^ you have a good point about all that. whether that's to say that pedal builders are gouging themselves or that people in other professions overcharge for their time is maybe debatable but its probably the increasingly blurry line between 'hobbyist' and 'professional' that's making people increasingly conscious of what kind of cost/effort/time goes into the pedals they buy since the market is so inundated right now.lordgalvar wrote:I dunno, something I have been thinking about:
We all know that the Nux is $35 or there abouts....lets just say to get it to Aus, it costs something like an extra $15 (don't know, but I am just rounding up to $50). Maybe he spends an extra $10 on parts/expendables (paint, solder, etc). Maybe he spends around two hours a pedal...or more or less. $125 an hour to work on something isn't unheard of (esp. when they have a full time job and people are paying them for their "spare" time). Plumbers charge around $100 an hour and my local lumber shop charges $100 for the first hour and $60 after that (I know those two generally have overhead, but there are independent shops that charge the same). When he sends them to a retailer he probably gets less because they sell for around the same price.
I dunno, I think some of the smaller builders gouge themselves to keep up with what consumers want (trying to compete with the prices of a streamlined operation that buys in enormous bulk is difficult). Hell, I was messing around buying the components for two pedals and I was up to $80 easily (buying ones and twos of things doesn't get you far in bulk pricing). When I got into pedals way back when everything was more expensive. Fuzzhugger, dwarfcraft and stuff are all insanely cheap compared to what I would used to have to pay and, I am not kidding, a bargain for their quality of build and stuff. I remember DBA selling the TSA for 150 and it was $20 in parts (probably and 10 of that was the switch) and maybe one hour of work? The E13 TBD I waited forever to get was 250...was there anymore work involved in that build versus what Seppuku is doing? At least I am not getting a printed sticker.
The only thing that I can be really critical of Seppuku for is the lack of communication. But if he sets a price and people pay it, then more power to everyone involved. I like his pedals and I think he has original designs that are inspirational. I dunno, sorry for rambling/ranting.
personally i never really questioned his prices, UNTIL i went to buy a pedal from him and the checkout had changed from AUD to USD even though he's in Australia, and that I was gonna be charged $25 'flat rate' shipping even though i'm the next state over and it would have cost not even half of that. that's where the line is drawn for me, he can set the pedal at whatever he thinks it's worth and i couldn't care less, at the end of the day we can buy it or not buy it there's no point fussing, but if he's happy to let someone local be charged in a foreign currency that's conveniently stronger than the AUD and be overcharged for shipping i'm out. i don't know if he's corrected this but it just made me lose interest. i actually love the chaotic shitty website but if the checkout system is just as fucked up then thats a different thing.
i'm not sure if he even tests the pedals on guitar 
