# Dayacom kits



## Dale Lynch (Jan 16, 2012)

The other day I was checking out the Dayacom site looking at all the different styles of pens.A couple of them really stood out to me, Citizen and Alexander.They seem perfect to bridge the gap between the gent series and higher end styles like statesman.I wonder why noone carries them?What kits would you like to see brought to market that is not currently offered?i attached a couple pics from the site.

Best Wishes, Dale


----------



## redwd707 (Jan 17, 2012)

I like the look of both those kits alot.


----------



## dansills (Jan 17, 2012)

redwd707 said:


> I like the look of both those kits alot.



Love them both


----------



## andrewleeheck (Jan 17, 2012)

I'd buy several of those Alexanders regularly.


----------



## 76winger (Jan 17, 2012)

Numbers escape me, but I think I've seen remarks where they require a fairly substantial minimum order before they'll produce for you, and most of the smaller vendors aren't in the position to make that large of a purchase.


----------



## alphageek (Jan 17, 2012)

Its possible to get your hands on them.... Here is the short notes I have on the subject:
1) Be careful, some stuff on their site is finished pens, not kits.
2) Be ready for good sized quantities and the minimums are per plating, no combining.
3) Be prepared to pay up front (this is the scary part for many).
4) Long lead times, both for production and shipping.

Thats all pretty negative - but it CAN be done to get your hands on them.. but it won't be trivial.


----------



## OKLAHOMAN (Jan 17, 2012)

Don't mean to be a bubble buster but MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) is 500 pieces of a type that would be 500 roller ball,500 fountain pens and if you wanted different platings .....Oh and be prepared to drop around 10G's per platting and type and have them sit on it for 60 days at least.


----------



## wiset1 (Jan 17, 2012)

Yeah, but have you seen the Dragons Emperor limited edition ones???


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 17, 2012)

*Limits*



Spanx said:


> The other day I was checking out the Dayacom site looking at all the different styles of pens.A couple of them really stood out to me, Citizen and Alexander.They seem perfect to bridge the gap between the gent series and higher end styles like statesman.*I wonder why noone carries them?*What kits would you like to see brought to market that is not currently offered?i attached a couple pics from the site.
> 
> Best Wishes, Dale


 The primary reason that no one carries them is likely related to costs. Adding a new style kit to inventory costs thousands of dollars and most sellers have to have some confidence that the kit will move off the shelf before adding them to inventory.

For instance at $8.00 per kit to Dayacom (which would end up retailing in the $15/$20 range) it would take $12,000 in inventory to carry just one version in all three availabe finishes...and there are 5 versions - carry all of them and you're talking $60,000 just to put MOQ on the shelf.  Double that to have both FP and Rollerball.

Keep in mind that even the companies we call "big" are in fact pretty small companies as companies go. And, the bigger companies selling pen kits, have many other things for sale and in most cases pen kits are just a small part of their total business.


----------



## Turned Around (Jan 18, 2012)

I'd buy bothe of those. I like the look of the Jr. Marshall, too.
I was actually already on the site looking for the Marshall kits, then noticed the MOQ of 500 or so.
How do we get these kits outside of spending a fortune?


----------



## Phunky_2003 (Jan 18, 2012)

Turned Around said:


> I'd buy bothe of those. I like the look of the Jr. Marshall, too.
> I was actually already on the site looking for the Marshall kits, then noticed the MOQ of 500 or so.
> How do we get these kits outside of spending a fortune?


 
The Jr Marshall is available from some retailers... Ive seen it for sale somewhere..... I'll see if I can find you a link.


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 18, 2012)

*I tried*



Phunky_2003 said:


> Turned Around said:
> 
> 
> > I'd buy bothe of those. I like the look of the Jr. Marshall, too.
> ...


 I tried to sell them here but there was not enough interest. --- I see an Aussie and a Canadian seller but no USA Sellers. But you only have to buy 30 to them to get them direct from Dayacom.


