Physical Kits Coming Back…
When I first began CNCKing.com, the focus of the site was selling physical kits, not digital files and as that business grew I then offered both physical and digital but then withdrew the physical ones. I did a 180 from one extreme to the other and since then, have been trying to figure-out how to get back into offering physical kits. I see a massive potential in this market but it just hasn’t been well executed by me in the past to take advantage of it.
I’m not only the owner of CNCKing.com but also the designer with the most designs ON the site – as such, trying to explore new global markets is always in the background of my mind for my designs and those of others on the site.
Different Markets
The problem I had with offering physical kits on CNCKing.com was two-fold. The first was that people who didn’t know any better would order the digital files and then e-mail me asking me where the physical kit was. They would see 15$ and not bother reading that it was DIGITAL vs the 600$ price tag of the PHYSICAL. This irritated me to no end and the only solution I thought of at the time was just getting rid of the physical kits all together which swiftly put an end to customers looking for a deal that didn’t exist.
The second problem with offering physical kits on CNCKing.com was a bit deeper, if you own a laser, 3D printer or router – you don’t have a need for a physical kit, you can order the digital and cut it yourself… but having physical kits on the site limited in what you could ask customers to pay. Materials and production costs vary wildly around the world. To make things a bit more complex – each laser machine has different settings for different materials that need to be optimized. If you don’t know what you are doing, things fall to pieces quickly with poor model cutting leading to a loss of sales. I was basically between two rocks and I couldn’t figure out a good solution until now.
To recap, we got consumers who know nothing about CNC machinery who want kits and CNC operators with an endless aray of different lasers, materials and levels of expertise both visiting the site… two completely different markets!
Solution
Well, I was talking to a friend in the same industry as me and during those few hours… the light bulb lit in my mind and throw-in the fact that I’m getting my own laser shortly and everything just aligned perfectly.
It has taken well over a year and I believe I’ve solve this quandary that I put myself into. Physical kits are coming back to CNCKing.com… but not in the way I have envisioned it… these are the kind of things that happen when you take some time away to evaluate a business model. Sure, I’m not coming out with much of anything for at least the next two months and that’s a good thing… it’s important to recharge the batteries and gain insight from the outside looking in as I’ve spent so much time in the bubble.
Suffice it to say, my Trotec Speedy 400 flexx can’t come around soon enough… although acquiring it will mean a few sacrifices, it’s well worth it and I just can’t wait as it will open so many doors for me globally.