[NLRS] Softrock Pricing Update

[Bill Davis]

FYI   --- 73  Bill  K0AWU


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Tony Parks <kb9yig at gmail.com>
To: softrock40 at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2012 8:35 AM
Subject: [softrock40] Softrock Pricing Update
 
Good Morning All,

It's probably obvious that I enjoy selling the Softrock kits.  It's keeping me young, and young at heart.  The kitting reminds me of my teen years of the 1950s in San Diego.  I probably put together several dozen Heathkits for amateur radio, FM receivers, audio amplifiers and test equipment.  I put them together for my friends as well.  And I recall carrying home armloads of surplus electronics donated by the local Navy yard to Dana Junior High, and taking the equipment apart to see what could be made of the components.

Today no one reading this board needs to be told how great SDR is.  I'm personally fascinated by it because any mode of operation is possible if the software will support it.  Fairly simple hardware combined with the right software can make a nice little receiver and transceiver.  

It's my recollection that I began selling the original Softrock 40 receiver in the mid-2000s at $24.  We're now shipping over 3000 kits of various sorts a year.  It's my hope that these entry-level radios have allowed many to explore the world of SDR without making a significant investment, beyond a sufficient computer that most of us are fortunate enough to have.

Now I put in an average of about 50 hours a week getting kits out the door, and my wife Becky contributes at least 10 hours herself.  Any profit margin above the cost of goods sold and overhead costs, such as driving to the post office, would be considered our pay for this effort.  With Tax Day in the US just behind us, I can report that we paid ourselves *well* under the US Federal Minimum Wage this time around.

Then my son-in-law - soon to finish his MBA - analysed of our kitting activity over the past three years.  The relatively modest but sufficient profit margin in 2009 shrunk by 57% in 2010 and then shrunk again by another 47% in 2011.  Were I to maintain the status quo, I'd begin selling the kits at an operating loss starting sometime very soon in 2012.

Of course I want the kits to be affordable.  I'd like them to continue to be a low-cost entry point into the world of SDR.  And personally, perhaps my most significant fear in this life would be perceived as being greedy.  After all, many have contributed their hardware, software or documentation expertise and effort to make the Softrock ecosystem what it is today.  Many of you have contributed generously to supporting your fellow Softrock users and those new to the scene.  At the same time, all of us know as consumers that the cost of many things is generally going up year after year.  Even postage.

So as much as I want to sell the kits at the lowest price possible, I'm now at the point where modest price increases are absolutely necessary if I'm to continue selling the kits at all.  I'll be repricing the kits and shipping costs today before opening up kit sales on the next batch.  We're applying a standard multiple across the board, based on the current cost of the components that go into each kit.  The profit margins on some of the kits had eroded more dramatically than others, so the increases over yesterday's prices may not appear entirely uniform.  But they are.

It's my hope that the new pricing will continue to allow the Softrock kits to deliver a value-conscious entry point into the world of SDR for several years to come.

Thanks and 73,

Tony Parks, KB9YIG

www.kb9yig.com




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