There is also the possibility that we could import discretes and other
parts directly from small shops in India and China.

The only problem is that it seems that US Customs import duties for
electronics coming in from Japan are rather punitive to small-time
operators. Maybe I am wrong.

Maybe you and I should go into this one together
====================================
In Britain there are few 1 man or family companies selling components.
Have a look at
www.modecomponents.co.uk
www.jabdog.co.uk
www.sycomcomp.co.uk

In western european countries there are a number of traders selling surplus
components incl RF parts ,who move from fleamarket to fleamarket ,from
country to country. A number buy surplus army kit from eastern europe and
sell these as components...........................they have done that for
many years ,hence must have a reasonable income from these activities .
I have seen a web site related to the sale (auction) of US Government
equipment (located in Virginia) with some mouthwatering electronic
(test)equipment . There should be a market for this equipment ,even as
components.

The marketing question remains : Is there a substantial ham homebrew market
in the USA . How many of the approx 700000 licenced Hams in the USA purchase
electronic components on a more or less regular basis ?

Surplus people in the USA like 'Surplus of Nebraska ' and 'Peter Dahl' seem
rather expensive.

Frank GMØCSZ / KN6WH.

Yes, but others like ALL Electronics and MECI are quite inexpensive...
except that they aren't configured to sell to hams exclusively.

I think part of the answer might be to look at the offshoring problem
in reverse... Our manufacturing has been offshored for 20 years or
more, backoffice has been offshored for 10 years or more, and software
has been offshored for about 5 years....

So, other countries are creating discretes and subassemblies to place
into entertainment, consumer, gaming, and white goods... with only a
nod give to RF. Fortunately, many discretes being sold for above
purposes could be used for ham purposes with some ingenuity, we do it
all the time!

What I think we need to do is buy cheap components from offshore and
sell at slight markup, that implies finding sources direct from India,
China, Korea, etc. Japan is more a consumer than a manufacturer.

Maybe instead of a store we need to start a buying club?

The Eternal Squire

Highland Ham wrote:
The marketing question remains : Is there a substantial ham homebrew market
in the USA . How many of the approx 700000 licenced Hams in the USA purchase
electronic components on a more or less regular basis ?

I would not rule out the possibility of being able to grow a market that
doesn't currently exist.

I think a significant number of hams don't homebrew not because they
don't want to -- but because it's difficult to find parts.

Make part shopping easy, and you could make customers of people who
aren't buying from *anyone* right now.

Then again, you could also lose your shirtgrin.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

I suppose we could use Drake's Law: I'd estimate that perhaps only 1
in 10 Hams are interested in homebrewing, 1 in 10 have the skill, and 1
in 10 have the means to stock up a large parts library: basically an
interested audience of 1 in 1000 hams, meaning an audience of no more
than 700 hardcore homebrewers. Can that be right, only 700 of us
potentially on this newsgroup?

Although, if I provide the service of the homebrewer's parts library:
reasonable price, fast shipment, good ranges of discretes for 160-6 M
construction, then I could address up to 7000 hams who have both the
interest and skill who don't want to kit but do want to try something
new.

If I bundle the parts kits with the FAR boards, I suppose I could
address the 1-3 additional people on the bottom end of the skill scale.
Now we have an audience of up to 21000 hams, a nice healthy audience.

If only one of 100 hams in the kit audience buys a kit per year, then I
have only 210 sales per year. If the average parts kit cost me $50 and
I mark it up by $5 I only make about $1 of profit per kit after taxes
and expenses. 210 sales per year X $1 per kit is $210 per year. Not
good!

Or are there things of which I am not considering.

Yawn,

The Eternal Squire

wrote in message
oups.com...

than 700 hardcore homebrewers. Can that be right, only 700 of us
potentially on this newsgroup?

I don't know about "hardcore", but many AmQRP kits sell that many in the
first week. OK, you could say that a kit really isn't homebrew. But there
are a lot of people out there who like to melt solder.

and expenses. 210 sales per year X $1 per kit is $210 per year. Not
good!

Hardly cover the state's cut for licenses.

...

