BFL board project COINTAMINATION - EU facility - ORDERS OPENED for Chili

[JerimiahJohnson]

$599 is quite expensive, I reliaze you need to make a profit but not $300 worth.

Just to address this issue of price, I want it to be known that our profit margin is extremely slim.

From the gold trace 4 layer PCB's to the $40 top of the line fan on the cooling system we did not skimp anywhere.

Not to mention the fact these boards are assembled in the USA, and include free express usps overnight shipping.

You might be able to manufacture these boards slightly cheaper than we are but they would have to be done in another country and with cheaper parts.

for $600 your getting an extremely well made product, with a 5 day build time.

If anyone is interested in 10 or 15 day build times I may be able to lower the price a little.

Thats the only way to get the price down, either that or a huge order at one time, but as we all know time is of the essence.

These boards cost me almost $400 each assembled and that is before the cooling system parts, and the time spent to load firmware , package and ship them out. When all is said in done we are making less than $100 profit per board, we are not doing this to get rich, we are doing it to provide a solution to the community to utilize these BFL chips in the best fashion possible. I have personallly purchased hundreds of these chips and have my own stake in this.

I hope this clears some mis-conceptions up.

If someone claims they can make these boards for $200-$300 they dont know what they are talking about. Sure I can provide a cheap PCB and use the lowest priced cheap chinese parts and assembly and save some money but your units wont hash long enough to even ROI in that scenario plus you will have to wait longer to get the unit which threaten ROI even further.


For people outside North America - you will need to talk to your sales rep Lucko about his assembly plant at what they can offer you.

thanks for listening!
-JJ



btw: for the cooling system we use these heatsinks

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/18193/
(one over each cluster of chips)

and this fan which is distance bolted over the whole thing:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8147/fan-500/Delta_Mega_Fast_120mm_x_38mm_Fan_-_252_CFM_-_Bare_Lead_PFB1212UHE-F00.html?tl=g36c15s562

we even put little "feet" on the boards like this:
http://de.farnell.com/hammond/1421t2/feet-stick-on-pk24/dp/1876514

[Choadmeyer]

$599 is quite expensive, I reliaze you need to make a profit but not $300 worth.

Just to address this issue of price, I want it to be known that our profit margin is extremely slim.

From the gold trace 4 layer PCB's to the $40 top of the line fan on the cooling system we did not skimp anywhere.

Not to mention the fact these boards are assembled in the USA, and include free express usps overnight shipping.

You might be able to manufacture these boards slightly cheaper than we are but they would have to be done in another country and with cheaper parts.

for $600 your getting an extremely well made product, with a 5 day build time.

If anyone is interested in 10 or 15 day build times I may be able to lower the price a little.

Thats the only way to get the price down, either that or a huge order at one time, but as we all know time is of the essence.

These boards cost me almost $400 each assembled and that is before the cooling system parts, and the time spent to load firmware , package and ship them out. When all is said in done we are making less than $100 profit per board, we are not doing this to get rich, we are doing it to provide a solution to the community to utilize these BFL chips in the best fashion possible. I have personallly purchased hundreds of these chips and have my own stake in this.

I hope this clears some mis-conceptions up.

If someone claims they can make these boards for $200-$300 they dont know what they are talking about. Sure I can provide a cheap PCB and use the lowest priced cheap chinese parts and assembly and save some money but your units wont hash long enough to even ROI in that scenario plus you will have to wait longer to get the unit which threaten ROI even further.


For people outside North America - you will need to talk to your sales rep Lucko about his assembly plant at what they can offer you.

thanks for listening!
-JJ

JJ -

Although $600 is far from the original board estimate of ~$300 that was getting thrown around near the start of this thread (I cant even be sure you were actually the one who quoted such a price) I honestly have no issue with your pricing. Although this is a fun and exciting hobby you obviously aren't manufacturing these boards just for leisure.

My issue is that payment is only accepted in Bitcoin. I am aware there are many outlets through which one can purchase BTC, however, some people simply aren't all that comfortable doing so. Do you have any plans in the future for other payment options?

Thanks!

[one4many]

....
My issue is that payment is only accepted in Bitcoin. I am aware there are many outlets through which one can purchase BTC, however, some people simply aren't all that comfortable doing so. Do you have any plans in the future for other payment options?
....

