The problem is that the dropshipping and getting same product cheaper arguments don’t really work in the keyboard hobby, as it is just too niche. Most keyboards, except for a few mass produced ‘custom’ boards (I.E. gmk67) are sold directly through a few sellers (or in the case of qwertykeys and a few other larger-ish keeb companies, a few for each region) with the manufacturer shipping it directly to them. You just can’t find the exact same case for cheaper off aliexpress unless the company is trying to sell more to the chinese market, or if something is very, very wrong.
Currently the hobby is far to niche for low costs to be available for more premium boards, as far too few people buy those boards for costs to be lowered via scale, so the hobby is essentially in a loop of “people get introduced” -> “those people think prices are crazy” -> “about half start the hobby” all while prices still remain crazy as the amount of people in the hobby is slowly rising.
The problem is that the dropshipping and getting same product cheaper arguments don’t really work in the keyboard hobby, as it is just too niche. Most keyboards, except for a few mass produced ‘custom’ boards (I.E. gmk67) are sold directly through a few sellers (or in the case of qwertykeys and a few other larger-ish keeb companies, a few for each region) with the manufacturer shipping it directly to them. You just can’t find the exact same case for cheaper off aliexpress unless the company is trying to sell more to the chinese market, or if something is very, very wrong.
Currently the hobby is far to niche for low costs to be available for more premium boards, as far too few people buy those boards for costs to be lowered via scale, so the hobby is essentially in a loop of “people get introduced” -> “those people think prices are crazy” -> “about half start the hobby” all while prices still remain crazy as the amount of people in the hobby is slowly rising.