@DJ I noticed the price of the Complete Kit went up a bit... Is there going to be something new included/upgraded or did the cost of some of the components just go up?

Just curious... confused

Cost of components have gone up. Price will change with every batch. We do lots of 500 at a time. That's why the price has changed a few times in the past few months

so if we all wait long enough, you could do a big batch and get it cheaper?

I considered selling the software separate. Most robot control software goes for around 100usd. But then you need to buy hardware for another $100usd. Although the only hardware you would consider getting is the EZ-B, right? So now that would cost you $200 instead of $130 - unless you are going to write your own control software.

If you're looking to spend less, then consider using Arduino. You can buy an Arduino board with included bluetooth for $149 but doesn't come with control software:Click

Oh wait, $149 Arduino BT is more than the ez-b AND it doesn't have control software? Hmmmmmm!! Well then...

I can tell you this - The price won't be going down anytime soon As the software becomes more advanced with more features, then it is worth a lot more. For a product like this, it is best to get in early.

We price according to development cost. For example, the original price was $79 when we launched beginning of 2011. Back then, we only had an SDK. Then I build ARC and the cost went to $99. Then the cost went to $129 because there was another player who wanted a cut of my hard work. We removed that player and I brought the cost back down to $99. On this batch we reviewed our sales VS development cost + hardware cost to predict the future income. Income is required to keep EZ-Robot + Staff. The new price was determined based on those values. Since May of 2011, over 100 new features have been added to ARC.

Because the EZ-Robot product doesn't follow the usual product life story, we are a bit different. For example, you purchase the product now and you continuely get updates with new features. In a year, the new features makes the product worth more - because it constantly grows. If you buy now, you've made an investment for your future.

In fact, you will be able to sell your EZ-B for more money in a year than you paid now. That's an investment also

Every new feature takes hours of software development time. That costs money - We pay shippers/assemblers/customer service/programmers/web developers/etc.. If we all stopped right now and didn't make any new enhancements to the software, the price would not move - Neither would the features.

-or-

An alternative is to charge for the software and charge for specific features. That will eventually happen. At some point, the software will grow to a size that is unstoppable. It'll just be huge! Everyday we add new features - Imagine what it will be like in a year? It'll be a software package worth thousands per purchase. It's already been hundreds of thousands of dollars in development cost. So to moderate the cost of the product, it'll eventually be "purchase per module" or standard/advanced versions.

The way EZ-Robot is growing - My suggestion? Get in now

My vision for EZ-Robot isn't to create a single "product" then move on. It's a growing product for the people - you're one of those people. As the product changes and grows, so does its worth. It's a good idea to get involved sooner than later.

In my words: It ain't cheap to change the world cool

@DJ Beautifully explained and eloquently put. And the most convincing "sales pitch" I've seen in a long time! I'd been holding out on ordering my Complete Kit for the new motor controller in order to save on shipping. Then the Kit went out of stock and now there's a bit of a "hiccup" with the new motor controller...

But! I think it's time to commit NOW before I miss my chance again... I've hit the "Contact Us" to be notified of availability so I don't miss out again, DJ!

Looking forward to hearing from the good folks @ EZ-Robot!

I want 6 more please. Buster has other appendages.

OK, just got notification the new kits are available... where's my credit card...? Thanks for an interesting project....

Harold

Hello everybody,

Ive been reading this site for the past week, and i love what i see, willing to be part of the community.

But i have a question for DJ, For what i could see, the only way to pay for the Kit is with a Paypal account right?

It happens that in the place i live, Macau, theres no bank with agreement with Paypal, sounds impossible right? But its true ...

Any other way i can make the payment, maybe just with Credit Card?

Thanks, hope i can be able to build a Wall - E too, my kids have a big one that is getting dust and no use