Hi, my name is Manuel. I have loved everything related with peripherals since I was a kid. Now that I am older and have my own money I can spend it as my mom says on “nonsenses”. I love keyboards and I have owned differente types of them, however I never had the time or money to be buying and trying different switches, stabs, cases… Now that I am looking forward to build my very own custom keyboard (ck) I am realizing of some stuff that really makes me feel uneasy.
While surfing through the reddit, some of the well known keyboard websites I realised that building your ck is very very expensive. Because of that I went straight to aliexpress, bought myself a hotswap keyboard which had a case that I liked. Looked for some switches, I bought Silent Tactile TOMs, and a set of keycaps of PBT, which as far I know is the best between PBT and ABS, the most common plastics keycaps are made of. Also I bought a coiled cable that costed me only 5$, compared to other sites where the price of a simple coiled cable are more than 20$. And a foam.
I build a “custom keyboard” for only 53$, which leads me to lots of questions. Why simple 60% whiteout cases from etsy or kbd, and similar shops sell them for nearly 50 or 60$. Yes, there are better materials, but is it not overpriced? Why sets of keycaps you could buy in aliexpress for 20$ less are sold way pricier in these shops, I am aware of dropshippers but it is way overpriced and sadly and surprisingly very concurred by people looking to buy their custom keyboard.
Is the keyboard market way overpriced? I see pcb plates listing for 60$ and I do not see a very critical difference. The only thing I am okay on spending money are switches and stabs, but why I should spend nearly a 100$ on a wooden case? Or 60$ on “artisan keycap” which is probably dropshipped or made for less than 5$? Why is etsy so used if there are lots of dropshippers? Even shops as kbd and someothers sell way overpriced keycaps sets that I do not think are very different to the ones I could buy on aliexpress?.
Am I too pinchpenny? Are there heavy arguments of why I should spend lots of money on a simple case? Or even on a set of keycaps?. A build as Wooting 60HE could be done with the plate and the same switches, and maybe using some config firmware programs?
If anyone is wondering about the keyboard I built, here it is…
Sometimes, things that are expensive, are worse.
Truth is you can knock together a decent custom keyboard with chinese parts that’ll feel just as good as a $2000 monstrosity. After a certain point, its pretty much just a flex and sunk cost fallacy.
That’s a lot of hobbies. Diminishing returns and also just bad products that are overpriced.
Haha didn’t think I’d see a Caleb Gallo reference here
just not true at all
tfw downvoted for being right. find me a keyboard that feels like a beam spring for $400 and get back to me
You need to define Chinese parts because most of the game is Chinese part excepts for gmk and vint cherry
Fuckin, exactly, it comes out of the same factory with a different name and costs twice as mu
This is what a lot of people don’t understand about sites like Temu, Alliexpress, and Shiene. These places are basically a direct from factory sort of deal. Which is why you can get things so cheap.
From my limited knowledge on the topic:
Normally a company/person has something they want to make and then they pay for the shipping (the big crate that sits on a boat), the manufacturing, retail space, and then even the storage. Manufacturing is usually done in china. All this gets factored into the cost of the product with also a hefty mark up.
From what I understand its similar to the way Amazon works. And how anyone can become a store and sell shit on their site.
These chinese sellers are owned by big corporations that can buy in massive bulk. They maybe even own the manufacturing plant and may already have extra storage. So these costs were already paid for. So for them getting out excess product. Just helps them offset costs and make a little bit more.
Some other nefarious things is that since copyright is hard to enforce in china. These manufacturers can make products that are for known brands and also then release basically identical knock offs. Since its all coming from the same place anyways.
I mean there is some expensive keyboards made in China that are worth their prices. But for some parts yeah some cheap alternatives are good.
Get quote from Dadesin for making 5000 keyboards. Now get a quote from Dadesin for making 100.
Stop talking out of your ass.
again, you’re coming up with things out of your ass.
You ever used a $2000 keyboard?
I mean people dont buy a $2000 for its feel lol, its for the design. I think people forget that.
But you cannot build a board made from Chinese AliExpress parts that feels like a $2000 keyboard. That’s just people talking crap.
No idea why he singled out China anyway, as some of the finest CNC work you’ll see on keyboards comes out of China, so I can also assume he meant cheap AliExpress stuff, and not just because it’s Chinese.
I think he just means cheap stuff lol, because there are $2000 boards on aliexpress or people who are willing to cnc them for you.
This guy obviously knows nothing and just got his information from one or two youtube videos
Exactly with china I ment cheap stuff like 20$ cases or 10$ keycaps sets. I should have explained my self better about what I ment “china”. Thx fro sharing your thoughts SXLighting :) I do know that there a brands which create, desing and produce their own stuff but as far as I know there is a little number of them. :)
You’re getting numbers out of your ass.
Mostly its due to fancy materials and design. Like a $2000 keyboard (not aftermarket price) will be like stainless steel or titanium or bronze alloy. Very different material to standard brass and aluminum.