Wholesale the Alexanders run from $8.00 to $9.45 for Rollerballs and $11.35 to $13.85 for Fountain Pens - they are available in three finishes To meet MOQ $4000 to $4725 per finish for Rollerballs, or $13000+ for all three and $5675 to $$6925 per finish for Fountain Pens or $19000+ for all three. In short an investment of between $4000 and $32,000 to put them on the shelf. Sell range looks like it would be $20 to $32 at retail.


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 18, 2012)

*Hmmmmm*



OKLAHOMAN said:


> Don't mean to be a bubble buster but MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) is 500 pieces of a type that would be 500 roller ball,500 fountain pens and if you wanted different platings .....Oh and be prepared to drop around 10G's per platting and type and have them sit on it for 60 days at least.


 Dayacom us usually a bit better than 60 day delivery but you are correct - you do have to pay up front and the most popular finish (Rhodium) is also the most expensive.


----------



## Dale Lynch (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks Smitty, I figured it was probably cost related.Investing in new products I'm sure is not taken lightly.

Best wishes, Dale


----------



## SCR0LL3R (Jan 18, 2012)

Here's one place to get the Jr. Marshall...  Jr. Marshall Rhodium & Black Titanium Rollerball


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 18, 2012)

*Down Under*



SCR0LL3R said:


> Here's one place to get the Jr. Marshall... Jr. Marshall Rhodium & Black Titanium Rollerball


 That's the seller from down under I knew about ... Gary Pye Woodworking (or woodturning).  There is also a Canadian who is (or at least was) carrying them.  No one that I know of in the USA though.


----------



## maxwell_smart007 (Jan 19, 2012)

I think the Canadian seller Smitty's thinking of was Wood Safari (aka KJP Online)...but she's had to shut down shop this year.


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 19, 2012)

*Right*

That's who I was thinking of Andrew -- I didn't know she had closed down.


----------



## Freethinker (Jan 19, 2012)

I like the Citizen kit........i wonder if a U.S. buyer could possibly talk to the Dayacom people and convince them they could move more kits if they'd just lower the MOQ a bit, to 200 or 250....

...or maybe 150 each of three different platings/different styles for a MOQ or 450 or the like.  That would enable the purchaser/reseller to carry a broader selection that would move faster so as to recoup the initial outlay costs.


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 19, 2012)

*Short answer*



Freethinker said:


> I like the Citizen kit........i wonder if a U.S. buyer could possibly talk to the Dayacom people and convince them they could move more kits if they'd just lower the MOQ a bit, to 200 or 250....
> 
> ...or maybe 150 each of three different platings/different styles for a MOQ or 450 or the like. That would enable the purchaser/reseller to carry a broader selection that would move faster so as to recoup the initial outlay costs.


The short answer to your question is --- they won't.  Several folks have tried to convince them to do that and they just aren't interested.  They have about 20 high end kits they will sell at retail if you buy at least 30 and about 20 lower priced (unbranded) that they'll sell if you buy 100.  But even for folks spending $20,000 or so a year - they won't lower their MOQ.


----------



## Turned Around (Jan 19, 2012)

SCR0LL3R said:


> Here's one place to get the Jr. Marshall... Jr. Marshall Rhodium & Black Titanium Rollerball


 
whoa, i was expecting a mis $20's to low $30's, not $40 per kit. I'm on a budget. guess I'll wait and stick with the kits i still have.


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 19, 2012)

*Not a chance*



Turned Around said:


> SCR0LL3R said:
> 
> 
> > Here's one place to get the Jr. Marshall... Jr. Marshall Rhodium & Black Titanium Rollerball
> ...


 If I bought 100 of those in the cheapest configuration they would cost $31.25 each direct from Dayacom -  add markup and shipping, now you're talking at least $52/$53 and probably more like $57/$58 because they don't move off the shelf very fast.


