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Lo-tech: An Update / What's happening with Lo-tech

Sorry to bump this thread but I would like to know if finally the Lo-Tech products are being marketed from Europe or TexElec in USA are the only providers?

We have a contract with James and are the only official Lo-Tech partner and are located in the US. However, we do ship worldwide. :)
 
Shipping is a killer though.. card $12.99, shipping $14 (even though that's not the worst shipping prices I've seen. But it's a no-no for just getting one card.)
 
We have a contract with James and are the only official Lo-Tech partner and are located in the US. However, we do ship worldwide. :)

I'm aware of the contract but unfortunately getting them shipped over from the US to the UK for example is expensive, what with the extra charges incurred these days, It can nigh on triple the cost of a bare PCB and that's without sourcing the parts to build, It was different in the early days of the XT-IDE project, There was no GSP / Import duties / VAT or extra courier charges, I just paid the shipping cost $13 to ship 3 complete kits and 10 days later they were at my door, Unfortunately times change and as it then was an affordable option, These days it's getting more un-affordable.

Not your fault i know,
 
Shipping is a killer though.. card $12.99, shipping $14 (even though that's not the worst shipping prices I've seen. But it's a no-no for just getting one card.)

I'm aware of the contract but unfortunately getting them shipped over from the US to the UK for example is expensive, what with the extra charges incurred these days, It can nigh on triple the cost of a bare PCB and that's without sourcing the parts to build, It was different in the early days of the XT-IDE project, There was no GSP / Import duties / VAT or extra courier charges, I just paid the shipping cost $13 to ship 3 complete kits and 10 days later they were at my door, Unfortunately times change and as it then was an affordable option, These days it's getting more un-affordable.

Not your fault i know,

I wish it was cheaper for international orders, we only charge actual shipping costs, not a penny more. We do offer some of them assembled and we are working on offering a few more completed, but not all. Would offering kits with parts included make it a little more worth the shipping costs? We have considered that on a at least one card. Some of the cards have chips that are temperature sensitive as well as having expiration dates, so those cards will never be offered in kit form. Some of these are slow sellers, so that's not a viable option in some cases.
 
I wish it was cheaper for international orders, we only charge actual shipping costs, not a penny more. We do offer some of them assembled and we are working on offering a few more completed, but not all.

Personally i prefer to build my own, It's a lot more fun and cheaper.

Would offering kits with parts included make it a little more worth the shipping costs?.

No, not in my opinion, It would still end up too expensive.

An EU supplier of Lo-tech cards is the only way i can see of getting the cost's down.
 
Personally i prefer to build my own, It's a lot more fun and cheaper.



No, not in my opinion, It would still end up too expensive.

An EU supplier of Lo-tech cards is the only way i can see of getting the cost's down.

We do sell many different products and are still expanding our catalog, so hopefully we will be offering more items that will motivate you to take a chance on us. We do sell quite a bit, not just to the UK, but across the globe. I feel very lucky that not everyone feels this same way. Hopefully at some point Royal Mail will get their head on straight and stop with all the extra fees, I have heard they can be a problem. I am hoping to find a shipping method that doesn't invoke fees at it's whim.
 
Developing, producing and stocking niche products is pretty difficult. IMO it is something well worth paying for. Especially when postage rates and all other border related topics are outside the control of the purveyor.
 
Developing, producing and stocking niche products is pretty difficult. IMO it is something well worth paying for. Especially when postage rates and all other border related topics are outside the control of the purveyor.

When shipping cost's alone are added in, It can triple the price of just 1 PCB, So No it's not well worth it IMO.
 
When shipping cost's alone are added in, It can triple the price of just 1 PCB, So No it's not well worth it IMO.

You could always do what i did before TexElec came along, I bought 5 PCB's from James and built them all, kept 1, sold the rest with just enough profit that mine ended up being free (not including my time). :cool:
 
No one is blaming texelec of course. I believe what Malc is trying to say is that in general buying from US while residing outside of it is really expensive considering shipping itself AND customs, so it is for these fantastic products as well. I feel the same btw, buying something that costs ~10 and ending up paying ~50 (if not more) is not logical. OK you'll do it for something that you really want and there are no alternatives, but very few times. Of course this used to be the other way around when lo-tech was shipping to the US.
 
No one is blaming texelec of course. I believe what Malc is trying to say is that in general buying from US while residing outside of it is really expensive considering shipping itself AND customs, so it is for these fantastic products as well. I feel the same btw, buying something that costs ~10 and ending up paying ~50 (if not more) is not logical. OK you'll do it for something that you really want and there are no alternatives, but very few times. Of course this used to be the other way around when lo-tech was shipping to the US.

I live in Australia so I get it, just saying what I did.

Many of my customers have bought from TE and have been very happy with their cards and service, so I highly recommend them as a result (maybe I should ask for a referral fee? :D).
 
Yep, that's the point, TexElec work has been great taking care of the Lo-Tech developments; but USPS (the cheapest shipment I suppose) has been raising prices since some years ago and even small items cost a lot, add the item cost and you're on the verge of nearly doubling the total amount. Add some components to the PCB shipment and you pay for sure (and add some time to fill papers). All in all a very frustrating experience...:-(

And reading dJOS, I remember buying from him some items and I didn't pay taxes even coming from Australia. In my own experience, US shipments are severely taxed :-x
 
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And reading dJOS, I remember buying from him some items and I don't pay taxes even coming from Australia. In my own experience, US shipments are severely taxed :-x

TBH I'm working the system at my end - I work for Australia post (IT) so I'm able to get away with sending my products overseas as Large International letters as long as I keep my shipping weight under 250 grams and the thickness under 4 centimetres. This keeps my shipping costs quite low and means I don't need to fill out customs paper work. It also means my products avoid taxes in the EU/GB.

The only downside is it takes 2-3 weeks to arrive.
 
I know this thread is old, but I just discovered lo-tech products...

I'd like to add another vote for hard gold on the edge connector. If you do a large production run (200+) it's really not that much more costly and it adds tremendous long term value to the product.

Pretty excited to discover there is a DIY EMS board solution available! Maybe the next restock will be hard gold ;)
 
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