

Show HN: Pibow - an update (sold 12,000 in 11 weeks)  - whiskers

76 days ago I submitted this link: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4257793<p>Since then the response we've had has been just unbelievable - we've opened a workshop, bought three laser-cutters, have distributors in the UK, America, and Sweden, hired a full-time staff member and also have two temporary workers helping with the backlog. Something about Pibow caught a lot of peoples imagination for sure!<p>We've learnt a huge amount during that time about setting up, insurance for light manufacturing, shipping and handling customs, dealing with bulk orders and retailers, and just generally having a blast connecting with our customers who are amazingly passionate and interested in what we're doing.<p>We've just had a guest post featured on the Raspberry Pi foundation website (http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/2098) which gives a bit more insight into the journey we've taken so far.<p>As our first foray into manufacturing (coming from a software/design background) this has been a really amazing experience for us both! We intend to build the business (Pimoroni) into something bigger and have plans for a few more products as soon as we have a bit of time and head space to deal with it.
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xSwag
If you don't mind, I would be very much interested in what the profit margin
was on these sales. In addition, what was the procedure of contacting and
collaborating with the manufacturers?

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whiskers
The margin on sales varies _a lot_ depending whether we sell the product (best
margin) or whether a retailer orders a thousand units (worst margin).

We are the manufacturers. :)

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yossilac
How did you get all your distributors? Did you just cold-call them, or did
they approach you after you were featured at raspberrypi.org?