----------



## seamus7227 (Jan 19, 2012)

Turned Around said:


> SCR0LL3R said:
> 
> 
> > whoa, i was expecting a mis $20's to low $30's, not $40 per kit. I'm on a budget. guess I'll wait and stick with the kits i still have.
> ...


----------



## Turned Around (Jan 19, 2012)

So far, all of my pens have gone from $30-$50. That's all my home casted ones (clear with cigar labels or fly fishing lures), deer antler pens, segmented, etc. The only one I was able to sell for $250 was a Majestic with the colored puzzle kit from Lazerlinez.

Not sure if I'm not marketing them right or what. But that's how I'm doing.


----------



## Monty (Jan 19, 2012)

It may not be so much your marketing, but your target market.
Doing small church type shows with booth fees of $100 or less and attendance of a few thousand or less , you won't sell many pens over $150. On the opposite end, doing shows with booth fees of $400 and up with attendance of 4-5 thousand and more, you have a better chance of selling pens over $250.


----------



## Turned Around (Jan 19, 2012)

Monty said:


> It may not be so much your marketing, but your target market.
> Doing small church type shows with booth fees of $100 or less and attendance of a few thousand or less , you won't sell many pens over $150. On the opposite end, doing shows with booth fees of $400 and up with attendance of 4-5 thousand and more, you have a better chance of selling pens over $250.


 

never done a show. been more of a "word of mouth" type thing.


----------



## BKelley (Jan 19, 2012)

I'll stick my 2 cents worth in.  I think the Chinese are taking advantage of us.
For instance, I can buy a darn nice Chinese made  pen for less than 5 bucks. I cannot buy a kit and blank for that kind of money.  I have disassembled these pens and the parts are the same quality as some of our  kits and appear to be identical.  When I say Chinese, I include Taiwan.  Would some one with more business sense than me please explain. 

Ben


----------



## ed4copies (Jan 19, 2012)

BKelley said:


> I'll stick my 2 cents worth in.  I think the Chinese are taking advantage of us.
> For instance, I can buy a darn nice Chinese made  pen for less than 5 bucks. I cannot buy a kit and blank for that kind of money.  I have disassembled these pens and the parts are the same quality as some of our  kits and appear to be identical.  When I say Chinese, I include Taiwan.  Would some one with more business sense than me please explain.
> 
> Ben



Ben,

You are probably partially correct.

But, bear in mind the finished pens you see that come out of China are made in the hundreds of thousands.  

WE (penmakers) cringe at MOQ 500!!

Wanna get your unit cost down, tell them you will take 100,000 at $5 each--be prepared to wire transfer $500,000 in advance and wait several months, but I suspect they will make them!!!   PLUS SHIPPING AND CUSTOMS!


OH---if you do this,  I'll buy 200, cause I see on this thread there are probably 10 people who MAY take as many as FIVE!!!!!

It's a long way to "economical production"!!


----------



## Smitty37 (Jan 19, 2012)

*Mass production*



BKelley said:


> I'll stick my 2 cents worth in. I think the Chinese are taking advantage of us.
> For instance, I can buy a darn nice Chinese made pen for less than 5 bucks. I cannot buy a kit and blank for that kind of money. I have disassembled these pens and the parts are the same quality as some of our kits and appear to be identical. When I say Chinese, I include Taiwan. Would some one with more business sense than me please explain.
> 
> Ben


  There is probably more work involved in a pen kit than in the finished pen.  

A factory turning out pens will buy all the parts in bulk and put them out on the line in bins - I suspect ganged drill presses to drill the blanks, auto insertion tooling to insert the tubes (or .25/hour employees doing the jobs manually), assembly line turning and finishing techniques....

Kits each part is packed in a small baggie - I don't think that's automated of 6 - 7 parts = 6 - 7 little baggies.  Then the parts are placed in a bigger baggie.  By the time they're shipped it has probably used as much labor as making a complete pen.


----------

