Re-engineering the brick (keyfob)

[Jdyowa]

What happened to the $20-$30 range? This is really damn expensive to have no key or electronics. I was super excited about this but hot damn, $50 for a fob cover is kinda nuts.
Here's to waiting for the price to come down. I'm in manufacturing, and I've worked with this type of materials, and it's about $.02 in material and manufacturing can't be that much. Make a profit, but not all at once.

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[Gulf_coasterHTX]

What happened to the $20-$30 range? This is really damn expensive to have no key or electronics. I was super excited about this but hot damn, $50 for a fob cover is kinda nuts.
Here's to waiting for the price to come down. I'm in manufacturing, and I've worked with this type of materials, and it's about $.02 in material and manufacturing can't be that much. Make a profit, but not all at once.

Agree, seems expensive

 

[Bonanza]

$50!? Dang. I can’t pull the trigger knowing the material cost must be 10 or 20 cents. What a shame.

 

[DC3]

Yes - We finally made it to this milestone and have launched the re-engineered fobs. A special thanks to @Kevin_D @Lucky1 @Deathstar @JEEPmonkey @Pepe and the other beta testers whose handles I don't know yet. Your feedback has been instrumental.

This has been a project driven by passion and fueled by fellow OCD Jeep owners. This project took wings beyond what I had expected and while I now have a 5-figure Jeep fob, I am glad we took this on and pumped to get these suckers out.

For those who live in MN or pass through - you are welcome to pick up your fob or stop by for a tour of our facility. I'd be happy to share our design and manufacturing process. For those who have emailed with this request - your response is coming.

 

[Bonanza]

Yes - We finally made it to this milestone and have launched the re-engineered fobs. A special thanks to @Kevin_D @Lucky1 @Deathstar @JEEPmonkey @Pepe and the other beta testers whose handles I don't know yet. Your feedback has been instrumental.

This has been a project driven by passion and fueled by fellow OCD Jeep owners. This project took wings beyond what I had expected and while I now have a 5-figure Jeep fob, I am glad we took this on and pumped to get these suckers out.

For those who live in MN or pass through - you are welcome to pick up your fob or stop by for a tour of our facility. I'd be happy to share our design and manufacturing process. For those who have emailed with this request - your response is coming.

I priced out a basic blackfob, and it came out to $50 shipped. How did you arrive at that price point? I wanted one of these but that took the wind right of my sails.

 

[Kevin_D]

What happened to the $20-$30 range? This is really damn expensive to have no key or electronics. I was super excited about this but hot damn, $50 for a fob cover is kinda nuts.
Here's to waiting for the price to come down. I'm in manufacturing, and I've worked with this type of materials, and it's about $.02 in material and manufacturing can't be that much. Make a profit, but not all at once.

Hmmm...
This sentiment from the same group that’ll drop thousands on a set of tires, or a lift, and then maybe run a few forest service roads.
This little fob cover is much nicer to carry around and use, and it won’t stab you in the leg.
Oh well, just my opinion.

Kevin

 

[Bonanza]

@Bonanza
@others

If you are looking to save about $12, consider going to the AJT Designs, store and buying one of their offerings.. There are many colors...
https://www.ajtdesign-llc.com/online-store/Fob-Case-c70696020

I had an AJT Designs fob for over a year...Sold it.... sold it once I experienced the DI Labs offering..
I knew once the DI Labs fob hit the market, no way would I be able to get rid/be able to sell, my AJT Designs fob..

The AJT Designs fob is ao.k, but for sure, it will not be as nice or as small as this DI Labs offering but, Yup.... you will save $12.00. For sure $12 is a lot if you are short/fixed for $..

Buying a less expensive product isn’t “saving” money. Me, and others, are looking for value. The free market will dictate what something is worth, but I don’t feel paying $50 for this item is even a mild value. That’s nothing about the product itself— I think it’s quite neat and wanted to buy one. But I wouldn’t have guessed the price would be this.

To each their own. Pass for me.

 

[andrew8404]

@Bonanza
@others

If you are looking to save about $12, consider going to the AJT Designs, store and buying one of their offerings.. There are many colors...
https://www.ajtdesign-llc.com/online-store/Fob-Case-c70696020

I had an AJT Designs fob for over a year...Sold it.... sold it once I experienced the DI Labs offering..
I knew once the DI Labs fob hit the market, no way would I be able to get rid/be able to sell, my AJT Designs fob..

The AJT Designs fob is ao.k, but for sure, it will not be as nice or as small as this DI Labs offering but, Yup.... you will save $12.00. For sure $12 is a lot if you are short/fixed for $..

I currently have the AJT one but I agree. It’s nice but the little bastard keeps dropping my hidden key from the back door if I accidentally drop them.

