FAQ Special Edition: Retrode cost factors

It is perfectly alright to wonder how the price for the Retrode is composed. After all, the individual parts are not overly expensive per se. There are, however, a couple of not-so-obvious cost factors that might need a little explanation.
If all you want is to help the Retrode become a little cheaper, jump to the last paragraph and learn about the limited Group Buy offer.

1. Minimum order quantities.

Most of the parts are in fact rather affordable, but the manufacturers won’t sell them to an individual, unless I buy an insane lot of them. This affects especially the main processor, but also the cartridge connectors which are custom-made to my specification.
The fewer units I sell, the more each customer will have to pay for parts that will expire unused on my shelf.

2. Taxes and legal requirements.

A part of the final price goes directly to several tax authorities, but you know that of course. What you may not know that I am not allowed to sell even a single unit in certain countries (yes–I mean you, USA and Canada), unless I show them a proof of electromagnetic compliance. The testing can of course only be done by accredited labs, which costs roughly EUR 1500-2000. Fortunately, in the EU it is sufficient to declare that your product is compliant.
The fewer units I sell, the more of these costs each customer will have to bear. Americans, you should thank your European fellows who pay for your FCC label.

3. Exchange rate.

USD 90 may sound expensive to an American, but rest assured it makes me want to cry when I look at the current exchange rate.
Strong euro = tough times for me who wants to sell stuff abroad without ripping people off.

4. Development expenses.

Getting the Retrode to its current state, as you may imagine wasn’t actually cheap. I would probably have let it be after the first $60 prototype, if it weren’t for the many, many folks who expressed interest in a commercial product. So I went on doing what I did, and now I am naturally sitting on a rather sizeable pile of expenses. As a student I cannot be as charitable as I’d like to be, so I have to pass this on to you.
Again, the fewer units I sell, the greater the part of my debts that each customer will have to pay off.

5. Safety overhead.

Legislation requires me to offer you a lot of extras for free. I need to replace broken units during the warranty period, and grant you a full refund if you decide that you don’t like to have one after all. And they even make me pay for each extra shipment that might occur.
Some part of the price will have to cover these eventualities.

6. Value.

The Retrode is designed by an enthusiast, and made by professionals. You will get a pretty German-made circuit board equipped with high-quality parts and housed in a pretty case. You will get final assembly and thorough testing done by myself. You will get a gadget that’s meant to be used and meant to be fun. You will get the best support I can give you, including, eventually, full disclosure of the firmware source¹. You definitely won’t get the hassle with weird proprietary programming tools and lack of driver support for your favorite OS, naked PCBs, or sawn-off connectors sealed with glue that don’t really fit the non-standard cartridge pitch.
Trust me. You will get A LOT for your money.

How you can make it cheaper.

So you see, the only effective way to get to a lower total price is to share the one-off costs with as many others as possible. Order another Retrode for your friend, and you will immediately save $10/€10 on shipping. For a more serious discount, tell all your friends about the limited Group Buy offer now!