But then again, I dropped a zero because I was so tired writing the
letter. Would be 2100 sales per year, not 210. With 1$ net profit
margin on a $50 sale, that would be $2100 per year.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I suppose we could use Drake's Law: I'd estimate that perhaps only 1
in 10 Hams are interested in homebrewing, 1 in 10 have the skill, and 1
in 10 have the means to stock up a large parts library: basically an
interested audience of 1 in 1000 hams, meaning an audience of no more
than 700 hardcore homebrewers. Can that be right, only 700 of us
potentially on this newsgroup?

Although, if I provide the service of the homebrewer's parts library:
reasonable price, fast shipment, good ranges of discretes for 160-6 M
construction, then I could address up to 7000 hams who have both the
interest and skill who don't want to kit but do want to try something
new.

If I bundle the parts kits with the FAR boards, I suppose I could
address the 1-3 additional people on the bottom end of the skill scale.
Now we have an audience of up to 21000 hams, a nice healthy audience.

If only one of 100 hams in the kit audience buys a kit per year, then I
have only 210 sales per year. If the average parts kit cost me $50 and
I mark it up by $5 I only make about $1 of profit per kit after taxes
and expenses. 210 sales per year X $1 per kit is $210 per year. Not
good!

Or are there things of which I am not considering.

Yawn,

The Eternal Squire

Why limit your potential market to only the USA?

Because unless I know different from an authoritative source, US
Customs pretty much considers anything much above a transistor to be
military dual-use tech in the post 9/11 era. Take a look at the Ebay
ads these days... you'll hardly ever see a US Ebay willing to sell
outside CONUS due to export hassles.

Importing is almost as bad... Outside of NAFTA or CAFTA expect pay to
duties in excess of 12 to 50 percent above your $400 annual exemption
for gift items.

The Eternal Squire

"Highland Ham" wrote in message
news:2s2dnZ2dnZ24ZZfxnZ2dnVgGkt6dnZ2dRVnyqZ2dnZ0@p ipex.net...

snipped..

In western european countries there are a number of traders selling
surplus components incl RF parts ,who move from fleamarket to fleamarket
,from country to country. A number buy surplus army kit from eastern
europe and sell these as components...........................they have
done that for many years ,hence must have a reasonable income from these
activities .
I have seen a web site related to the sale (auction) of US Government
equipment (located in Virginia) with some mouthwatering electronic
(test)equipment . There should be a market for this equipment ,even as
components.
Frank GMØCSZ / KN6WH.

FYI:

I was watching the "US Government" site a while and found the auctions
exceeded anything I would call a "deal on equipment"
The site is http://www.govliquidation.com/index.html
I don't know how it would work for an overseas buyer though,

73 K4TWO Gary

Well while adding to my check-it-out in my spare time sites.....
www.jabdog.co.uk came up empty. Any of the letters in error?
I wouldn't have a guess as to a search for your site listed
Thanks K4TWO Gary



"Highland Ham" wrote in message
news:2s2dnZ2dnZ24ZZfxnZ2dnVgGkt6dnZ2dRVnyqZ2dnZ0@p ipex.net...
There is also the possibility that we could import discretes and other
parts directly from small shops in India and China.

The only problem is that it seems that US Customs import duties for
electronics coming in from Japan are rather punitive to small-time
operators. Maybe I am wrong.

Maybe you and I should go into this one together
====================================
In Britain there are few 1 man or family companies selling components.
Have a look at
www.modecomponents.co.uk
www.jabdog.co.uk
www.sycomcomp.co.uk

In western european countries there are a number of traders selling
surplus components incl RF parts ,who move from fleamarket to fleamarket
,from country to country. A number buy surplus army kit from eastern
europe and sell these as components...........................they have
done that for many years ,hence must have a reasonable income from these
activities .
I have seen a web site related to the sale (auction) of US Government
equipment (located in Virginia) with some mouthwatering electronic
(test)equipment . There should be a market for this equipment ,even as
components.

The marketing question remains : Is there a substantial ham homebrew
market in the USA . How many of the approx 700000 licenced Hams in the USA
purchase electronic components on a more or less regular basis ?

Surplus people in the USA like 'Surplus of Nebraska ' and 'Peter Dahl'
seem rather expensive.

Frank GMØCSZ / KN6WH.