GB Site Updates & Upgrades

[Excessive]

Hey everyone as we continue to make upgrades to the community group buy system we wanted a single place to update you on the improvements. For those of you that missed it last week we upgraded the site to add additional state options for countries outside of the US.

In addition this morning we pushed an update, based on suggestions from Matteo, to the design that should allow for a smoother checkout process. We have replaced the countdown ticker and share icons with a purchase button. You can now add MODs directly from the base set, instead of going to each individual modifier.

We will continue to work as quickly as possible to improve the GB experience. If you have suggestion for how we can improve the site or experience, please post them here: http://keyshop.uservoice.com/

Thanks again for the support!

[Belfong]

Nice

[KebinPls]

Awesome!

[rowdy]

I have noticed that the speech bubble thingies in the top left corner of the images sometimes obscure information.

Like in the picture above, what is under the speech bubble overlay in the top left corner of the first image?

Sometimes in a detailed image the speech bubble overlay obscures the keycaps in the top left corner, sometimes the Esc key, which might be different to the other keycaps in the image.

[Matt3o]

peachy! thanks Excessive!

[Excessive]

And then there was purchase history..... 

[ideus]

Is there an option to alter an order? I am considering to change some items in one I made.

[Excessive]

Is there an option to alter an order? I am considering to change some items in one I made.

Unfortunately not, we are asking everyone to make sure that their orders are final before buying. You can add to orders but we ask that you only cancel if it is 100% necessary. The reason for this, is that it could cause pricing issues for the GB and other customers.

If to many people decided to change their order at the same time, then the GB could potentially head in the wrong direction. Instead of breaking lower price tiers - it would revert back into higher price tiers. This would make the orders authorized at a lower price levels no longer valid.

With that said if you have to have your order cancelled and/or modified we can do this manually for you. Hopefully this makes sense.

[ideus]

Is there an option to alter an order? I am considering to change some items in one I made.

Unfortunately not, we are asking everyone to make sure that their orders are final before buying. You can add to orders but we ask that you only cancel if it is 100% necessary. The reason for this, is that it could cause pricing issues for the GB and other customers.

If to many people decided to change their order at the same time, then the GB could potentially head in the wrong direction. Instead of breaking lower price tiers - it would revert back into higher price tiers. This would make the orders authorized at a lower price levels no longer valid.

With that said if you have to have your order cancelled and/or modified we can do this manually for you. Hopefully this makes sense.

I think people that wants to add something to the order may have a way to do it. You should consider that initial items were defined under different pricing tiers. Later, when prices are lower they may attract more buyers. Actually many have stated they are waiting until the last days of the GB to set they orders precisely because of this. In the other hand, if we all waited until the last time, the pricing tiers would not be lower, ever. That is why early buyers should have an option to re-arrange their orders.

[Excessive]

You can definitely add to your order. We will sort the orders during fulfillment so that they all ship together. It's only the canceling existing purchases that can potentially cause problems.

[ideus]

You can definitely add to your order. We will sort the orders during fulfillment so that they all ship together. It's only the canceling existing purchases that can potentially cause problems.

Alright, I just hope the icon modifiers pro set reaches MOQ, otherwise I will need changes in my order.

[tbc]

is the 'commit to buy at x tier' feature in progress of being implemented for future buys, or has it been rejected?

[Excessive]

is the 'commit to buy at x tier' feature in progress of being implemented for future buys, or has it been rejected?

Not at this time. Our team is looking into it as a possibility, but it we did it would be a significant rebuild of the entire system.

[skuko]

hey Excessive, can you please find out whether SP could mark these as a gift in value of 25$ or so? right now, i think my macross set is being held by customs and they are GIANT PAIN IN THE ASS TO DEAL WITH

edit: or not gift, but a SAMPLE

[rowdy]

I noticed the following when I was checking out the Granite set.  In Australia I live in the state of Victoria, which I configured in my profile.  But during the checkout process, both billing and shipping addresses switched to ACT (Australian Capital Territory).  I changed them both back to Victoria, and checked my profile, which still said Victoria.

