Dear Brian of Massdrop,
We realize that MD is desperately trying to capitalize on the growing interest of artisan keycaps. We also realize that drops like this may seem appealing to those who are new to the scene. Given the discourse that has already occurred, please consider the following:
Z0M0 on TaoBao was selling these Kitty Paw caps at $25
Best case scenario for MD is a 50% margin (let's round off to $13)
At $32.99 MSRP, let's tack on the $2.99 of each unit for transport/custom fees.
Best case scenario, MD is getting a margin of $15-17 per unit. Worst case, a margin of $8-12.
At 84 units currently sold, MD will receive between $672 - $1428 from this drop.
We implore you Mr. Louie, is that margin worth losing the respect of some established artisan collectors/makers in the community?
DontReadThisI guarantee you Massdrop isn't buying these for $13 each and even if they were, then good on them. No one NEEDS kitty paw artisans to survive... no matter how much you think you might.
mrvcoThe point of it was to give an estimation of what could potentially be gained by MD on this buy. It's an exercise to quantify the cost of losing business with some customers vs the little margins they make on this drop. I'm not sure you've actually read the original post given your response.
DontReadThisYou haven't considered repeat business down the line if this initial drop is successful. At the end of the day, they can't please everyone anyway. I doubt there are any legal issues with this drop, so any slights to the "community" are purely perceived. People are mighty touchy about their artisans.
The way I see it, if the mech community is to grow - and grow in a healthy way - people need to stop clinging to all this exclusivity in terms of colorways, artisan designs, and so forth. If this isn't an exact replica or marketed to be an authentic KK cap, I don't see any issues.
eksuenAs someone new one of the biggest turn offs to artisan caps is the way there sold. There sold by raffle yet you see people with 10-15 of them... hmmm! Then getting into the raffles which some don't last more then 15-20mins... others 24hrs.. seems to be a gamble... to top it off people can win more then one during these raffles!
I understand low yield exclusivity.. what are the people in the custom artisan market going to do... when the community pretty much dies out. Cause the exclusivity of it really makes it unwelcoming to new comers. I think people need to understand that there has to be balance between pleasing the old and welcoming the new. Then these people having hiss fits over a artsen that shaped like something from nature! While entertaining is also kinda a turn off to anyone new to the community who might look in and go wow!... I sure don't want to deal with the Artisan crowed. You know what I think I take my mech and go home not bother checking any of this now the community is little less robust cause of people acting out over nothing.
HotRoderXDear God.
Someone like me?
I also can't stand raffles that allow one person to buy more than one!
And yet Reddit hates me for it.
Granted I went cold blooded on them all.
They even refuse to reply to me on MD.
But regardless, yeah.
Let's give one winner 6 caps and their friends 6 caps each. That way us losers get stuck overpaying or trading to get just one cap.
Finally. I'm not alone.
PS don't ever post about your opinion in this regard to raffles on Reddit. I tried. I lost.
HotRoderXHonestly the whole scenario to me is similar to beanie babies of so many years ago; once people get over it, they really aren't worth anything, regardless of what collectors think. They'll certainly move on and collectors will remain collectors, but they themselves hold no value to anyone outside that specific set of people. The remaining nostalgia won't have any effect on burgeoning markets.
The only saving grace back then was that it wasn't nearly as easy to ship things out of China or nearby regions (mostly only Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong) which could flood the market with ease.
We realize that MD is desperately trying to capitalize on the growing interest of artisan keycaps. We also realize that drops like this may seem appealing to those who are new to the scene. Given the discourse that has already occurred, please consider the following:
Z0M0 on TaoBao was selling these Kitty Paw caps at $25 Best case scenario for MD is a 50% margin (let's round off to $13) At $32.99 MSRP, let's tack on the $2.99 of each unit for transport/custom fees.
Best case scenario, MD is getting a margin of $15-17 per unit. Worst case, a margin of $8-12. At 84 units currently sold, MD will receive between $672 - $1428 from this drop.
We implore you Mr. Louie, is that margin worth losing the respect of some established artisan collectors/makers in the community?