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geekhack Marketplace => Group Buys and Preorders => Topic started by: fstop on Thu, 22 March 2012, 23:00:55
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**Lots of Text**
You can skip down to the TLDR at the bottom if you don’t want to read it all.
Last week I had three wrist rests for sale, and to my surprise they were in very high demand. Initially I got them straight from Iomania through kant1971 (he’s a member of GH but doesn’t seem to post much anymore) but when I discussed the idea of a group order he said it wouldn’t be practical, and that no discount could be offered, except a little savings in shipping. It wasn’t a whole lot cheaper this way but I ordered a few units to see if they were worth proxying. I ended up liking the thing a lot, and it seems to have sparked the interest of quite a few GH'ers and OCN members.
I decided to organize a group order and was able to figure out some estimates. Since I will be using a personal proxy, we will have some extra fees to take care of. He’s a proxy from Korea through another friend, so we’re paying mostly for his time, and less so for the service. He will order from Iomania, and ship to us. It’s not the most efficient way of doing it, but I have yet to find another alternative. With that said, these will still be significantly cheaper than any other source you can currently get them for in the United States.
You‘d normally have to pay $70 plus for a single unit. This group buy only works because it is discounting the main issue with getting these wrist rests: the shipping cost. If you check on Iomania, these are only $17 (USD) , or roughly $25 after shipping within Korea. But shipping it outside of Korea can cost over $70-80 for one unit. Pretty much defeats the purpose of it. I'm going to offer both the TKL and Full size models, as far as I know nothing else exists (i.e. poker/hhkb compatible variants, other colors).
Here would be the price structure for the TKL model (full size is a few dollars more):
1 unit @ $ 68 (base price reference)
5 units @ $48 each
10 units @ $40 each
20 units @ $35 each <--- target goal
40 units @ $32 each
** sorry, meant to say this doesn't include the proxy fee. I've estimated that to be between $2-4 per unit depending on the actual total **
This include the base price of each unit ($17), domestic shipping within Korea, shipping from Korea to me. It doesn’t include domestic shipping from me to you or the yet to be determined proxy fee so expect to add about $10-15 dollars to these prices for the final total. Because of the weight/dimensions of these wrist rests (anyone that owns one can attest to how heavy they are), anything past 20-40 units the price will remain relatively the same. The main purpose of this group buy is to mitigate the costs of shipping, and not trying to discount the already low price of the wrist rests themselves. I've only negotiated for 20-40 units with my proxy as ideal. I don't see prices changing unless we get to 60-100+ units, at which point it might cost even more because that would be a lot of work on my proxy's end. But we'll worry about that if we get there.
Now for the problems we might have:
Kant1971 said I might get hit by import fees. For the four that I initially ordered, he estimated the fee to be about $25, but nothing showed up for me. Anyone know what might happen if 20-40 of these show up at my place? It would obviously be a problem if I have to end up paying $200-300 in fees.
Possible alternative sources for these? Keyboardco has very limited tock and won’t do a group buy, neither will Iomania directly. Can anyone help me contact the manufacture and see if we can work out something cheaper? I would ask my proxy but it’s not exactly his responsibility.
How do you guys suggest I ship these out domestically? How do you guys ship out Full-size keyboards? These come in a box that is the exact shape as the wrist rests themselves, but both the TKL and full size come in the same box (same length). The few that I have sent out this past week have had varying shipping costs depending on their location in the U.S. (between $6-11). Shipping them in their original box probably wouldn't be safe since there's no cushion or packaging within them. And finding boxes that are the right length / dimension seems really hard.
Anything else?
TLDR
Milestone wrist rest group buy.
$40-50 each (probably).
TKL or Full size models through personal proxy form Korea who will order from Iomania directly.
Issues with import taxes / cheaper alternatives / domestic shipping. Help!
If you need more reference for these check out these threads:
http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:28460
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?28673-A-bunch-of-new-stuff-Milestone-TKL-wristrest-amp-the-upcoming-KMAC&p=553883&viewfull=1#post553883
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Interested.