[skuko]

hey SP, it would be really nice, if you included an invoice generator in the "my orders" section, with the real prices paid, not the base prices.

i desperately need that for customs clearance. the problem is that if i want to pull it from paypal, the only clear statement about what was in my "shopping cart" is in the original authorization transaction, which does not reflect the final prices. if i was to be charged VAT and customs fees for the base prices, that would be pretty steep. can you provide the website with such functionality? if not, then please give me an email for invoice inquiries.


thanks

[minho]

Hello!

I would like to suggest a feature for your group buys. Create an option for people to opt in a certain price points, and only pay at this price point [perhaps with a limit at which you can opt in] (similar to Massdrop's model).

The reason I suggest this is to allow group buys that have extremely high starting prices (such as the Orange Crush group buy that is currently going on) to gain more traction. People see the extremely high price and awesome design and think to themselves "wow, that's an awesome keycap set, but not necessarily $129 awesome."

The current model let's you pay the lowest tier, which is fantastic, but something like Massdrop's method would allow people to see the exact number of people who are just waiting on a price drop, and would therefore boost confidence about reaching lower price tiers and increase sales, all of which I'm sure are in your favor, SP.

I know that implementing this is not nearly as easy as simply writing down the idea in a forum post, but please do consider this. I personally (and I'm sure many others too) would have committed to the Orange Crush group buy if I had more confidence in its success and could see how many others would commit at lower price points.

Best regards,
minho

[tbc]

^

is the 'commit to buy at x tier' feature in progress of being implemented for future buys, or has it been rejected?

Not at this time. Our team is looking into it as a possibility, but it we did it would be a significant rebuild of the entire system.

[CommonCurt]

is the 'commit to buy at x tier' feature in progress of being implemented for future buys, or has it been rejected?

Not at this time. Our team is looking into it as a possibility, but it we did it would be a significant rebuild of the entire system.

I get this would be a big hassle, but I think it would really help out GB's in the long run. 

I know it's something that I would like to see implemented.

[Oobly]

is the 'commit to buy at x tier' feature in progress of being implemented for future buys, or has it been rejected?

Not at this time. Our team is looking into it as a possibility, but it we did it would be a significant rebuild of the entire system.

I get this would be a big hassle, but I think it would really help out GB's in the long run. 

I know it's something that I would like to see implemented.

+1. This is a feature that will actually bring in orders, and help to get the numbers up to what they should really be. The way it works at the moment, most people are hesitant to commit to the starting price, so they just don't order.

[Excessive]

Hey Everyone. This one is a hard one for us. We would have to do a major overhaul on the software, which would take a significant amount of time. I do have a suggestion that may help for now.

The MOQ is set by each group buy leader.

If you look at Orange Crush: http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/orange-crush/ the MOQ is set at 25 units which causes the high entry price of $129.

If the group buy leader wanted, they could set the MOQ at 75 at have a starting price of $79.

This would mean that no body would get charged unless the 75 unit mark was reach and therefor everyone could jump in at a more reasonable $79 price. Just a thought.

[minho]

Hey Everyone. This one is a hard one for us. We would have to do a major overhaul on the software, which would take a significant amount of time. I do have a suggestion that may help for now.

The MOQ is set by each group buy leader.

If you look at Orange Crush: http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/orange-crush/ the MOQ is set at 25 units which causes the high entry price of $129.

If the group buy leader wanted, they could set the MOQ at 75 at have a starting price of $79.

This would mean that no body would get charged unless the 75 unit mark was reach and therefor everyone could jump in at a more reasonable $79 price. Just a thought.

You are a temporary genius!

And I understand that actually implementing an idea that may seem simple on paper can be extremely difficult. Thanks for addressing the issue.

[intelli78]

Hey Everyone. This one is a hard one for us. We would have to do a major overhaul on the software, which would take a significant amount of time. I do have a suggestion that may help for now.

The MOQ is set by each group buy leader.

If you look at Orange Crush: http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/deals/orange-crush/ the MOQ is set at 25 units which causes the high entry price of $129.

If the group buy leader wanted, they could set the MOQ at 75 at have a starting price of $79.

