DIY kits - partial or complete?

Might make some kits available for some projects.  Do people prefer complete kits?  Or partial where you source your own or a mouser cart?

For international shipping; ready-made carts are cheaper and more practical.  Also power transformers is something to consider.

evil grill said:

For international shipping; ready-made carts are cheaper and more practical.  Also power transformers is something to consider.

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For ready made cart do you mean something like mouser cart?  Have heard some people complain about their shipping prices.

I did kits a long time ago - offered two versions "everything in a bag" vs. "guts only".  I think I sold about 50/50.

Scodiddly said:

I did kits a long time ago - offered two versions "everything in a bag" vs. "guts only".  I think I sold about 50/50.

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Ah,  of course it ends up 50/50.

john12ax7 said:

Might make some kits available for some projects.  Do people prefer complete kits?  Or partial where you source your own or a mouser cart?

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do you think anyone would invest on any equipment at this time? unless something super special...
i dont see myself spending any money on my studio right now!

john12ax7 said:

Might make some kits available for some projects.  Do people prefer complete kits?  Or partial where you source your own or a mouser cart?

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I’d be more inclined to complete kits.

kambo said:

do you think anyone would invest on any equipment at this time? unless something super special...
i dont see myself spending any money on my studio right now!

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It's things I'm working on anyway,  so was thinking others might be looking for something to do.  But it's also a good point that people would be reluctant to spend now.

If Mouser is to expensive you can always get the parts somewhere else. + many have spare parts so buying the same part in a kit might not be optimal.

Matched components where needed are nice in a kit. Saves material for the builder.

I agree buying kits is not a priority for many right now.

I just built two Hairball 1176s and opted for the partial kits to save money. Saving $50-ish bucks on each kit means a lot to a guy like me. I also happen to enjoy taking their BOMs and finding replacements and such for out of stock parts. It's part of the fun for me.  That $100-ish savings on those two kits means I have a nice chunk of change to put toward something else.

I would take a partial kit probably every time if there is a decent savings to be had, and if the BOM you provide is reasonably complete.

That said, some people only do full kits and I'm happy to buy those also if it's all they offer.

I operated a kit business back in the 70s-80s...

Back them we put ALL the components into the kit the customer would need.

JR

Thanks all for your input.  I was on mouser the other day and 20% of a BOM  for common parts was backordered  until June / July at least.  It might be a little while for supply chains to return to where they were.