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[Reply #105 on:]

yeah true

they only make $millions a year...

suppose your right - they just cannot afford it  :

[Reply #106 on:]

they only make $millions a year...

they only have a turnover of 4millions a year...

No idea what their profits are after taking out rent/wages/bills etc.

Might not be $millions  :-/

Mowcius

[Reply #107 on:]

But there is no denying... *they* are not *in* China so they have to pay greedy landlords and the taxman much of their income.  

[Reply #108 on:]

omg they must be the only ones in the entire world! those poor souls!

or, Im sorry was there a point to that? cause they have rent and taxes in China too there chief

 

[Reply #109 on:]

yea they dont MAKE them in china (they just order every single bit of it FROM china) but whatever

Can you even GET parts anywhere else?

[Reply #110 on:]

omg they must be the only ones in the entire world! those poor souls!

I'm just saying that if you compare them to maybe... I don't know.. Seedstudio perhaps...  there would clearly be a reason they would need to charge more for even the same parts.  Like MAYBE they source parts from DIGI-KEY and don't buy enough to get a good price break. (who knows)  Without even checking I'm pretty sure the landlord and the taxman take a bigger cut in the USA and *that* surely is in the "price" somewhere.

I'm not trying to justify being gouged price-wise.  I would hardly consider using a single vendor for EVERYTHING I wanted and factoring cost is often a decision point  related to who I'm buying from. There are other times when convenience and quality are part of the decision and not so much the cost.

[Reply #111 on:]

Sparkfun should be credited for creating at least 70 jobs. (Those people must be paid salaries.)

[Reply #112 on:]

well yeah sparkfun products are costly. But considering their product quality, they're good.

[Reply #113 on:]

I would buy their own designs on their site but leave the hardware (nuts bolts headers buttons etc) to local ACE or cheaper places.
All those cheap parts are made in China. I am not concerned that if I don't buy expensive headers from SFE or Mouser, someone in the US will lose their jobs. A job created by selling overpriced items is not that secure anyway. But I do applaud the quality of SFE stuff and their own designs. I bought most my expensive toys from them, GPS, etc.

[Reply #114 on:]

much of the stuff is not even their own designs, unless you count making a breakout board for a smd part, or directly coping out of the datasheet, or just putting the uno in a "brought to you by sparkfun" box

meh

[Reply #115 on:]

Yes but they are one of the only (if not the only in many cases) companies that does so, and from what I've heard from their founder - that's why Sparkfun was made - to make electronics more accessible. I agree some of their stuff is overpriced when compared to the same items' prices at digikey or some other hobby e-store, but the circuit designs they sell are special not because they came up with them (your right in saying most are from the datasheets), but because they sell them pre-made to the public.

[Reply #116 on:]

I'm surprised this thread is still active, how much more is there to say about the subject?

[Reply #117 on:]

how much more is there to say about the subject?

I like cookies (I was going to go into this whole big thing involving cookies but its too late and I really dont care)

[Reply #118 on:]

You know what, I like cookies too - especially space invader cookies

[Reply #119 on:]

I wouldn't call them overpriced, they have high prices but in my opinion they aren't exactly super high, an online shop in my country charges 18€ for a base line picaxe, now that's over priced, sparkfun is like paradise compared to that shop.