Hi,
Why is the Arduino so expensive?
When I look at knockoffs on Ebay, they are all on the 5 ~ 15 dollar price range.
Is Arduino just bloating the price or is it for a reason?
Next Thing Co.'s CHIP is a fully fledged debian computer that sells for 9 dollars.
I think it's time for Arduino to become cheaper..
The ebay sellers and their manufacturers are making virtually no profit (and also contribute nothing to development of the Arduino IDE)
The profit on the official boards is being used to support development of the IDE and all the rest of the Arduino-ey stuff we all benefit from, whether we use clones or official boards. They're also manufactured by a more expensive manufacturer to a higher standard than the clones are - but yeah, the margins on official boards are massive, because they need to generate the funding to develop the IDE, run the website, write the documentation, etc.
Personally, I buy all clones, but periodically donate to Arduino.
Personally, I buy all clones, but periodically donate to Arduino.
Personally I build 1000's of Arduino derivatives like THIS but periodically donate direct to Arduino.cc
What About "Arduino Compatibles, Arduino Derivatives, Arduino Clones and Arduino Counterfeits" ??
The Arduino project – both hardware and software – is open-source. The schematics, hardware design files, and source code are all freely available. Arduino is under a Creative Commons Share Alike license. Anyone can duplicate the design or make modifications or additions to it and market the resulting product as long as they, in turn, make all the designs available.
Arduino Derivatives: The YourDuino RoboRED and the YourDuinoRobo1 are derivative designs which add functionality and make changes to the original design, and are marked with their own artwork/identification. Another example is the Sparkfun Redboard.
Arduino Clones: Are available on Ebay and other sources. They use the exact Arduino open-source design but have their own markings and do not pretend to be original Arduinos.
Arduino Counterfeits: (Also regrettably available on Ebay etc) Violate the Arduino Copyrights by copying the Arduino markings and attempt to look 'just like' an Arduino from Arduino.cc
"Real" Arduino products also support a distributer supply chain. That means that they show up at retail stores like Microcenter or Radio Shack (RIP), which means that someone buys them for 70% off list price from Arduino, and then sells them to individual stores for 30% off list price. Those layers would get annoyed (and not sell the product) if Arduino undercut them by selling at low prices direct to consumers.
There are a couple of other "clone" vendors that sell through retail - Fry's Electronics sells (or used to sell) compatibles from OSEPP. In a way, companies like OSEPP annoy me more than the the multitude of little eBay sellers; AFACT, they specifically exist to undersell Arduino to big chain stores (a desirable and lucrative market.) List price for these turns out to be ... very similar to actual Arduinos...