If you don't feel comfortable with BTC then don't invest anything into this project, or BTC at all. Buy some gold you can hide under the pillow.

How can you expect the BTC economy to get bigger, if no-one feels 'comfortable with it'? 
My advise to you is, get the BTC now, so you can send them to JJ when he is ready and your chips arrived!
You still have at least a couple of weeks lead time. Get comfortable with it!!! 

    one4many

[Lucko]

I was the one writing 300$ but not just 300$. I was talking 300$ to 450$... But that didn't calculate in some problems we had at the end stage... If we could make boards in hi numbers a had of time it would work but we can't(adding chips is just to hard). I was calculating that with 100 boards made at one time with lead time 14 days. And that will not happen. We will never had 1600 chips at one time I guess and lead time 14 days. So that was my mistake...

[bitpop]

I'd value the mounting of 16! chips alone at $100-200

[Mudbankkeith]

I'd value the mounting of 16! chips alone at $100-200

Yes and when it arrives it will work, with all 16 chips hashing.

[JerimiahJohnson]

Hello

I just want to clear a few things up here, based on some PM's I received.

One thing is I have not made any profit, or received a single bitcent from this group buy thing.

This is something I had nothing to do with what so ever.


However: If you are a North American customer, and you were involved in the group buy and received some sort of discount I will honor your coupons.

If you are not a north American Customer you will be going through lucko to buy your boards, and he is certainly welcome to charge less money for his boards if God Bless him, he can find a way to make a profit here.

Also everyone is up in arms because I guesstimated that I am making a profit of less than $100 per board which apparently to some is a staggering amount, please key in on the word "less than" and not on $100 - when all is said and done, I add in logistics, shipping costs, , the money I paid just for the rights to this design, my own time and headache  the profit is much much much less. So in reality if you count the money I have already spent on this development process it is very likely I will not make any profit at all.

The main reason I got involved at all is because I have a lot of BFL chips coming, and I wanted to support the project that I thought had the most promise.

Also I had someone suggest buying a cheaper fan. You are welcome to save some money by designing your own cooling system, however you are going to have a very hard time cooling 16 chips with anything less than a very high end fan. A cheap $5 fan is not going to work here.

These boards are being made in very small batches at a time and in the USA, this is not a cheap process,

Please also understand this includes a 5 day build time because personally I think it makes more sense to spend a little extra now and get the units hashing sooner than later. However if you want a 10 or 15 day build time I can lower the price for you.




I hope this clears everything up and I wont get any more angry PM's

-JJ

[bitpop]

Yes very nice

[GrapeApe]

Agreed,  I  want this thing to work consistently. I,  as well as most others will be running these 24/7 and don't want any problems with a cheap fan or some other component. As far as someone making a profit (or not)  shouldn't really matter. Buyers need to figure  out what they are willing to pay per GH/s and if this fits then pull the trigger. For those of us in Lucko's group buy, we are buying from Lucko and he should be sending out an email soon enough letting us know the details.

[JerimiahJohnson]

Agreed,  I  want this thing to work consistently. I,  as well as most others will be running these 24/7 and don't want any problems with a cheap fan or some other component. As far as someone making a profit (or not)  shouldn't really matter. Buyers need to figure  out what they are willing to pay per GH/s and if this fits then pull the trigger. For those of us in Lucko's group buy, we are buying from Lucko and he should be sending out an email soon enough letting us know the details.

Well most of you in Lucko's group buy will be buying from him but not all.

If you live in North America and are in Lucko's group buy, you will purchase from me, and yes I will honor your coupons and discounts you were promised. This is the agreement we have worked out.

Last time I talked to him he will be charging the same price as me, unless he gets an order for 1000 boards or something I don't think that is going to change much, but thats just my speculation.

-JJ

[Swimmer63]

Hello

I just want to clear a few things up here, based on some PM's I received.

One thing is I have not made any profit, or received a single bitcent from this group buy thing.

This is something I had nothing to do with what so ever.


However: If you are a North American customer, and you were involved in the group buy and received some sort of discount I will honor your coupons.

If you are not a north American Customer you will be going through lucko to buy your boards, and he is certainly welcome to charge less money for his boards if God Bless him, he can find a way to make a profit here.

Also everyone is up in arms because I guesstimated that I am making a profit of less than $100 per board which apparently to some is a staggering amount, please key in on the word "less than" and not on $100 - when all is said and done, I add in logistics, shipping costs, , the money I paid just for the rights to this design, my own time and headache  the profit is much much much less. So in reality if you count the money I have already spent on this development process it is very likely I will not make any profit at all.

