SFE, cut us a break on the cost of the, 20 Channel GS405 Helical GPS Receiver!!!
I wont list the pricing I can get from them, however all I can say is your guys marked up the piss out of them. I know your here to make a buck or two, but lets not get overly greedy while doing it.
There are two other GPS modules that I have been buying direct now, and you have marked them up well over tripple the market value :x .
All of the items here are a bit overpriced compared to what you can get them from various other places.
Sometimes it’s convenient to order here, sometimes I prefer to save $, your not forced to buy from here.
All what you said is true, however when SFE started out its prices were geared towards that of the hobbyist, I.E. low markup. Which I thought was very cool.
Lately, it seems that the markup of things are just getting out of hand.
its getting to the point that its really not so convenient to get parts from here anymore, especially if your going to order a GPS unit!
NO, I am not “forced” to order from here, however I see nothing wrong with telling them that your getting out of control with the markup on the GPS units and some other things.
I say, business is business. If you can buy your unit somewhere else for a better deal, then do so. Don’t forget, sparkfun does not just sell parts, they sell a service. Basic business. If you can make a product easily available, on an attractive ‘storefront’, with support after your purchase, then you can charge more. If you google the part you are after, you will find other places to buy stuff. But people like to buy from where they have bought before, and a lot of people don’t search very long for a part. It’s literally, the price you can get away with. If a competitor site was as good at Sparkfun over the whole sale, then we would shop there wouldn’t we? As Bogk said, you don’t have to shop here. But I would add to that, if you have an alternative to Sparkfun that you think is as good / better, tell us! You can bet the money you saved, the guys at Sparkfun will be on that site in a shot. If business drops off here and goes to the competitor, then sparkfun will do what it can to entice you back here, i.e drop prices. But if that doesn’t happen, SF is ‘getting away with’ their prices, and best of luck to them. I for one want to see what competitor is out there, because I feel SF is one of a kind. If I’m wrong, post the link.
I’d like to mention, that while I was at sparkfun, I saw nobody lighting cigars with $20 bills, nor any swimming pools filled with money.
I don’t really know any of the financials, nor would I comment on anything if I knew them, but my suspicion would be that it takes a whole lot of money to maintain large stocks of low turnover items, not all of which ever completely sell. Not to mention that for every item on the site, there’s engineer time involved in testing the item, so support can be offered if necessary.
SparkFun is not a non-profit entity, but on the other hand, I never saw any buckets of cash lying around the office.
Cheers,
–David Carne
I saw nobody lighting cigars with $20 bills, nor any swimming pools filled with money.
Maybe, they are good at hiding it, after all if all the employees saw the boss lighting a cigar with a $20 or $50 then they would all want a raise.
Seriously… they may not be rolling In dough, but to mark something like this GPS unit 4x is just not cool!
You should see what happens if you want to buy something like an oscilloscope in a brick store here.
For example TDS2012, from Tektronix’s.
Price for a new unit 1700-1800$, price here? About 4300$, price I payed for a ebay unit, supposedly refurbished but that looks new in the box 1200k$ including transport and taxes.
I’m a bit late to the party here, but I’ve not been able (albeit with some pretty lazy googling) to find the GS405 anywhere else. Can you share your supplier with the unwashed?
I have found the item here :
http://www.spkecl.com/style/content/CN- … 4&id=71755
The main site of the manufacturer is here :
There was some speculation about the “SPK” part of the typenumber referring to Sparkfun and this seems not to be the case.
The Sparkfun price doesn’t seem really high to me, mouser lists GPS modules with antenna at around 50 and 60 usd.
The Sparkfun price doesn’t seem really high to me, mouser lists GPS modules with antenna at around 50 and 60 usd.
Mouser is a diste, so its already marked up, i can get these direct for $35 in with a minimum order of 5, so you tell me do you now think SFE markup is not so bad ?
I’ve been quoted :
SPK-GPS-GS406 USD43.00/pc for 1K pcs per lot
SPK-GS405 USD37.00/pc for 1K pcs per lot
SPK-GS405 USD39.00/pc for 100 pcs per lot
Obviously, this is nowhere near a 4x markup. Shipping, handling and keeping the items in stock is not cheap. Sparkfun seems to be having problems with the “in stock” part.
If there is a website selling single GPS modules like the SPK-GPS-GS405, i’d really like to know.
Cheers, Ivo
you can order them from E-Tek, for $33 + 7 dollars shipping.
$33 * 3 = $99 then you add in the crazy shipping cost SFE has, and that will put you in the 4x catagory.
The only “E-Tek” i can find is http://www.etek.com.tw/subcategory_GPS- … ule_21.htm
They have no webshop and no GPS with helical antenna.
Can you be more specific ?