This post is a bit borderline, so I can take it down if you think it’s inappropriate for this community (tag @otter@lemmy.ca for a faster response). These computers are often suggested by various selfhosting tutorials so it might be interesting to see how they’re made.
I’m going to keep manufacture local to the west coast, but yeah, price deltas are almost extreme in comparison.
It was a frustrating experience. On the one hand, I really really really wanted the tool manufactured in the US. However, if I went the US route, I would have never sold one piece because it was just too expensive. It wasn’t an easy decision to go to China. After doing a couple runs, I had recouped my investment plus a little pocket change to put some 'taters on the table. I learned a lot on the way tho. You hear people say, ‘You outta patent that’, but the process is not that easy. At any rate, at least I can say ‘Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. No better or worse for the exercise.’
Have you looked into other countries than just the US and China? Why did you choose China specifically over, let’s say, India or even Eastern Europe? I am curious to know the perspective
This was my first foray into bringing an idea to fruition, patent it, and market it. I wasn’t looking to make a million dollars off the tool. If it happened, great, if not, no worries. It was a very simple tool to allow someone to easily put the spring coil back in your mower without cutting yourself to ribbons. If you’ve ever yanked the pull cord out of a chainsaw, mower, etc and tried to put it back in, you’ll understand. I wanted a product the average homeowner could purchase, have in their tool shed to use when needed. I found that the better marketing strategy was to market it to repair shops.
After reviewing production pricing, I ‘chose’ China quite begrudgingly. Like I mentioned, I really wanted this tool to be US made. I could have just decided to have it made in America, but I would have never recouped my initial investment and would have never made any profit. I at least wanted to break even. Despite Americans enthusiastically waiving the ‘America First’ flags during election years, when it gets down to brass tacks, they want cheap goods, and that usually means manufacturing outside of the US. The good ship ‘Made In The USA’ sailed in the 60s and it’s not coming back. It makes for good campaign fodder tho.