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SoftDev90 t1_ixy5t0z wrote

Reply to comment by Truth-Turtle in When you spent 2,000$ over the last year and still haven't seen one GB arrive by CertainlyBright

Yeah something has to change. Group buys are so stupid and artificially limit stock because they refuse to keep anything on hand. It's infuriating to see a cool keycap set online that I really want only to find out it was from a group buy 4 years ago and they aren't doing anymore of them. Imagine if you went into any store anywhere and they said here's an idea for a product, pay now and it will be delivered in 1 to 2 years. That shit would absolutely not fly and shouldn't in this community either. As a business take some of that money and buy some sets ahead of time and then pre-order when it's close to release time at least. Stop putting all risk on the consumer while you sit there making money as a middle man. Plenty of other ways to gauge interest in a product without the pre buy bullshit.

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QWERKey-UK t1_ixyxc86 wrote

>It's infuriating to see a cool keycap set online that I really want only to find out it was from a group buy 4 years ago

Then perhaps write to the designer and ask if they would consider doing another run. GMK can't sell you more. They don't have the right to do so. They belong to the designer, not GMK. GMK do not design keycaps.

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RegaliaKeyboards t1_iy17b0f wrote

Not every designer reruns or will rerun their sets unfortunately.

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QWERKey-UK t1_iy2nkui wrote

True... Many designers make a set just because they want it for themselves though, so if that's the case, you can't blame them for not wanting to go through all that again, as it's quite a stressful experience and quite a lot of work to run a GB, even though the vendor is doing the heavy lifting with regards to payments and distribution, the designer is mainly responsible for the advertising and PR for the GB. If enough people contact them though, and ask, they may realise that there's an opportunity there for them. I reckon few people consider this... simply messaging them to ask them. I often do, but if I'm one of just a handful of people doing so then it's just a drop in the ocean.

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RegaliaKeyboards t1_iy3j7ye wrote

I can understand that reasoning, of some designers going through with sets just because they want them, but I still think if there are really popular sets that were ran before the hobby boomed due to COVID, they really should be reran. I know some have, but I can think of a good example right off the top of my head with GMK Noel. Designer came right out and said they would not do an R2 of the set, even though there are a lot of people that really like the set and would like to have it. I know there is a NicePBT version, but some people in the hobby heavily prefer ABS over PBT, and some also prefer the latin alphas the set originally ran with over the sublegend ones that are on the NicePBT set. And then not sure what the plan is on GMK Mizu, not sure if that designer plans to do another round in GMK (I know other profiles have been ran, which I do like seeing, but it would be nice to have another GMK run since some only like using cherry profile).

I get that running a GB is stressful, but IMO I feel like if you have a popular set that ran successfully already, you have a lot less stress the second time around. PR will be easier since you can just base it all off of the last run, color matching is basically non existent since the set already successfully ran, renders, kitting etc might be updated, but even if the kitting is changed up, there is still a lot less work there too. Just some of my thoughts :)

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QWERKey-UK t1_iy42uuv wrote

I can't really disagree with anything you are saying, but you can't force the designer at gunpoint :) All I can imagine is that perhaps a vendor with the ability to invest in an instock version may make a deal with the designer if they are amenable to the idea, but apart from that, if the designer says no, then that's all there is to it. It's a shame, but at the end of the day, there will be lots more interesting keycap group buys, and so long as this hobby retains control of itself by using its members' creativity and the willingness to self finance and control itself, then the next Olivia, or Mizu, or Darling may be just around the corner.

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RegaliaKeyboards t1_iy44a3e wrote

Oh for sure, can't force the designer to do anything. That doesn't mean people in the community won't have a shitty opinion of the designer for not rerunning popular sets.

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3yatt t1_ixytsmv wrote

I did $17k in 2 years. It can be worse. You either are about the life, or you aren’t. People can rip on the group buy model all they want, but the simple fact is it’s what’s allowed people’s ideas to come to life. Vendors are taking on a ton of risk with stock nowadays. We are now seeing more in stock products than ever before. GMK sets aren’t being “flipped” anymore because most of the sets ran in the last couple years are sitting in inventory as extras. There are growing pains, but the reality is group buys now function on a principle of MOQ and getting a discount. We’ve seen plenty of sets gets cancelled in the last year because no one wanted them. However, geekhack and interest check exist for a reason. If you don’t want to wait, then just wait for the set to be ran as “extras”. You’ll easily be able to snag whatever you want in a year or so’s time. Having a peek behind the curtain of what it actually takes to bring a product to the shelves and getting a significant preorder discount because of it isn’t a reason to say it’s stupid.

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Truth-Turtle t1_ixy75gc wrote

We’ve built this business method though. By buying into these GBs we allow individuals without any manufacturing or design experience to feel like they can carry out projects too big for them to handle.

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