[sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?

Sun Apr 26 21:26:10 CEST 2009

I'd say it's a mistake to assume much of anything about how someone who
sells a PCB for an SDIY project arrives at their pricing. You don't know how
many they're having made, you don't know how much they're paying for the
fabrication, you don't know how much of a profit they're looking for. I've
thought now and then about selling copies of the boards I design, but it's
simply not worth my time to do so--or rather, if I were to price them in a
manner to make it worth my time, nobody would pay me for them. 

There's also a huge variation in what goes into the board's design. I just
cheerfully paid EUR 33 (including shipping) to JH for one of his Living VCO
PCBs. (I was less cheerful when I discovered what the EUR/USD exchange rate
is these days, but that's not his fault.) That's probably much more than
someone else's VCO boards. But I know JH's work, I hold his design and
engineering skills in high esteem, and I'm happy to pay his price for a PCB
of his creation. I'll happily pay more for one of his boards than I would
for a board from someone whom I don't know anything about.

--Adam

> -----Original Message-----
> From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl 
> [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Dan Snazelle
> Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 12:04 PM
> To: tom.corbitt at gmail.com; sdiy
> Subject: RE: [sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?
> 
> 
> maybe i should have been more specific in my subject title.
> 
> i wasnt so much  talking about the cost of getting prototype 
> pcbs made as i was referring instead to the prices people are 
> charging for their projects on pcb.  (vco's, filters, lfo's, etc)
> 
> i was under the assumption that when someone sells a pcb 
> project for synth diy, they are getting at least 25 boards 
> made, often quite a few more so i would think that would get 
> around the prototyping cost. but maybe not
> 
> 
> thanks
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------
> check out various dan music at:
> 
> http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
> 
> (updated monthly)
> 
> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
> 
> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
> 
> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
> 
> AUDIO ARK:
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
> 
> and soundtrack/design work:
> 
> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning 
> film SAFARI by catherine chalmers
> 
> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> > Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:47:10 -0400
> > Subject: Re: [sdiy] rising cost of PCB's?
> > From: tom.corbitt at gmail.com
> > To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> >
> > For the most part, the cost of the copper in a PCB is 
> negligible, What 
> > you're paying for is the etch, drill hits, plating on the vias, 
> > laminating and any lpi (solder mask) /silkscreen work (and all the 
> > machines required for the above plus the people required to 
> run them) 
> > Complexity, not size is the main driving force behind cost.
> >
> > There isn't a lot of profit in boards and a lot of places 
> have winked 
> > out in the past 5 years. Most of the places you see with 
> the $10/board 
> > ads are companies that simply buy excess space on other companies 
> > panels (Most companies save a certain amount of panel space to 
> > accommodate rush orders but if they don't sell they still 
> need to fill 
> > them before the run) so you're really paying a middleman fee, which 
> > has gone up since fewer vendors means less space.
> >
> > If you want to lower your pcb costs, find a vendor and learn their 
> > process. Do they prefer score or tab routes? What panel 
> size do they 
> > usually run? What day of the week is lightest? Once they know that 
> > your gerbers normally don't need much fixed and that you're easy to 
> > work with, you'll start getting better prices.
> >
> > Of course, once you get over 4-6 layers, away from FR-4 or 
> under 6-6 
> > all bets are off.
> >
> > Tom Corbitt
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 2:00 AM, Dan Snazelle  wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> hey there
> >>
> >> i started doing synth diy about 2 and half almost 3 yrs 
> ago. when i 
> >> first started buying pcbs many of them were in the 5 to 10  or at 
> >> most 12  to 15 dollar range. (plus shipping)
> >>
> >> now i am seeing more and more boards that are 15, 17, 18,  
> 20, 25, 30 
> >> and up up up
> >>
> >> i was just wondering if this is due to the cost of pcb 
> manufacturing going up? the strength of the dollar?
> >>
> >> or am i just crazy and imagining that the prices are going up?
> >>
> >> granted i am not talking about big pcb boards. multi board 
> projects or things like the asm2.
> >>
> >> just wondering.
> >>
> >> thanks!
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------
> >> check out various dan music at:
> >>
> >>  http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
> >>
> >> (updated monthly)
> >>
> >> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
> >>
> >> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
> >>
> >> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
> >>
> >> AUDIO ARK:
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
> >>
> >> and soundtrack/design work:
> >>
> >> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film 
> >> SAFARI by catherine chalmers
> >>
> >> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Synth-diy mailing list
> >> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> >> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Synth-diy mailing list
> > Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> > http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> 
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