Could we have exact dimension on both TKL & Full size models?
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Here you go...
(http://www.iomania.net/images/shop/idfactory/astel_palmrest.jpg)
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Count me in for a TKL if we can get these low enough.
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Yep. I want one. TKL size.
Sent from my TF101 using Tapatalk
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Count me in for a TKL if we can get these low enough.
Me too^
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I'm down for a TKL.
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Put me down for a TKL. There wouldn't happen to be a white one would there?
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TKL +1
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Put me down for a TKL. There wouldn't happen to be a white one would there?
As far as I know, only one color exists.
And heads up to those of you in Canada, expect to pay the same amount in shipping as it would be to get a full-sized keyboard shipped to you, roughly.
And we're aiming for a minimum of 20 units!
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any idea how much the shipping would be to Singapore? (expecting it to cost 2arms)
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any idea how much the shipping would be to Singapore? (expecting it to cost 2arms)
It wouldn't be worth it (at all). You're better off finding a proxy from korea.
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tkl +1
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Put Me down for 2
Sent from a phone...
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Spoke to the proxy, and he says he can most likely "bypass" the import taxes. Does mean he will have to undervalue the goods on the shipping form (meaning less insurance) but I've always found EMS shipping to be pretty reliable, and its pretty common for sellers to do this anyway. I pretty much always request/do this when ordering internationally to avoid import taxes. The total amount for this order would be around $400 in actual goods so that's not a significant amount anyway since the wrist rests themselves are so cheap (I mean, nothing to really trip up any warnings for customs).
We're at about 10 units right now. I want to get to around 25 to be safe before anything starts moving. Our goal is 20 units but I'll want a few more people in case some decide to drop out.
Still have to figure out how much it'll cost to ship these domestically as well...
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Flat rate boxes :D
Sent from a phone...
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Flat rate boxes :D
Sent from a phone...
Which ones are you referring to? I can't even get TKL boxes into a medium flat rate. I know there was a thread awhile ago that said there were boxes that could, but I don't see those at my post office.
Also, the wrist pads come in boxes that are the length of a full-sized keyboard (yes, even the TKL model). I'm not even sure it would even fit in the large flat rate box.
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I might be interested if the prices are low enough
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I would love to get a couple but the extra proxy fee is just not worth it for a wrist rest. GL.
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If the total price is in the $35-40 range, I'd be down for one.
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Which ones are you referring to? I can't even get TKL boxes into a medium flat rate. I know there was a thread awhile ago that said there were boxes that could, but I don't see those at my post office.
Also, the wrist pads come in boxes that are the length of a full-sized keyboard (yes, even the TKL model). I'm not even sure it would even fit in the large flat rate box.
Maybe the tube mailers would be better :cool:
Sent from a phone...
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If the total price is in the $35-40 range, I'd be down for one.
Reallistically final prices will be $40-50. Can't see it getting any lower then that.
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Reallistically final prices will be $40-50. Can't see it getting any lower then that.
Hmm, at that price it's not far off the Filco leather rest. Anyone have an opinion of this vs the Filco?
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Hmm, at that price it's not far off the Filco leather rest. Anyone have an opinion of this vs the Filco?
I used a ducky wrist rest for awhile. Both the ducky and filco are leather based, and as a result will eventually depress with use. A lot of people find this to be a problem and have to replace the rests after they lose their firmness. That won't happen with these , obviously. You do lose a bit of comfort as a trade off though.
And yeah, filcos are $59 shipped on Amazon. So you're paying about $10-20 less in the end for one of these.
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Oh what the hell, I'd go for a TKL.
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I will take a TKL if you can get it below or around $40
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Which ones are you referring to? I can't even get TKL boxes into a medium flat rate. I know there was a thread awhile ago that said there were boxes that could, but I don't see those at my post office.
Also, the wrist pads come in boxes that are the length of a full-sized keyboard (yes, even the TKL model). I'm not even sure it would even fit in the large flat rate box.
Game board boxes should fit.
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Game board boxes should fit.
