JOY81 - Programmable Joystick Interface for ZX81

[sirmorris]

Same here And now I have a reason

[PokeMon]

I've not actually got it out of the wrapping yet mate

Bought one in case I needed it in the future - didn't really have an immediate reason for the purchase.

It's always good to have a spare one. You never know, next project can come fast.

[1024MAK]

Hi Kelly.
I am also very interested in buying one of your JOY81 Programmable Joystick Controllers and one of your ZeXtender extender boards.

Estimated price to produce an amount of 30 units of ZeXtender + JOY81 is 30 GPB and shipping from Brazil to EU is about 12 GPB.

Receiving items from outside the EU does mean that I may have to pay a tax (VAT) on goods valued at £15 or more plus a charge of £8 to the UK postal service for the pleasure of being taxed so for this reason, the price is sensitive.

Not being a business person, I'm not sure how it would work if you sold your products to a registered business in the UK. I presume VAT will still have to be paid when an item is sold to a customer, but maybe the UK postal service charge of £8 can be avoided?
Rich the admin here operates Sell My Retro where he and some other sellers (including other forum members) sell items. You may wish to talk to him about this.

Mark

[Rink]

I presume VAT will still have to be paid when an item is sold to a customer, but maybe the UK postal service charge of £8 can be avoided?

From memory - yes you'll pay customs, but the couriers/postal service will still charge you way too much money for processing the customs fees UNLESS you opted to complete your own customs forms.

Carrier costs vary a bit - I think DHL are down to about £4.50/£6.50 for certain package sizes and values. A different carrier (can't remember which) charges £12.50!!!

If cost + shipping is less than £15 (IIRC) then you don't get charged. Most of the things I buy from China are mysteriously worth under that amount regardless of how much is taken from my PayPal account. Not that I mind paying tax/customs - I just resent paying even more again for the privilege of paying that tax.

[RWAP]

Yes import duties do not help - I was asked by someone in South Africa if I would be interested in selling their Spectrum interface - he seemed to take offense (unfortunately) when I pointed out that with the extra import duties, handling fees and markup for me, it would make the interface much too expensive for me to sell - I said he would be better selling direct, which is what he is doing, although not through sellmyretro unfortunately!

The same issue would apply with these interfaces - as I am not VAT registered, I would still have to pay import duties plus VAT and a handling fee (albeit one fee for multiple interfaces, compared to one fee per interface) - add on some markup, the cost of shipping from Brazil to the UK and the price of 16GBP would have to be around 25-28GBP for me to sell them - still a possibility I guess for low end interfaces, as people would save on the shipping costs per interface too.

The other option of course is for kmurta to keep the price below the customs threshold - ie 15 GBP (excluding postage).

[kmurta]

This VAT limit of 15 GPB is for UK, and in the rest of EU how it work? And if I send to someone outside of the UK and then he send it back to the final destination in the UK? I do not know if it's a good idea, but is just an idea

And there would be no problem in keeping the price of JOY81 in 15 GPB but plans have changed, sorry.

I will not produce the ZeXtender and the JOY81 in slot card format anymore . Due to the low number of people interested (only 13 in Brazil) and the high cost of production of the two boards, I decided that I will produce the JOY81 only in the traditional format with the edge connector and the piggyback extensor (see picture below). Production costs will be lower and the risks involved will be dramatically reduced for me.

joy81b2i1_top.png (29.11 KiB) Viewed 6412 times

I'm not a business person and I do not expect to make money with it, but I hope to get enough to pay the production costs. I developed this interface and would like to share it with other ZX81 enthusiasts because it is very clever and functional, now there is no game that I can not use the joystick to play it

I sincerely hope that we can find a solution that satisfies everyone.

[Paul]

Just an Idea, and I don't want to be involved too much,
What do you think about the following:
We in the European community find out how many would like to have an interface and send a fee for making them to you helping to cover your costs in brazil.
In exchange you send (one of) us the board details and we produce it in Europe and avoid double vat, customs and extra postage.
Would this be appropriate for you?
Kind regards
Paul

[sirmorris]

Paul - you read my mind

The connector change opens up more possibilities so I think it is a good thing.

[PokeMon]

But he needs some boards in Brazil I think.
What about just selling / shipping the boards without components from Brazil ?
Boards can be shipped easily in a letter, same like the small ZX81CCB module.
A letter till 50 gramm is about 1.50 EUR (=1.30 GBP), a letter up to 500 gramm is about 3.45 (=3 GBP).
This method is quite cheap and I made good experience with it.

PS: I don't worry about the type of connector. The new one is good to me, too.

[kmurta]

Okay, I liked the idea, Paul you are brilliant!

If you can produce interfaces with prices similar to the ZX81XRAM from PokeMon, so I think it's worth try. Under these conditions, the guys here in Brazil could buy the interfaces direct in SellMyRetro without major difficulties.

If we choose this way, I send all the documentation for you but impose only one condition: that the boards are manufactured in accordance with the projects I send, without changes.

But who would be responsible for taking care of this process?