Just the kind of customer sentiment Mike is trying to gauge... thanks. FWIW, Mike is trying to come significantly down from the 2K original price for the kit, yet still have enough margin to make it worth his while. I agree, there are a lot of little bits that this consumer would be happy hunting down, while that consumer wants handled in a kit, and configurability of the kit would be a value-added thing. He is listening as time allows, I'm trying to get him to post like Brian Ellinger does from time to time. But as you may have guessed, both he and Brian are busy as beavers most days.

If you talk to him, maybe ask if he has considered either contracting out the harness or setting himself up with the equipment. Making harnesses isn't rocket science but it is time consuming and surely beneath his expertise. (Read: his work is best put to things any random assembler can not do) There is a good chance in the short run he can save on a batch order as opposed to one-offing it every once and a while. Bring down his cost is key to building his market so he needs those 1000 harnesses.

As for us doing it ourselves, there is a good, almost certain chance that we would require special crimp tools. You certainly can purchase them but they range from 50-300 bucks and you wouldn't likely use them again.

Frank.

That's when a smart businessman might invest in production tools and train lower paid flunkies to operate them and do the repetitive work. Mike might hire some high school drop out (in urban America that's about 40% of the total) who would do just about anything to work in a cool shop where they got trucks with big tires. Of course then the guy would get his first paycheck and get mighty drunk and start showing up only about 4 days a week and late for work most days at that. Then Mike would have to fire the guy and hire a mexican who would be glad to work six days a week, 10 hours a day because he has a strong work ethic and is trying to live the American dream, something that "regular" Americans aren't much into any more. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" /> In the mean time the first guy would go to the state labor board to get a free lawyer to sue Mike for wrongful termination, to get back pay, punitive damages and to get Mike to pay for help for his "substance abuse" problem.

I just realized, a smart businessman wouldn't try to manufacture anything in America, he would have the stuff manufactured in China.

Matt

Ouch! You are crustier than I am...

Well, sure, if you have 1000 customers lined up, oh, and by the way, all the harnesses are the same. Not likely.

That's the 'differentiation on price made up by volume' approach. Works great for Wally World selling me and 10,000 of my closest friends brake cleaner at $.79/can, not so great for Mike, but that's why he is gauging the market interest and what people really want.