Small electronics KIT business startup. Ideas, proposals, solutions

Hi there,
I did not know where else to post this.
I am thinking of starting a very small electronics KIT business (a few KITs for start) just for hobby.
I want to sell my (RF mainly) kits, worldwide, so I would like to do a bit of survey on it.

I would like your oppinion/proposals/ideas on the next few things:

1. Would you prefer a KIT that is of higher quality (components etc) but more expensive, from a kit that is of low quality but cheap (like the Asian-made ones)? In other words, will the quality convince you to buy the KIT, even if the price is quite higher?

2. Would you prefer the KIT to be pre-assembled (and so without any assembly instructions) and tested ready to work (and so a bit more expensive), or a KIT that comes unassembled together with assembly instructions?

3. Some kits may come in two options. The cheaper and feature-less one, and the more expensive but full featured one. For example, in a receiver, the narrow CW filter, may be available only in the full featured version of it. Would you prefer to have the cheaper or the more expensive version?

4. Will a KIT convince you more to buy it, if things like ROHS compatible, free email technical support or free shipping (even if shipping is "hidden" in the KIT value) are available? Are such things of any value to you?

5. Would you prefer an easy, clean graphics and fast to navigate and buy site (few items though) or a complex e-commerce site (require for registration etc)?

It would be nice to know about how do you think about these things. Let me know if you have more suggestions as well.

1. Would you prefer a KIT that is of higher quality (components etc) but more expensive, from a kit that is of low quality but cheap (like the Asian-made ones)? In other words, will the quality convince you to buy the KIT, even if the price is quite higher?

Click to expand...

This is a very tricky question. I shall personally prefer a kit with high quality components if it is only slightly more expensive. But if the price differential is more than (say) 50%, then I will personally go for the cheaper one.

2. Would you prefer the KIT to be pre-assembled (and so without any assembly instructions) and tested ready to work (and so a bit more expensive), or a KIT that comes unassembled together with assembly instructions?

Click to expand...

Some kits with small SMD parts are difficult to assemble neatly by a first time builder: such kits should be assembled. It may be good to have a partially assembled kit that has the delicate components already assembled. You will know better.

3. Some kits may come in two options. The cheaper and feature-less one, and the more expensive but full featured one. For example, in a receiver, the narrow CW filter, may be available only in the full featured version of it. Would you prefer to have the cheaper or the more expensive version?

Click to expand...

People will prefer, it is simply a guess, a kit that offers many advanced features, and it will be popular, even though they may use the advanced features rather infrequently.

4. Will a KIT convince you more to buy it, if things like ROHS compatible, free email technical support or free shipping (even if shipping is "hidden" in the KIT value) are available? Are such things of any value to you?

Click to expand...

I am sure that these are very important considerations for a first timer (who may be taking up the soldering iron for the first time). Some times I like an item but I do not buy (after I see the total) because the shipping is so expensive.

5. Would you prefer an easy, clean graphics and fast to navigate and buy site (few items though) or a complex e-commerce site (require for registration etc)?

It would be nice to know about how do you think about these things. Let me know if you have more suggestions as well.[/QUOTE]

A couple of decades ago, when I used to write for electronic magazines (remember those?) I actually sold a few kits myself.

The #1 concern you will have when selling a kit is to obtain reasonable quality components at the lowest possible cost. That of course includes the PWB.

Nowadays, this means going to places like Ebay or Alibaba or other Chinese vendors. Unfortunately at those same sites, you will find fully assembled units, many times with a nice case or box, that actually cost less than the sum of the components alone.


I'm not attempting to discourage you. By all means, if you have a dream, follow it. :smile:
You may have a very clever circuit with features that will still sell.

schmitt trigger said:

A couple of decades ago, when I used to write for electronic magazines (remember those?) I actually sold a few kits myself.

The #1 concern you will have when selling a kit is to obtain reasonable quality components at the lowest possible cost. That of course includes the PWB.

Nowadays, this means going to places like Ebay or Alibaba or other Chinese vendors. Unfortunately at those same sites, you will find fully assembled units, many times with a nice case or box, that actually cost less than the sum of the components alone.