This would mean that no body would get charged unless the 75 unit mark was reach and therefor everyone could jump in at a more reasonable $79 price. Just a thought.

Excellent idea 

[Lu_e]

The whole pimpmykeyboard marketplace isn't working for me right now... every section looks empty.

Site issues? or maybe just updating? I wanna buy some of those flat keys.

[CommonCurt]

The whole pimpmykeyboard marketplace isn't working for me right now... every section looks empty.

Site issues? or maybe just updating? I wanna buy some of those flat keys.

I can't sign into my PMK account at this time.  It looks like they may be doing updates.

[Blackehart]

FIXED!

[rowdy]

FIXED!

That was quick!

[yuiop]

I can't go past the checkout page no matter what I try i get an error saying
"The field Shipping Address1 is required"
and it takes me back to my cart. Tried 3 different browsers and clearing cookies.  So damn frustrating.

Anyone having similar issue?

[yuiop]

I still can't get past the address page.  I don't think I'm the only one having this issue.  the number of people in any of the active groupbuys hasn't changed since yesterday.

[SPLady]

I still can't get past the address page.  I don't think I'm the only one having this issue.  the number of people in any of the active groupbuys hasn't changed since yesterday.

We are aware of this technical issue and apologize for the inconvenience.  If you can log in to your account and click the “My Account” button at the top right of the screen, you will see your account information.  In the top “YOUR ACCOUNT” box, you should see an address in your contact information.  If you do not, please click the “Edit” button and enter an address.  Now, return to your cart and see if you can complete the checkout process.

[MrChunky]

I still can't get past the address page.  I don't think I'm the only one having this issue.  the number of people in any of the active groupbuys hasn't changed since yesterday.

We are aware of this technical issue and apologize for the inconvenience.  If you can log in to your account and click the “My Account” button at the top right of the screen, you will see your account information.  In the top “YOUR ACCOUNT” box, you should see an address in your contact information.  If you do not, please click the “Edit” button and enter an address.  Now, return to your cart and see if you can complete the checkout process.

I had the account information in. I also tried to update the information in any case. Still getting the same error message.

[00zeRO]

Could any of these log in issues be causing GB's to fail the tipping point...?

[rowdy]

Could any of these log in issues be causing GB's to fail the tipping point...?

There have been surprisingly few orders for some of the GBs, especially Orange Crush.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was a contributing factor.

OTOH Granite was running at the same time, and there are plenty of orders for that!

[00zeRO]

Could any of these log in issues be causing GB's to fail the tipping point...?

There have been surprisingly few orders for some of the GBs, especially Orange Crush.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was a contributing factor.

OTOH Granite was running at the same time, and there are plenty of orders for that!

The turn out for the Objects in Space IC are certainly more than those who have shown up for the GB...

Grrr...

 

[rowdy]

Could any of these log in issues be causing GB's to fail the tipping point...?

There have been surprisingly few orders for some of the GBs, especially Orange Crush.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was a contributing factor.

OTOH Granite was running at the same time, and there are plenty of orders for that!

The turn out for the Objects in Space IC are certainly more than those who have shown up for the GB...

Grrr...

 

That's as usual

[pbtforever]

Help!  My iphone doesn't load your site.

Chrome or Safari.

[osxoep]

I'm not sure if I'm being dumb, but the sign up form says "State" is a required field, but I'm in the UK and I can't select anything

[Elrick]

Could any of these log in issues be causing GB's to fail the tipping point...?

There have been surprisingly few orders for some of the GBs, especially Orange Crush.  I wouldn't be surprised if this was a contributing factor.

This is what's unusual for a Company who actually manufactures Key-caps in the United States THEY do not advertise it anywhere and then wonder why too few people had signed up to buy anything.

PERFECT example here they're latest Group Buy "SYMBIOSIS" is NOT MENTIONED anywhere, including here on Geekhack Central, so what gives?

Are we now entering a new market where people who have extra sensory perception can detect when a Group Buy is running because I came across it by accident when visiting their website, despite NO ONE mentioning anything here on this site.  Very strange indeed, I suspect they are trying to run a GMK style of business because they too never advertise their products anywhere.

