so Karura, what's up with the huge markup? unless it's a secret. 55 dollars markup on the base set seems excessive to me, if it was like 20-30, i would most likely go for it.
I'm very glad you asked. Thank you for asking, really.
It's very easy to look at the pricing, without any understanding of the extent it took to make this happen, and jump to conclusions.
I really don't enjoy going in-depth about just exactly what it took to make this happen -- because I enjoy having a positive environment so we can focus our energies on something we're passionate about (Geekhack/keyboards are a fun hobby and honestly a break from real life for many of us), but in this situation, I feel that I absolutely need to elaborate and explain.
SKIDATA+ was really not meant to happen, under any circumstances, and you wouldn't know that or what goes on behind the scenes if you weren't involved with it.
To put things into perspective, SKIDATA+ was really only just a distant dream, as all I knew at the time was that 1) I like the OG Skidata keyboard's keyset but it does not have any standard ANSI support, and 2) Charred Orange is severely flawed (look at the incorrect Tab legend, look at the light bleed issues) and that is unacceptable for my standards, as the OG Skidata's quality was a lot better.
I knew that someone had to step up to design a set that would satisfy the most discerning enthusiast's needs and desires (you'll see that I've addressed all of this), and I knew that NOTHING on the market was good enough.
On top of this, GMK Triumph Adler had just been released by MassDrop, and it was riddled quality issues -- scratches on the keycaps (due to GMK's loose tray design, as well as MassDrop's over-sized box, lack of padding, and poor shipping practices from their fulfillment warehouse), HUGE light bleed/translucent issues (really a joke if you were to use it with backlit LEDs), as well as uneven doubleshot plastic legends that was obvious even to the naked eye. People were really beginning to lose faith with GMK's ability to produce good quality keysets, and believed that only the OG Cherry and Skidata doubleshots were good enough.
Despite all the negativity surrounding GMK's quality at the time, I sat down, carefully thought about this for a very long time, and came to a conscious decision that I will set out to create the be-all and end-all set that would satisfy my own utmost obsessive standards, and thus, began the journey to realizing the dream of creating SKIDATA+. Little did I know how foolish and moronic it was to travel down this path, but
allow me to tell you my story.The first hurdle was very straight forward yet puzzling, because I didn't know what to do. PayPal is against all forms of "pre-order" business, and simply will not allow you to take pre-orders, period. Once you start receiving funds into your account, PayPal demands that you show proof of order fulfillment via shipping tracking, otherwise they will simply lock your account indefinitely.
This was when I turned to ZealPC and requested/begged to see if he would lend me his payment platform to use, because ZealPC is a reliable and upstanding vendor with a positive track record, and I knew that if I were to trust anyone, it would have to be ZealPC and no one else.
To my surprise, out pure kindness and generosity of his heart, Zeal had agreed to offer me his shop and payment platform with his FULL SUPPORT at absolutely no cuts or fees.
Really, it was so touching that he would be so upfront and eager to support the project, if only for the sake of helping the community have a chance at obtaining a better keyset than what was currently available. To this day, I still do not know why Zeal agreed to help, but he must have been so moved by my passion and dedication towards creating such an ambitious keyset that it resonated with him.
Without ZealPC's support, SKIDATA+ would have been over before it even got off the ground.
With the payment method taken care of, there was still the issue of improving upon GMK's then-current production issues. To determine and document the issues, I had obtained as many GMK and Cherry keysets as I could: GMK Hyperfuse, GMK Dolch (Ivan), GMK Dolch (Originative), OG Dolch, two sets of OG Skidata, OG Cherry WoB, OG Cherry Beige, GMK Triumph Adler, GMK EK Red Esc/Mod Keys are some that I can recall right now.
In order to provide GMK with objective and empirical evidence, I had to Keyboard Science the **** out of everything, and thus spent countless man hours testing EVERY keyset with backlit keyboards, a 1200 Lumens flashlight, and meticulously photo-documented all my findings with a high MP DSLR and a sharp lens.
Indeed, there were consistent characteristics with GMK's more recent productions of having issues with the keycaps being more translucent (causing lightbleed), less saturated, and having worse contrast than some of their older productions.
In the end, I was able to effectively communicate with GMK and explain the shortcomings I've observed in their more recent productions, and specified the improvements required for SKIDATA+ to be the highest quality set that GMK is capable of producing.
As the result of my tireless labour, GMK has now successfully reformulated their plastic to address every one of the issues and concerns I've brought up with them, with the new reformulated plastic being every bit as good as the old vintage stuff, if not even better.
Most importantly, the Extras contain a 4.5% Paypal fee that is included in the pricing. During the GB, it was tacked on top of it. You have to keep in mind that many fees in 2016 have increased, and this is factored in the costs. Eventually, the Extras that aren't sold in the US during this period will have to be brought back to Canada, for a 18.5% Canadian Import Tax (as per Canadian Border Regulations) on top of its value.
USPS is now charging more for boxes, and Paypal has increased its fees to 4.5%. (Once again, the Extras are not charged this fee, it is included).
A lot has changed, and I really wish more people would have ordered during the GB period when the fees were lower. It would have been better for everyone, but alas, you must understand people's reluctance to join group buys... it really isn't anyone's fault due to the way things have been going around here.
Last but not least, there was really no way we were going to meet MOQ, and I've had to take a big financial risk to exert absolutely all of my resources to make this happen. I assure you, it was not a small undertaking and required a lot of personal sacrifice to make happen.Let that sink in for a moment.
We really weren't supposed to have SKIDATA+ become a reality, but I have never lost sight of my foolish dreams of making this a reality for both myself and our community, and against all odds, have made the impossible happen. There were too many reasons to give up, but I never faltered.
Once the GMK boxes arrive at radio_killah's house in the US, each and every one of these orders will be carefully handpacked by a keyboard enthusiast with love (shoutout to my fellow enthusiasts that have volunteered to help out, you know who you are), and really, there really isn't a more purely "community-oriented" group buy effort than this.
Everyone is free to make their decisions, but I will not stand to be disrespected and ridiculed by the suggestions of "running a Round 2 of SKIDATA+ on MassDrop" blatant ripoff, as that is belittling the time put into layout designs and my contributions to improving GMK's production quality, as well as disrespecting the numerous community members that have contributed to making SKIDATA+ happen.
Every single process of the group buy, from graphic design, photography, consultation, administration, customer service, brainstorming, artisan making (special thanks to Binge and KatzenKinder), shipping, packing and distribution has and will remain 100% handled by either myself or one of our community members.
You can rest assured knowing that everything from SKIDATA+ will not only be of the highest quality, but handled by people that care and understand you. If there are ever any problems, we will not hesitate to take care of it and make it right. You have my word for it.
I feel that for the tireless efforts and contributions put into making SKIDATA+ the set it is today, it is very reasonably priced for what you are getting.
I've gotten a lot appreciative PMs and emails from people who understand the amount of work put into making this happen, and I absolutely want to thank you guys for your tireless support. It is truly appreciated and I really want to stress that it wouldn't have happened without everyone's efforts.
