like any other GB.

I don't need (and moreover, can't afford) a set, so I'll sit this one out, but it looks like a goodun.

I certainly hope you're right. Thank you!

[dorf]

We're at 31 now? How about hitting the bags together with t0mb3ry and his MD GB going on right now where he's offering a WoB?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-t0mb3ry-gmk-jamods-modifiers-kit

[kevral]

I did look into SweClockers. However, they don't permit commercial posts and since I'm not an established member of that community, I certainly wouldn't want to try to play around their rules for the explicit sake of promoting a sale. I have no real clue where else to post about it outside the mech community, to be quite frank.

I have mentioned and linked this thread and a pic of the keyset in one of the threads on Sweclockers where the members are asking for advice on high quality swedish keycaps.

[Krakob]

We're at 31 now? How about hitting the bags together with t0mb3ry and his MD GB going on right now where he's offering a WoB?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-t0mb3ry-gmk-jamods-modifiers-kit

What do you mean exactly? Me to arrange a proxy for the MD group buy? That would not be beneficial to many buyers since Sweden has a pretty high VAT, 25%.

I did look into SweClockers. However, they don't permit commercial posts and since I'm not an established member of that community, I certainly wouldn't want to try to play around their rules for the explicit sake of promoting a sale. I have no real clue where else to post about it outside the mech community, to be quite frank.

I have mentioned and linked this thread and a pic of the keyset in one of the threads on Sweclockers where the members are asking for advice on high quality swedish keycaps.

Thank you! <3

[dorf]

We're at 31 now? How about hitting the bags together with t0mb3ry and his MD GB going on right now where he's offering a WoB?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-t0mb3ry-gmk-jamods-modifiers-kit

What do you mean exactly? Me to arrange a proxy for the MD group buy? That would not be beneficial to many buyers since Sweden has a pretty high VAT, 25%.

Chances are that MD will actually reach MOQ and if we can combine it with your NorDeUK-set it will be a win-win. Profit will go to MD moneywise but hopefully we will all get our sets. As of now 31, of which you have 17, and we're going at 150...

[Krakob]

We're at 31 now? How about hitting the bags together with t0mb3ry and his MD GB going on right now where he's offering a WoB?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-t0mb3ry-gmk-jamods-modifiers-kit

What do you mean exactly? Me to arrange a proxy for the MD group buy? That would not be beneficial to many buyers since Sweden has a pretty high VAT, 25%.

Chances are that MD will actually reach MOQ and if we can combine it with your NorDeUK-set it will be a win-win. Profit will go to MD moneywise but hopefully we will all get our sets. As of now 31, of which you have 17, and we're going at 150...

Then we are kind of back at the issue of high shipping and import taxation, which is a large reason international kits fail

[dorf]

We're at 31 now? How about hitting the bags together with t0mb3ry and his MD GB going on right now where he's offering a WoB?
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-t0mb3ry-gmk-jamods-modifiers-kit

What do you mean exactly? Me to arrange a proxy for the MD group buy? That would not be beneficial to many buyers since Sweden has a pretty high VAT, 25%.

Chances are that MD will actually reach MOQ and if we can combine it with your NorDeUK-set it will be a win-win. Profit will go to MD moneywise but hopefully we will all get our sets. As of now 31, of which you have 17, and we're going at 150...

Then we are kind of back at the issue of high shipping and import taxation, which is a large reason international kits fail

I hear you. I want this set to go thru. I want it really bad.

[TalkingTree]

Any update?

[Geroximo]

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

Well, plenty of people already told him in IC that WoB sucks, but he wouldn't listen.

[BunnyLake]

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

Well, plenty of people already told him in IC that WoB sucks, but he wouldn't listen.

At the end of the day, it is his gb, and should first and foremost be the set HE wants to make, essentially this is him putting his idea out on to the world and seeing of there are enough like minded people like him who want to make that dream a reality

I'm not sure when people decided all gbs should be made up of either the decisions of others or a community vote

Sure if you want to reach as many people as possible, you need to balance your vision with mass appeal and community input and that is certainly one way of doing things, however I think the best keysets, keyboards and original products from within this community come from a person who is just passionate about their idea and puts the care and time to make that a reality

I personally am not ordering this set because I have so many like it already, but I commend someone for trying to do this, and I hope it's a success, if it isn't, then it's back to the drawing board, either with another idea of his own or perhaps next time with community feedback, depending on how he decides to balance what he wants versus the ability to have enough other people join to make it a reality, compromises always have to happen, but it's down to the gb leader to decide how many compromises to make to make what is left of their vision a reality


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pon10]

.... https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-white-on-black-custom-keycap-set

[Krakob]

Any update?

Currently at 35 orders. Time to pop in on Reddit again! Interestingly enough, there have been no UK orders yet, and most orders have assigned GH as their platform. I think it's time to pop in on Reddit again, as well as see where brits could be reached.

.... https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-white-on-black-custom-keycap-set

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

Well, plenty of people already told him in IC that WoB sucks, but he wouldn't listen.

I took a lot of input during the IC phase. One thing that was set in stone was that the set would be simple in order to have a broad appeal. Trying to pull something new off would risk the entire GB given the hit or miss of special colours. BoW was also considered but ultimately chosen to not be used given the wider availability of vintage BoW sets, as well as the fact that they're easily produced through dye-subs. WoB has absolutely no sets of high quality being produced recently for these languages.

good luck with your gb, i would love to order if it was any other colorway but i just have so so many cherry white on black sets, but great to see someone pushing an iso set with a clear direction and excellent well thought out compatibility

i wish you every success

Well, plenty of people already told him in IC that WoB sucks, but he wouldn't listen.

At the end of the day, it is his gb, and should first and foremost be the set HE wants to make, essentially this is him putting his idea out on to the world and seeing of there are enough like minded people like him who want to make that dream a reality

I'm not sure when people decided all gbs should be made up of either the decisions of others or a community vote

Sure if you want to reach as many people as possible, you need to balance your vision with mass appeal and community input and that is certainly one way of doing things, however I think the best keysets, keyboards and original products from within this community come from a person who is just passionate about their idea and puts the care and time to make that a reality

I personally am not ordering this set because I have so many like it already, but I commend someone for trying to do this, and I hope it's a success, if it isn't, then it's back to the drawing board, either with another idea of his own or perhaps next time with community feedback, depending on how he decides to balance what he wants versus the ability to have enough other people join to make it a reality, compromises always have to happen, but it's down to the gb leader to decide how many compromises to make to make what is left of their vision a reality


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! It's my belief that this is simply the most effective way of making a successful GMK GB with europeans in mind.

.... https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-white-on-black-custom-keycap-set

This is very unfortunate. While this kit does not support as many languages and will be subject to shipping and import taxes, it's cheaper for brits assuming taxation ≤25%. Their MOQ is higher, but so is their buyer base thanks to appeal to Americans.

[pon10]

.... https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-white-on-black-custom-keycap-set

This is very unfortunate. While this kit does not support as many languages and will be subject to shipping and import taxes, it's cheaper for brits assuming taxation ≤25%. Their MOQ is higher, but so is their buyer base thanks to appeal to Americans.

they wont let us have our layouts, damned cowboys.. 

We can hope that some seeking international support and don't know about this buys gets redirected. i posted the gb link in a comment..