Probably those are surplus or the manufacturer / trader went bankrupt and
someone bought off it's stock for 5c / kg of those...

Tamas


On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 5:05 PM, Sean Breheny <shb7@cornell.edu> wrote:

> Hmm. Regardless of legality, I just plain do not understand how you
> can manufacture a USB SD card reader for US $1.03 and make any profit.
> It must contain at least a USB connector, PCB, interface IC, SD
> socket, and a few caps and resistors, as well as a plastic case which
> is probably injection molded. If the total markup is 50% including all
> middlemen, that means $0.50 for the parts and assembly. If the
> assembly cost is half of this, there is only $0.25 left for the parts.
> Assuming that the cost is evenly divided among the USB connector, PCB,
> IC, and SD socket, that is 6 cents each! Also, even in China, an
> injection mold tool for a little case like this is probably $5k USD.
> If you can allocate 5 cents per unit for the plastic parts, and 2
> cents of that is the cost of the actual plastic and labor/machine time
> involved in shooting the parts, then that's only 3 cents for the
> amortized cost of the tool. That's 170 thousand units just to break
> even on this element.
>
> Sean
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 11:04 AM, Spehro Pefhany <speff@interlog.com>
> wrote:
> > At 09:54 AM 18/09/2009, you wrote:
> >>Does anyone know how this place makes any profit?! For example, they
> >>are selling a USB-bluetooth adaptor for US $2.46. Also, a USB SD card
> >>reader for $1.03. Looking over their prices on more substantial items,
> >>I think those are more in line with typical prices, so I would guess
> >>that they make all their money from the items which cost more than $10
> >>and the rest are loss leaders. It just seems to me that people are
> >>much more likely to buy lots of the trinkets from a place like this
> >>rather than trust them when buying a $100 digital camera.
> >>
> >>Sean
> >
> > Their prices are not out of line with "street" mainland Chinese prices
> plus
> > postage, (postage in padded bags is cheap from HK) but you have to keep
> in
> > mind that you  will be getting Chinese retail quality and things like MP3
> > players and Bluetooth sticks may well not have officially licensed
> > firmware/software. Such items could theoretically be seized by customs
> due to
> > patent or copyright infringement.
> >
> > In general, small stuff sold in the developed countries has an enormous
> > markup, whereas bigger things can often be found for about the same price
> > (maybe less) in developed countries, in my experience. Where there is a
> > bigger difference, there is often a justifiable difference in the offer.
> >
> >>Best regards,
> >
> > Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the
> reward"
> > speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers:
> http://www.trexon.com
> > Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:
> http://www.speff.com
> >
> >
> >
> > --
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> >
>
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