In From 2014 thru 2020, I sold the blank PCB for $8. In 2020, a kit including the LED display, PCB, and all the parts that were needed to be loaded on the PCB and a jumper to connect the two sold for $45. This included a preprogrammed (by me) ATmega328P and color printed instructions. Some of these were sold on eBay, for example, and there was 10% or so charges from them (don’t remember exactly) plus the PayPal fees, so I probably took in $38ish?
Today, just the parts I can get from Mouser – not including the LED display, jumper or PCB is almost $30 – $37.10 with shipping. Below is a sample of the price changes:
| Description | Order Qty. | 2025 Price | 2025 Ext. | 2020 Price | 2020 Ext | change |
| Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors MLCC – Leaded 50 VDC .01uF X7R 10 % 2.54 mm | 10 | $0.24 | $2.36 | $0.09 | $0.90 | 162.22% |
| Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors MLCC – Leaded 50V 0.1 uF Z5U Long Leads 1″min 20% | 10 | $0.17 | $1.73 | $0.10 | $1.00 | 73.00% |
| Carbon Film Resistors – Through Hole 1KOhms 1/8W 5% Std Carbon | 2 | $0.10 | $0.20 | $0.02 | $0.04 | 400.00% |
| Linear Voltage Regulators 5V 1A Positive | 1 | $0.58 | $0.58 | $0.51 | $0.51 | 13.73% |
| Crystals | 1 | $0.36 | $0.36 | $0.40 | $0.40 | -10.00% |
| Encoders, Decoders, Multiplexers & Demultiplexers Dual Line | 1 | $0.86 | $0.86 | $0.40 | $0.40 | 115.00% |
| Counter ICs Hi-Spd CMOS Logic 4- Bit Bnry Rpl Cntr A 595-CD74HCT93E | 1 | $2.92 | $2.92 | $1.46 | $1.46 | 100.00% |
| Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitors – Radial Leaded 47uF 25V | 2 | $0.21 | $0.42 | $0.11 | $0.22 | 92.66% |
| Carbon Film Resistors – Through Hole 10KOhms 1/8W 5% Std Carbon | 1 | $0.10 | $0.10 | $0.02 | $0.02 | 488.24% |
| Rectifiers 50V 1A Standard | 1 | $0.17 | $0.17 | $0.07 | $0.07 | 142.86% |
| Tactile Switches 6.0X5.0MM 160G | 1 | $0.23 | $0.23 | $0.25 | $0.25 | -8.73% |
| DC Power Connectors PCB 2.1MM | 1 | $1.04 | $1.04 | $1.04 | $1.04 | 0.00% |
| RCA Phono Connectors RCA jack, 3P, 1 x 3, rt, through hole, BE/GR/RD | 1 | $2.92 | $2.92 | $2.54 | $2.54 | 14.96% |
| IC & Component Sockets 28P DIP SKT 300 CL LADDER | 1 | $0.72 | $0.72 | $0.44 | $0.44 | 63.64% |
| IC & Component Sockets 16P DUAL WIPE DIPSKT | 4 | $0.61 | $2.44 | $0.38 | $1.52 | 60.53% |
| IC & Component Sockets 14P DUAL WIPE DIPSKT | 1 | $0.61 | $0.61 | $0.51 | $0.51 | 19.61% |
| Phase Locked Loops – PLL PLL w/ VCO | 3 | $0.88 | $2.64 | $0.52 | $1.56 | 69.23% |
| 8-bit Microcontrollers – MCU 32KB In-system Flash 20MHz 1.8V-5.5V | 1 | $2.89 | $2.89 | $2.08 | $2.08 | 38.94% |
I’m not trying to make money with these kits, but I have to cover my costs, obviously. I am not ordering up one kit worth of parts at a time either, but now I am spending a couple of hundred dollars to make 8-10 kits. And I “make” them – count out the parts, load chips onto anti-static foam, load the parts in anti-static bags, program the microcontroller, etc.
I am probably looking at $60+ for a kit like the one I shipped in 2020 for $45. There’s an individual on eBay selling my design and building the same kit I described above (it’s open source after all) from the Netherlands for about $61 USD, about $75 shipped to the US. This is for a built PCB and display – not mounted in a case, but still – where does a $60 kit fit in here?
The extruded case from Amazon that I am using for my fully prebuilt kit is about $17, then I 3D print the front panel, cut out a piece of smoked acrylic to fit, hand tap and assemble the front panel. The back panel takes careful drilling with a small drill press, painting, engraving, filing – plus the time to build the PCB! Forgot drilling and mounting the PCB to the chassis with spacers, testing, etc. And the one I put up on eBay to “see what it’s worth” just sold for $102.51, shipping included. I can’t do that moving forward.
I am going to try selling a few kits like I did in 2020, with the option of the 3D printed front panel, and a few fully built kits as well…. we’ll see how this goes!