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…
So you don’t value people’s time, or think that’s something worth paying for? You think people who make artisan keycaps should just charge for the material costs alone, or make profit on just the material costs?
Do you work for free? I mean, let’s assume you’re a plumber for a living, and you call at someone’s house because they have a leaking tap. You diagnose the situation, and realise that the tap needs a new washer in it. The washer costs $1. Do you charge the customer $1?
Have you any idea how much time some people spend making artisan keycaps? Is that not worth anything to anyone any longer? Are we so addicted to cheap mass produced stuff and Amazon that we don’t even value craftsmanship any longer?
Sad times.
Cool down friend. What I criticise Is the people who claim that the keypcas they are selling are artisan when they are not. Of course I do support artist who spend their time and money to satisfy our tastes making breathtaking pieces of art, and obviously I think that people who are really artisans should be paid well. However sadly in the keycap market there are lot of alibis who claim to be artisans when they are not just to steal your money. I do realised friend you gave us your time and wrote some comments however I do feel a bit uneasy because all the comments I read of you are not targeted to be constructive but to harm, myne and other people opion. I hope that in farther future you take this into account and dont comment so agressively. Thx for letting us know your opinion :)
I’m always cool. Not sure why people think the only way you can criticise someone/thing is to be angry while you are doing it.
Harm? Yeah right… that’s bordering on quite a serious accusation my friend. I think I’m gonna insist on you backing that statement up. Can you show me where I’m causing harm?
Being critical is not harmful, and there’s quite a lot of stuff in your top post to be critical of.
I don’t think he understood that, which is why he’s asking. It’s a fair question if you consider he’s new to the hobby, because he may be assuming that these are large companies manufacturing the item, when in large part, artisan keycaps are manufactured by an individual or a small group of people more as “art” than for functionality.
For OP, cost of artisans is often increased because of its uniqueness and for the work that the crafter puts in. Many of them also involve handicraft like painting. They also often only drop once and aren’t constantly in “stock,” so in a sense you’re also paying for exclusivity. Sure, it’s cheaper to buy a knockoff for anything, but then you’ve bought a knockoff and you’re not supporting the original artist/creator.