I am way too lazy to explain some of the points made so I’ll address more expensive boards and related topics.
-
Things on AliExpress are generally cheaper because you are likely buying directly from a manufacturer. Compare this to buying off a website, where they are trying to make higher profit margins. This one’s pretty easy to understand.
-
For your question asking for keyboard prices, it really varies whether a price is justified or not. In terms of plastics, I feel like the market fluctuates a lot more. You can buy cheap boards off of AliExpress or you can go for something more premium. As far as premium boards go, you are likely paying for better qc, design, and hype. Take the Bauer Lite for example. It’s a 120$ board which the price seems pretty justified for me. Many people loved the design and feel of the Bauer 1/2 and the Lite offers a relatively cheap alternative. Especially when you consider the rnd, it all seems to make sense.
Keyboards can keep getting expensive from here as well. At this point, you are probably paying for materials and machining as well. Not all boards are made of plastic - you will see many aluminum and copper types. I think the prices are somewhat justified because I personally have created some one off boards with CNC machines I have access to and it is expensive. If you make considerations for the vendors, manufacturers, and designers of the boards and pcbs it all starts to add up.
Obviously you’re getting diminishing returns but many people are willing to pay high prices for these boards.
- Keycap prices are really a mix of supply and demand + designs + qc. You are paying a premium for color matching, better legends etc. You can definitely buy clones off AliExpress but you likely aren’t getting as high quality goods etc. Once again, diminishing returns.
I honestly love the aesthetics of my envoy (polycarb w/ multicolor accent weight). I think it’s worth spending a little extra if you can because you don’t really feel the need to upgrade after that. If I was to get a neo or qk i feel like I would still want more if that makes sense.