www.buildyourownclone.com vs. mouser

[MitchK]

I'm just wondering if someone has already done this so I can save myself the trouble but has anyone looked at the cost of buying all the parts to make up one of the kits that BYOC sell from a place like mouser for example? basically I'm curious how much the markup is for their services? I'll probably buy from them anyways but I'm curious if anyone knows?

[bob p]

having had to spend the time that it takes to source all of the right parts to build an amp, i would not hesitate to pay somebody a reasonable wage for offering to do the parts hunting for me. my time is valuable.

[MitchK]

I can mostly agree with that statement I guess its just since a pedal is smaller and a bit more basic, and if I were making multiple ones I thought it might be worth it to source it all myself

[casey73]

Short answer, yes, you pay a little more. But they have done all the leg work for you, so all you have to do is put it together. I don't sell kits, but I can tell you the guys that do aren't getting rich. They are making a profit for sure, but you have to buy alot of parts and sell alot of kits to see a good return.

You might be able to do a little better price wise, if you are building a large numbers of the same pedal. However, there is much time and effort you must be willing to spend doing it. I'm building a batch of pedals right now. In spite of the many excellent part sources available to the DIY pedal builder, it is still difficult to source all the parts needed from one place. To keep costs down so you can sell a good pedal at a reasonable price and still get a return on your investment, you have to purchase large quantities, which means up front costs that you hope you will recover later.

I've spent much of my time creating a process to build these pedals in an a time efficient manner and produce a consistantly good product. There are many boutique builders out there, and it may look like a cake walk, but I can tell you from experience that there is considerable expense, and alot of work that goes on to produce them. I'm not complaining, because it is something I enjoy. But there there is no better lesson in Econ 101 than making a product and trying to sell it for a profit.

[Mark Hammer]

Buying a complete assures a couple of things. First, it assures you have ALL the parts. Second, it assures that all the parts you have fit the available space on the board and that you don't have to MAKE a board. Third, it assures you pay only ONE shipping charge and not the shipping charges from two or three distributors where you managed to score what looked like a bargain.