I'm not attempting to discourage you. By all means, if you have a dream, follow it. :smile:
You may have a very clever circuit with features that will still sell.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I have thought. That is the reason I try to focus on kits that are my ideas. I already have such 3 ideas which have been implemented in prototypes. None of them is similar to what can be found on the net. All of them SOLVE problems. So I will try to focus on specific kits and try to advertise them.
I am not aware if there are shops that are interested to be the dealers of individual's kits, that could be an idea as well, but for the time being I want to focus on the kits themselves.

For what is the reason to produce something at higher cost, that has been already produced by another one in lower cost?
Only if you produce things that solve problems but are not produced by others you may success, in a market which is dominated by cheap Asian stuff.

I may be wrong though.

... but are not produced by others you may success, in a market which is dominated by cheap Asian stuff...

Click to expand...

The cheap asian stuff serves a market: people who are just beginners, not very strong on the fundamentals, but have the interests, can now afford to try once.

The most common stuff here are power supplies, audio amplifier and a simple fm transmitter. I call them the magic products of electronics.

I first assembled a simple AM radio- reading from a general magazine- it came in three instalments - that was 50 years back- it had two transistors that cost almost one dollar each (those days). It was expensive for me and failure was not an option and the soldering iron was a fat copper block heated on the kitchen fire. It could receive the local station and the 3" speaker was making sound. I will never forget that joy. There was no perf board, no PCB and I had to tie the legs with thread (my mother was very suspicious) before I could solder them. My sister caller her friends to show the radio! It was a proud moment to explain things that were just black magic to myself!

All of the run of the mill stuff has pretty much been covered by cheap Chinese, and you will never be able to compete with those on price.

I can see a small market for more specialized projects, such as Amateur Radio, where the kit builders would be fairly competent, but will pay a bit more for a good kit, just to get the circuit board and the correct ferrite parts.
Or perhaps a pre programmed microcontroller, or professionally printed stick on front panel for example.

That could be made even more attractive by just supplying the difficult to source parts only, at absolutely minimal overall cost.

Probably the biggest hurdle will getting publicity and exposure.
Very few people buy magazines these days, everything is now on the internet.

If do do come up with something really good, and it is popular, the Chinese will have one on the market in a few weeks for a quarter of the cost you can do it for.

Warpspeed said:

I can see a small market for more specialized projects, such as Amateur Radio, where the kit builders would be fairly competent, but will pay a bit more for a good kit, just to get the circuit board and the correct ferrite parts.
That could be made even more attractive by just supplying the difficult to source parts only, at absolutely minimal overall cost.

Click to expand...

Yes, that is what I was thinking primarily, amateur radio. In fact most of my projects relate to this area. In fact, when I design my circuit, I always have in mind to include 1-2 harder to get parts.

Warpspeed said:

If do do come up with something really good, and it is popular, the Chinese will have one on the market in a few weeks for a quarter of the cost you can do it for.

Click to expand...

Sounds fair enough. But I have seen no copies of any of my projects from my website **broken link removed**
Maybe they are not popular, nor good, or they haven't found that yet

It is strange, but I have bought a few ultra cheap Chinese transceivers for SW, but somehow I have never really used them. I do not know if it is the quality of components and the overal kit that moves me away of doing something with them, or if it is the cheapness of it.
But I have heard similar stories from other people. It seems that they are very cheap and this is why you buy them only, not to do the actual job.

- - - Updated - - -

c_mitra said:

I first assembled a simple AM radio- reading from a general magazine- it came in three instalments - that was 50 years back- it had two transistors that cost almost one dollar each (those days). It was expensive for me and failure was not an option and the soldering iron was a fat copper block heated on the kitchen fire. It could receive the local station and the 3" speaker was making sound. I will never forget that joy. There was no perf board, no PCB and I had to tie the legs with thread (my mother was very suspicious) before I could solder them. My sister caller her friends to show the radio! It was a proud moment to explain things that were just black magic to myself!

Click to expand...

I wish I have lived in this nice DIY era of electronics. For me, my best projects, are the simplest ones that can be made in 1-2 days with few parts, and they do much more for their time and effort to build (even if they are not of that high performance).
Such projects **broken link removed** are of this kind, eventhough you know what the disadvantages are by just looking at the circuit. But you also know how well you can do with less. It is the QRP spirit in HAM radio, which I believe it comes from an era where people were homebrewing much more.