3/28/2023 0 Comments Artisan keycapA keyset that costs $100 during the group buy might go for two or three times that if it ends up being popular. You're more likely to see people offering to sell hard to find keysets for (a lot of) cash. However, many owners of rare keysets will only trade them (you guessed it) for other rare keysets. Anyone who sticks it out and actually gets the keyset can resell them for a tidy profit. With a limited supply of sets and no way to have more made, they can become ridiculously valuable. This is more common when there are lengthy delays or mismanagement that cause people to cancel their orders. If you're into collecting these things, you want more of them rather than fewer, and even a large sum of money is not guaranteed to get you the caps you wantįull keysets sometimes end up with the same inflated value as artisan caps, but not to the same degree. People almost never do that, though, because there's nowhere you can go and just buy a high-quality artisan keycap whenever you want. If someone posts a Kosmonavt or Clack skull on a buy/sell/trade forum for $300, it will sell within minutes. It can take weeks or months to build up a respectable collection via trades and raffle wins.Ĭombined with the extremely limited supply, the dollar value of some keycaps is obscenely high. People sometimes join raffles for caps they don't even want to use because they know those caps will be good trading fodder. You can't just jump into artisan keycap collecting one day and get the all caps you want the next. Oh, but you don't have any of those? Therein lies the problem. Instead, you have to trade other rare artisan caps. The rarity of many keycaps makes them highly valued-so much so that your money might not be any good. You may still be able to get your hands on it, but it won't be easy. Let's say the RNG gods are not with you, and you don't get the chance to buy that artisan keycap you've been craving. The most popular sets are only available in limited quantities anyway. Well, that's not always true some high-quality sets are sold on sites like Pimp My Keyboard and Originative, but they aren't always in stock. Because these are limited production runs, you can't just head over to a website and buy them. Just like with artisan caps, you're essentially out of luck if you miss the original sale. A few group buys were such a mess that people never got their caps at all. However, delays are common, and some buyers have waited a year or more for to be delivered. The best case scenario with keyset group buys is that you get your keycaps in three or four months. So, you and a few hundred people pay your money, and some months later the keycaps are delivered fresh off the production line. The group buy usually needs to hit a minimum order quantity (MOQ) before it will be produced-manufacturers aren't going to set up tooling to make 20 sets of keycaps, after all. In a group bu y, you and a bunch of other people bundle your orders for a keyset and send the money to the organizer, who places the order. Many group buys are run by individuals on forums, but there are also group buys operating on sites like Massdrop (opens in new tab) and a myriad of smaller operations like Ke圜lack and The Van Keyboards. So, we need to resort to group buys.Ī group buy is a bit like a pre-order, except it's the buyer (you) taking the risk instead of a retailer. Even the most popular sets are a drop in the bucket compared to keycaps made for enterprise customers-enthusiasts are a tiny percentage of the business of making keycaps. So, companies that exist to produce keycaps for industrial machinery and retail POS consoles are contracted to make the fancy custom sets enthusiasts are after. Producing a full set of keycaps requires machinery that regular people simply don't have. The design is paired with the terrific Holy Panda X tactile switches.A full keyset comes with its own distinct supply issues. You get a modified version of the $99 Entr TKL keyboard in a green color, and it even has custom artwork of Laurelin and Telperion - the Two Trees of Valinor. Now, if you're an LOTR fan and like the look of these keys, you should probably consider getting the Drop + The Lord of the Rings Elvish Keyboard (opens in new tab). I got the full set along with a few artisan keycaps, and it came out to $345.
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