Power pickup wheel pairs

[peterpavuk]

I've recently obtained 6 piko 3 axles carriages to compliment my BR51. They are ridiculously expensive, at about £200 each, and they come with plastic wheels and no internal lighting. I did printed lights brackets already - I can't justify €40 for OEM ones, but wheels i did ordered. 6x2pairs with power pickup and 3x2pairs just metal wheels cone at €650, i did ordered it to Latvia, my mum will repack them and send here, so I'll won't pay extra 20% on customs.
Still crazy expensive.

So, i thought what if i make them myself? Not now, but going forward. I found some Chinese manufacturers that can turn the wheels from stainless steel at about $5 each for series of 100. That comes to $10 a pair. Add bearings, axle, some 3d printed parts - i probably can make it happens at about $15 a pair in the costs. There's labour to assemble too. But, if i offer say a kit, with reasonable mark-up, will there be any interest?

How much would you pay for a pair of ball bearing power pickup wheel pair?

Also, how much would you pay for just a spocked wheel pair - no power pickup, just a stainless steel rim and ABS or ASA core.

Not like i am planning a business here, but if there will be considerable interest - i could try. Obviously a series of 1000 will bring cost down substantially too.

 

[Rhinochugger]

Ballbearing wheelsets are notoriously expensive - I've always decided against them.

 

[maxi-model]

Remember when you at looking at retail pricing, especially if it's gone through through a retailer and not direct, there are a lot of costs that build up over the base component cost from a maker. I had a small business for 6 years (2000-2006) producing hand built 1:32 scale slot cars to my own designs. First you have your origination costs, in my case lots. Even just for wheels there will be time and expertise creating engineering plans the files to run the CNC machines, prototyping, finishing, checking, packing, materials & labour costs. Now add your mark up and shipping/handling/documentation costs. A business has costs creating and maintaining its website and other comms. Next if you have distributors you need to pitch a cost price to them so they can both make a profit (33%) and have a product that is at the right price point for the buyer. This is why so many "artisan" producers are going or went the direct sales route, rather that distributor/retailer. I was partly going direct, with a trading website, all those years ago. My distributors obviously would not let me undercut their retail price on my own website. Distributors were great to get a product "out there" with retailers that customers trusted. But a pain if you wanted to shift your price point near to what a customer really wants. Always cheaper ! It's a different world now. People have learnt how to take risks, and minimise them, and now buy direct from multiple suppliers,

Be carefull if you are dealing with Chinese, and other nationalities, when getting "special interest" products made up for onward retail. They have a habit of getting an identical product out to your market, if they think it will fly, just before your paid for order arrives. That soaks up your market and kills your product. My UK mouldings and castings supplier warned me of that practice, he might have just been protecting his business but I saw many examples. The whole EU made1:43 resin/white metal model car sector, not diecast, that had shifted 10 year before to the far east, that's another quite sulubrious story, was pretty much killed 20 + years ago. How ? Because somebody just shipped any new release kits from the EU makers out to China, where a company "back moulded" everything on the cheap but shipped out fully built models that retailed at the same price as the kits coming out of the "artisan" makers. I saw it in 2001 at the UK toy fair. A UK agent, was selling fully built high detail 1:43 handbuilt models, short run 300 units or even less, landed price £15 +17.5% vat each. Those kits they copied retailed in EU/UK/US for double that alone !

Have fun, but do it for yourself or for a tight group that will guarentee pre-orders up front to the qualtity you have made. I never got burnt but I knew others that did. Max

A little bit of my built output from all those years ago.
The bits I had produced or procured as they came in the box that made it.

 

[peterpavuk]

Ballbearing wheelsets are notoriously expensive - I've always decided against them.

but they ar also brilliant comparing to other pickup methods. Idk, i probably will order a batch of 100 rims (it is smallest order i can place) and see what happens.

Remember when you at looking at retail pricing, especially if it's gone through through a retailer and not direct, there are a lot of costs that build up over the base component cost from a maker. I had a small business for 6 years (2000-2006) producing hand built 1:32 scale slot cars to my own designs. First you have your origination costs, in my case lots. Even just for wheels there will be time and expertise creating engineering plans the files to run the CNC machines, prototyping, finishing, checking, packing, materials & labour costs. Now add your mark up and shipping/handling/documentation costs. A business has costs creating and maintaining its website and other comms. Next if you have distributors you need to pitch a cost price to them so they can both make a profit (33%) and have a product that is at the right price point for the buyer. This is why so many "artisan" producers are going or went the direct sales route, rather that distributor/retailer. I was partly going direct, with a trading website, all those years ago. My distributors obviously would not let me undercut their retail price on my own website. Distributors were great to get a product "out there" with retailers that customers trusted. But a pain if you wanted to shift your price point near to what a customer really wants. Always cheaper ! It's a different world now. People have learnt how to take risks, and minimise them, and now buy direct from multiple suppliers,

Be carefull if you are dealing with Chinese, and other nationalities, when getting "special interest" products made up for onward retail. They have a habit of getting an identical product out to your market, if they think it will fly, just before your paid for order arrives. That soaks up your market and kills your product. My UK mouldings and castings supplier warned me of that practice, he might have just been protecting his business but I saw many examples. The whole EU made1:43 resin/white metal model car sector, not diecast, that had shifted 10 year before to the far east, that's another quite sulubrious story, was pretty much killed 20 + years ago. How ? Because somebody just shipped any new release kits from the EU makers out to China, where a company "back moulded" everything on the cheap but shipped out fully built models that retailed at the same price as the kits coming out of the "artisan" makers. I saw it in 2001 at the UK toy fair. A UK agent, was selling fully built high detail 1:43 handbuilt models, short run 300 units or even less, landed price £15 +17.5% vat each. Those kits they copied retailed in EU/UK/US for double that alone !

Have fun, but do it for yourself or for a tight group that will guarentee pre-orders up front to the qualtity you have made. I never got burnt but I knew others that did. Max

A little bit of my built output from all those years ago.
View attachment 357172The bits I had produced or procured as they came in the box that made it.
View attachment 357171

I do run some business for decades already, but it is nothing to do with making/items/sales, my product is intangible, merely it/business consultancy services. So I generally understand all constrains, and I am thinking of a making arm of my business as I am genuinely interested in making. If it'll will take off - good. If not - I'll absorb a costs to existing business and just pay less CT that year. So for me only loss will be time. I have no illusions about Asian manufacturers, so I won't ever order a complete product over there - just a different parts from different vendors, so there will be less chance they figure out what is it. I probably can come up with retail price about 1/2 what piko or LGB wants for complete product, but I don't really know how to deal with support/warranty - that may become an issue. IDK, I might as well try and see what happens.