The main reason I got involved at all is because I have a lot of BFL chips coming, and I wanted to support the project that I thought had the most promise.

Also I had someone suggest buying a cheaper fan. You are welcome to save some money by designing your own cooling system, however you are going to have a very hard time cooling 16 chips with anything less than a very high end fan. A cheap $5 fan is not going to work here.

These boards are being made in very small batches at a time and in the USA, this is not a cheap process,

Please also understand this includes a 5 day build time because personally I think it makes more sense to spend a little extra now and get the units hashing sooner than later. However if you want a 10 or 15 day build time I can lower the price for you.




I hope this clears everything up and I wont get any more angry PM's

-JJ

Thank you JJ.  That makes a lot of sense. We look forward to getting our boards.

[Lucko]

I have a great news!!!

form just figure out a way to handsolder chips on board. Unfortunately he run out of some parts but he should have them on Wednesday... So we will have 16 chip board soon.



Unfortunately the method can't be used on board that is already put together...

[jelin1984]

Great news lucko 

[Choadmeyer]

....
My issue is that payment is only accepted in Bitcoin. I am aware there are many outlets through which one can purchase BTC, however, some people simply aren't all that comfortable doing so. Do you have any plans in the future for other payment options?
....

If you don't feel comfortable with BTC then don't invest anything into this project, or BTC at all. Buy some gold you can hide under the pillow.

How can you expect the BTC economy to get bigger, if no-one feels 'comfortable with it'? 
My advise to you is, get the BTC now, so you can send them to JJ when he is ready and your chips arrived!
You still have at least a couple of weeks lead time. Get comfortable with it!!! 

    one4many

Excuse me for simply asking a question about alternate payment options. No need to be rude... I certainly didn't feel my question came across that way.

[JerimiahJohnson]

....
My issue is that payment is only accepted in Bitcoin. I am aware there are many outlets through which one can purchase BTC, however, some people simply aren't all that comfortable doing so. Do you have any plans in the future for other payment options?
....

If you don't feel comfortable with BTC then don't invest anything into this project, or BTC at all. Buy some gold you can hide under the pillow.

How can you expect the BTC economy to get bigger, if no-one feels 'comfortable with it'? 
My advise to you is, get the BTC now, so you can send them to JJ when he is ready and your chips arrived!
You still have at least a couple of weeks lead time. Get comfortable with it!!! 

    one4many

Excuse me for simply asking a question about alternate payment options. No need to be rude... I certainly didn't feel my question came across that way.

It's cool man don't worry about it, I wish I had the capacity to accept other forms of payment but its just so much of a headache its not even worth it.

Bitcoin is literally the best payment option period for merchants and consumers in every way. If you have a hard time getting Bitcoins contact me and I will help you to get some.
-JJ

[Bogart]

I have a great news!!!

form just figure out a way to handsolder chips on board. Unfortunately he run out of some parts but he should have them on Wednesday... So we will have 16 chip board soon.

Unfortunately the method can't be used on board that is already put together...

When you have some free time, I'd love to read some details on the method.

I bought a "Surface Mount Soldering Practice Kit" at MakerFaire this past weekend, and will be trying some different techniques.

[bx8389]

I have a great news!!!

form just figure out a way to handsolder chips on board. Unfortunately he run out of some parts but he should have them on Wednesday... So we will have 16 chip board soon.

Unfortunately the method can't be used on board that is already put together...

Hello everybody
Lucko, after see picture and not seeing any marks on chips (eventually can by a photo problem…) I can ask if exists any strategy to deal with chip grades filling boards (if chips are labeled  ) or we  should expect a kind of “lottery”?
Regards

[GrapeApe]

It was already asked by me earlier. They are not marked and it is difficult to test them to grade them so it will be luck of the draw.

[bx8389]

It was already asked by me earlier. They are not marked and it is difficult to test them to grade them so it will be luck of the draw.

I have read most of post this thread but really missed your post, thanks by response.

[GrapeApe]

It was already asked by me earlier. They are not marked and it is difficult to test them to grade them so it will be luck of the draw.

I have read most of post this thread but really missed your post, thanks by response.

I think it was in the Lucko group buy thread not this one.