I was thinking that but $15 flat rate is a bit steep. And I would have to stuff them considerably... hmm.
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+1 for TKL
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Thanks reaper.
I want a TKL, but sounds like it gonna cost me $60 USD deliver to my door :yuck:
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Thanks reaper.
I want a TKL, but sounds like it gonna cost me $60 USD deliver to my door :yuck:
You're welcome and just think that noone else in your neighborhood (or your town) is going to have the same wristrest. =D
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I'll go ahead and give it a shot, put me down for TKL (I'm 80% sure I want one).
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I'll go ahead and give it a shot, put me down for TKL (I'm 80% sure I want one).
stick around here long enough that it'll always be 100% sure you want whatever is being sold. even if you're only 20% sure you know WHY you want it lol
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Ok, I'm 100% on getting a milestone wristwrest :)
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I'll have one of each, any UK based buyers want to combine postage and proxy?
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I know I only have 1 post, but I would love to pitch in. This thing looks amazing. I'm in for one.
Edit: opps, forgot to say Tenkeyless one.
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I'd be interested in a TKL one, if I can use another european as a proxy.
Due to the post service here in denmark wanting ~$30 for handling customs/vat alone (and then comes the vat <_<), it effectively doubles the price of one, if it's at $45-50, including shipping. If the vat is already paid, though, that fee won't be in effect.
So if another european want to forward one to denmark, I'm in, otherwise I'll have to skip =/
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Might be interested in TKL depending on final price...
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I'd be interested but the shipping (plus brokerage plus tax) to Canada concerns me. It might more than double the price...
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Signed up to say I'm interested in one around 45-50$
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Working out some details to maybe get these from keevo, we'll see what we can figure out.
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interested in TKL version.
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Got mine from fstop and I have to say its really nice, a very modern look to it :)
Also reaper is crazy for using the back side since the edge is razor sharp compared to the top side where its rounded off :P
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I'd be in for a TKL.
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Interested.
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Also reaper is crazy for using the back side since the edge is razor sharp compared to the top side where its rounded off :P
I like living dangerously. :eek:
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I am interested in one to two full sized ones. <3
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Looks like there's enough to place an order, now trying to figure out if its cheaper to go through a proxy or one of the members here on GH. Will keep you guys posted!
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I would like one tenkeyless wrist rest as well.
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Any update?
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Final details on pricing/etc will be posted here tomorrow when I get home. Expect an order thread going up sometime next week, hopefully in the earlier half, after I get reactions to the pricing (which isn't too far off from where it stands now).
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Update: I'm trying to work with one last person to see if they can give us discounted prices. They're in Korea, so I'm hoping they respond today soon since it's Monday work hours right now.
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Probably doesn't matter at this point but I'm interested in a TKL.
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also interested tkl
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Whats the word on these ^_^
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Some bad news, actually. Kant at Iomania said they won't have enough to fulfil our order (I asked for 25).
I'm still waiting on a reply as to whether or not he can order more. If not, I'll have to see how many I can get.
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bummer -_-
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Awwwwwww :[
Sent from my TF101 using Tapatalk
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Yeah, sorry guys. It was confusing because at first he said he wouldn't be able to do a group buy because it was impractical so I had to look for a proxy. And now he says he might be able to do it but physically can't because he doesn't have enough inventory at the moment. A bit of a language barrier here, so I hope you guys can be patient!
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No worries, keep us updated!
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If inventory is replenished, I'd like the TKL.
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Good news!
There was a restock and there are 30 TKL units available now, so this GB can move forward now. Order thread going up tonight with more details!
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Woot
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I am throwing in my name in for a pre-order on a TKL unit... these are pretty :)
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Order thread will be up before the end of the night. As a heads up, there is limited stock for this group buy and it will be a first come first serve basis (payment ensures your spot).
Just because you've shown interest in this thread does not mean you will be guaranteed a spot in the GB! So if you're at all interested, try to get your order in ASAP.
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Order thread is up!
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?29993-MileStone-Palm-Rest-Order-Thread