Please SPLady shine some light here because I would like to know why you are so quiet about your own Group Buys, especially now.........

[Data]

A couple GeekHackers have mentioned Symbiosis, actually. 

And I get regular (bi-weekly?) emails from SP about the currently-running group buys and interest checks, so there's that.

I mean, I totally get what you're saying.  They could do a lot more to get the word out and that would, in turn, help group buys meet their MOQs.  Maybe they just don't have the manpower?

[SPLady]

As most of you are aware, we have experienced many functional problems with the PMK website over the past year. This has not only been frustrating for you users but it has been equally frustrating for us as well. It’s time to make a change.

Over the next couple months we will be moving the site to a new platform. Hopefully this change will address the many frustrations you have experienced from lack of mobile access to simply checking out without any problems.

We also plan to make one major change to the site. The Interest Check and Group Buy format has been very successful, making some very creative designs available to a lot of people. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of these great designs, many receiving hundreds of “like” votes, die during the 30-day Group Buy period. Under the new format we plan to still display designs in the Interest Check, but once they receive a certain number of “like” votes we will move the design into our production cue. Once produced, the sets will become available in our Key Shop where they can be purchased and shipped within days of ordering. This way you decide when to buy the keysets, minimizing the competition we are now seeing with so many new designs being launched at the same time. We would like to have at least 20 different custom designs available through our Key Shop.

And one more change. We plan to pay a 5% royalty on the net sales of each keyset design that is up for sale to the creator of the design. We feel the creative efforts that go into these keysets should be rewarded!

We thank you for your patience and support while we incorporate these changes. We also welcome any and all suggestions you may have on how to further improve the site.

[Matt3o]

this is a great news, SPLady!

I totally support the new model and that's probably something that should have been done since the beginning!

Thank you for the great work and please PLEASE PLEEEASE release the SA-ROW-4-SHIFTS!

[Steveenn]

I really love the sound of this. Now my wallet is going to have even less money in it, which isn't physically possible...

[trees]

I really love the sound of this. Now my wallet is going to have even less money in it, which isn't physically possible...

This was my first thought! The wait is what keeps me from normally doing GBs. Now..... RIP wallet

[Nai_Calus]

As most of you are aware, we have experienced many functional problems with the PMK website over the past year. This has not only been frustrating for you users but it has been equally frustrating for us as well. It’s time to make a change.

Over the next couple months we will be moving the site to a new platform. Hopefully this change will address the many frustrations you have experienced from lack of mobile access to simply checking out without any problems.

We also plan to make one major change to the site. The Interest Check and Group Buy format has been very successful, making some very creative designs available to a lot of people. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of these great designs, many receiving hundreds of “like” votes, die during the 30-day Group Buy period. Under the new format we plan to still display designs in the Interest Check, but once they receive a certain number of “like” votes we will move the design into our production cue. Once produced, the sets will become available in our Key Shop where they can be purchased and shipped within days of ordering. This way you decide when to buy the keysets, minimizing the competition we are now seeing with so many new designs being launched at the same time. We would like to have at least 20 different custom designs available through our Key Shop.

And one more change. We plan to pay a 5% royalty on the net sales of each keyset design that is up for sale to the creator of the design. We feel the creative efforts that go into these keysets should be rewarded!

We thank you for your patience and support while we incorporate these changes. We also welcome any and all suggestions you may have on how to further improve the site.

Improved templates, and possibly a list of available doubleshot legends for each key set and what row they're in! The current template is just a TKL, which doesn't help terribly much, so we end up with all the keyboard layout editor renders we see. And for something less used like sculpted SA, it's hard to find information on what legends are available in what row. So for example this sculpted SA design I've been noodling with, I'm not sure which of the alternate keys I've thrown in are actually possible in SA and in the rows in question: http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/af2e968fa417b8a642c92e26212afc67

That would definitely help things from a design perspective.

[SL89]

As most of you are aware, we have experienced many functional problems with the PMK website over the past year. This has not only been frustrating for you users but it has been equally frustrating for us as well. It’s time to make a change.

