General Category > General Discussion
Onion game Cases
Azarkhel:
Seymour, throw us an update man!
Seymor Onion:
Hey, guys!
Sales have been slow, and unpredictable.
Rising Gas Prices, and possibly having to pay in Income Tax, may be partly to blame.
If you live in the US of A, the deadline for filing Federal Income Tax is Tuesday, April 17'th.
I haven't quite reached the $ goal to begin the Physical Prototype Creation phase yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Here's a brief recap of the plan I'm using, to get the improved versions of UGC Cases Made, and available for sale:
Step One
Fundraising for Physical Prototypes & 3D Cad Files (let's call this R&D, for short) with sales from HuCard Sleeves & My Game Collection.
We are currently at this stage. The 'ETA' for reaching the goal is hard to determine.
Step Two
Post real Photos of the Cases in Action (and possibly links to videos of them on YouTube) on this forum and my website.
I'll also post (on this Forum, and on my Website) the outer dimensions of the cases,
and the dimensions of the Clear Jacket areas.
At this point I will begin e-mailing multiple USA-Based Injection Molding Manufacturers copies of the 3D CAD Files,
and photos of the Prototypes, so they can give me price quotes for the Master Mold, as well as per-case pricing for various quantity runs, and the pricing for adding the Clear Jacket to each case.
Once I narrow it down to a small number of potential companies, I may need to also mail them some of the prototypes, if they say they need them in hand for testing, and such.
This Step should take about a month.
Once I find a good manufacturer, and the price is right, on to Step Three!
Step Three
Begin KickStarter Fundraising for Game Cases*.
This will take One Month.
Step Four
Use the funds raised through KickStarter to make the Modular Master Mold, and manufacture the first run of Game Cases*.
This will take anywhere from a minimum of 3 Months, to a Maximum of 6 Months.
I will have a firm timeline for this step, on the day that I begin Step Three.
Step Five
Once Manufacture is complete, and I receive them at My Warehouse, I will begin shipping out all of the cases that donators are owed, and open up sales for the extras on my website and eBay.
I'll fill the pre-orders that were made through Kickstarter first, in the order they were received.
You will receive an e-mail on the day your order ships.
However, some Friday and Saturday Notices (and all Sunday Notices) will actually ship out on Monday,
because of the office hours of the courier's drop-off locations,
or because I might need to avoid the extra expense of weekend pickups,
to protect my low price structure.
~~~
Speaking of my Pricing structure, don't order my stuff off of eBay, unless it's from a seller that's not me, because:
A) I have to overcharge for my stuff on eBay a little bit, to compensate for eBay's Final Value Fees.
B) I will only offer Quantity Discounts on my Website.
I would avoid eBay all-together, but it helps my products to get viewed by gamers who don't know about TCP, or my website.
I say "unless it's from a seller that's not me" because there may be people other people selling my cases on eBay, in the future.
You can check the "Authorized Resellers" section of my website, to make sure they're legit, before ya order from them.
Actually, make sure to check that section before you place any orders, because there may be someone local that's reselling them.
~~~
*About KickStarter & Game Case Selection
I plan to use KickStarter so you all can place pre-orders for Game Cases.
The money from the Pre-Orders will also cover the cost of a **Modular Master Mold that will support up to Six Game Case Designs.
First, you'd select the overall quantity of Game Cases you want, in multiples of 100 (or less, if you live in certain countries, due to single-box-overall-size-shipping-limits).
Next, you'd pay for them.
Either sometime before, during, or after payment, you will either select, or write-in, what cases you want and what quantity of each type.
This part does not have to be in multiples of 100, but the sum total needs to match the overall quantity you are pre-ordering.
Here are the Case Types that the Modular Master Mold will support:
A) 8-Bit NES Games & The Super GameBoy Cartridge.
B) Super Nintendo Games & Super Famicom Games.
C) Nintendo 64 Games & (Nintendo Brand) Nintendo 64 Controller Paks.
D) Standard Size Sega Genesis Games & Tall EA Sports Games for the Genesis.
E) A Specialty case that supports the Lock-On Sonic & Knuckles Genesis Game, and the Genesis Game Genie.
F) Standard Size Cart-Based Games for Sega Master System & Cart-Based Games for Sega's 32X.
Whatever "100x Game Cases" pack you choose, don't all have to be the same Case Type.
You can mix and match using the above list.
**I might have to make a Single-Design Master Mold to begin with, instead of a Modular one.
It depends on what the upfront costs are going to be.
If I have to take this route, I'll do the NES+SGB Cases first, and the KickStarter thing will only allow for pre-orders of that style of case.
~~~
Today I'm dealing with some flooding that occurred at the Apartment, due to a mistake made by Apartment Staff, when they were working on the upstairs' neighbor's Air Conditioner's Drain Line.
Don't worry; none of my gaming stuff got wet, and everything I'm selling isn't at the apartment, anyway. XD
It's all across town @ the Warehouse.
I do Accounting (and other related paperwork) at the Apartment, and none of that got wet either.
The only water damage is to the some of the ceiling and the walls in a room I hardly ever use.
I've been using my Shop Vac to try and extract as much water as I can from the carpet, then I need to pull it up, vac some more, then set up some fans. After that's done (should only be a couple of hours, tops) it's back to the warehouse, so I can get back to Order Fulfillment. 8)
wiggy:
--- Quote ---At this point I will begin e-mailing multiple USA-Based Injection Molding Manufacturers copies of the 3D CAD Files
--- End quote ---
If you're having a hard time finding someone in the US to do the work for you or if they're just too far out of your price range, then let me know. I have good relations with a US-based firm that has a division in China which can and will get this done for you. I know China isn't the 1st choice (it's never been mine), but it can actually be pretty tricky to get a US manufacturer to take on jobs this small, whereas the Chinese will take on smaller projects like this without even blinking. At the very least you'll know that you're supporting a US-based company and not just some random Chinese factory.
Also, I can help you out if you're interested in some logo/graphic design for your products. It can be really helpful to have such things with Kickstarter and hunting for investors in general. People tend to take you more seriously with a logo design, stationary, business cards, etc already in place. If you're interested then just shoot me a pm and we can chat about it. As a small business owner myself, I know it can be REALLY tough to get started with a project like this ;)
jonisrules:
--- Quote from: Seymor Onion on April 15, 2012, 03:25:55 PM ---
Step One
Fundraising for Physical Prototypes & 3D Cad Files (let's call this R&D, for short) with sales from HuCard Sleeves & My Game Collection.
We are currently at this stage. The 'ETA' for reaching the goal is hard to determine.
--- End quote ---
Hey do you need any help with 3D CAD Files? I'm a Design Engineer and can easily hook you up with 3D models and Engineering Drawings. Message me and I'll give you my personal contact info.
WolfAlmighty:
Man, I love how this community has people from all professions in it. Seymour's already got someone offering help with designs, accounting, and manufacturing. The UGC's days are numbered, methinks! :D