Over the next couple months we will be moving the site to a new platform. Hopefully this change will address the many frustrations you have experienced from lack of mobile access to simply checking out without any problems.

We also plan to make one major change to the site. The Interest Check and Group Buy format has been very successful, making some very creative designs available to a lot of people. Unfortunately we are seeing more and more of these great designs, many receiving hundreds of “like” votes, die during the 30-day Group Buy period. Under the new format we plan to still display designs in the Interest Check, but once they receive a certain number of “like” votes we will move the design into our production cue. Once produced, the sets will become available in our Key Shop where they can be purchased and shipped within days of ordering. This way you decide when to buy the keysets, minimizing the competition we are now seeing with so many new designs being launched at the same time. We would like to have at least 20 different custom designs available through our Key Shop.

And one more change. We plan to pay a 5% royalty on the net sales of each keyset design that is up for sale to the creator of the design. We feel the creative efforts that go into these keysets should be rewarded!

We thank you for your patience and support while we incorporate these changes. We also welcome any and all suggestions you may have on how to further improve the site.

So will things still be called 'Group Buys' even tho they are not in fact group buys? Will the tiers of discounts be going away in this new system, and we will be stuck with one price? what parameters will need to be me  to make the Interest Check successful? Who will be the 'owner' of these designs and will private group buys still be possible under this new system?

[potatowire]

This is very exciting, SPLady! My wallet is weeping quietly in the corner, however.

PLEASE PLEEEASE release the SA-ROW-4-SHIFTS!

Seconded! SA definitely seems to be rising in popularity, and I suspect a little investment in the profile would pay off quickly.

-potatowire

[Bloo]

...Once produced, the sets will become available in our Key Shop where they can be purchased and shipped within days of ordering. This way you decide when to buy the keysets, minimizing the competition we are now seeing with so many new designs being launched at the same time. We would like to have at least 20 different custom designs available through our Key Shop.

This is a great new direction.  I also hope that there might also be a bit of transparency added to the production scheduling.  The delays that certain sets (ie. round 5) encounter are a little unsettling.  I know that companies don't like to share that sort of thing, but community involvement is a two way street. 

[KHAANNN]

As a DSA addict, this is exciting news, it's something you should've done long ago

It would also be great to see some actually useful special keys, like colored Shift's, Enter's, Return's, 1.25's, Ctrl's, Alt's, Tab's, Esc's, Delete's etc. (double shot ABS's with beautiful, proven colors, likely white on red/blue/green etc.)

I would buy one of each

[taylordcraig]

...Once produced, the sets will become available in our Key Shop where they can be purchased and shipped within days of ordering. This way you decide when to buy the keysets, minimizing the competition we are now seeing with so many new designs being launched at the same time. We would like to have at least 20 different custom designs available through our Key Shop.

This is a great new direction.  I also hope that there might also be a bit of transparency added to the production scheduling.  The delays that certain sets (ie. round 5) encounter are a little unsettling.  I know that companies don't like to share that sort of thing, but community involvement is a two way street.

Just gonna thumbs up this.
I have very little interest in SP sets these days [no offense!]
I have nothing against SP I just have been enjoying OG Cherry stuff more.
I still love my blank granite DSA, hyperfuse DSA, wyse DSA, and galaxy class DSA sets.
and I still think that SA is by fair SPs greatest tooling. Really thick, great feeling caps.
A little more transparency would be great.
However, Melissa has been fantastic at answering any questions through email.

[KHAANNN]

In my opinion, the top-thickness of SA is wasted as the stem holder is flush with the keycap, so the keycap amplifies the sound rather than suppressing it (at the bottom out, the keycap doesn't cover the switch as much as it could, comparatively, the cherry/oem profile's are far superior in this area)
I had the chance to try SA keycaps lately, they just made me like DSA's more, especially sculptured SA's are extreme, row1 is almost 3x DSA's, no need for that much heft for no gain

In any case, it would be great to see more SA's/DSA's, after trying them both, I'm especially interested in DSA's, as I tend to mix keycaps a lot