Buying a less expensive product isn’t “saving” money. Me, and others, are looking for value. The free market will dictate what something is worth, but I don’t feel paying $50 for this item is even a mild value. That’s nothing about the product itself— I think it’s quite neat and wanted to buy one. But I wouldn’t have guessed the price would be this.

To each their own. Pass for me.

ha ha if your looking for value I don’t think Jeep in itself is a value product. Very overpriced for what they are and not very reliable. 30 dollars vs 50 dollars I could care less. 20 bucks isn’t going to ruin my life.

 

[mazeppa]

Bit the bullet and purchased a model-m 4-button mustard/leather with the optional micro key holder to replace this.

Obviously I prefer high visibility although the fob seldom leaves my pocket (even during the laundry cycle occasionally. )

 

[19Comanche86]

Placed my order. The price point is spot on in my opinion. They spent months developing, testing and refining this fob to be as close to perfect as possible. Plus it’s made here in the USA.

Thank you for bringing this to life. Tired of getting stabbed lol

I ordered the blue digital camo.

 

[DC3]

For those with pricing feedback.

There are two issues here as I see it.....

1. Is the fob priced too high? Only you can decide that. The AJT is $37.99 from their store. The Factory fob is $0.00 (comes with the truck).

2. Perceived profit and cost. There is a lot of misconceptions about 3D printing and the associated costs because there is so much coverage of desktop printers with open-source materials. That is not what we use. Our materials are roughly two magnitudes more costly than injection materials (even with the recent commodity price surge).

For fun, I did some competitive pricing of 3D printing firms and found the price of the fobs to be 25% - 75% more expensive than we are charging. So if you designed you're own version and had another service bureau print them for you - you'd be paying 25% - 75% more. That assumes the design and development cost would be free. There are less than a handful of companies that have the printing and post-processing equipment to produce the fobs as they are designed (several steps of mechanical and chemical post-processing after printing). To say it is intense would be an understatement.​

None of this is meant to persuade you to purchase the Threedom key fob but instead meant to inform you of how we approached this initiative. This is truly a passion project. If it were solely profit-driven we would have not done it or we'd just design a simple injection molded fob.

I am proud to be part of the Jeep community and this project has been especially rewarding to work with so many passionate enthusiasts.

......Says the guy with a 5-figure key fob (because all the design and development cost is in mine)

 

[Bonanza]

For those with pricing feedback.

There are two issues here as I see it.....

1. Is the fob priced too high? Only you can decide that. The AJT is $37.99 from their store. The Factory fob is $0.00 (comes with the truck). Each option

2. Perceived profit and cost. There is a lot of misconceptions about 3D printing and the associated costs because there is so much coverage of desktop printers with open-source materials. That is not what we use. Our materials are roughly two magnitudes more costly than injection materials (even with the recent commodity price surge).

For fun, I did some competitive pricing of 3D printing firms and found the price of the fobs to be 25% - 75% more expensive than we are charging. So if you designed you're own version and had another service bureau print them for you - you'd be paying 25% - 75% more. That assumes the design and development cost would be free. There are less than a handful of companies that have the printing and post-processing equipment to produce the fobs as they are designed (several steps of mechanical and chemical post-processing after printing). To say it is intense would be an understatement.​

None of this is meant to persuade you to purchase the Threedom key fob but instead meant to inform you of how we approached this initiative. This is truly a passion project. If it were solely profit-driven we would have not done it or we'd just design a simple injection molded fob.

I am proud to be part of the Jeep community and this project has been especially rewarding to work with so many passionate enthusiasts.

......Says the guy with a 5-figure key fob (because all the design and development cost is in mine)

Actually I quite appreciated the breakdown, especially as compared to an injection mold. Thank you!

 

[Jdyowa]

For those with pricing feedback.

There are two issues here as I see it.....

1. Is the fob priced too high? Only you can decide that. The AJT is $37.99 from their store. The Factory fob is $0.00 (comes with the truck).

2. Perceived profit and cost. There is a lot of misconceptions about 3D printing and the associated costs because there is so much coverage of desktop printers with open-source materials. That is not what we use. Our materials are roughly two magnitudes more costly than injection materials (even with the recent commodity price surge).

For fun, I did some competitive pricing of 3D printing firms and found the price of the fobs to be 25% - 75% more expensive than we are charging. So if you designed you're own version and had another service bureau print them for you - you'd be paying 25% - 75% more. That assumes the design and development cost would be free. There are less than a handful of companies that have the printing and post-processing equipment to produce the fobs as they are designed (several steps of mechanical and chemical post-processing after printing). To say it is intense would be an understatement.​

None of this is meant to persuade you to purchase the Threedom key fob but instead meant to inform you of how we approached this initiative. This is truly a passion project. If it were solely profit-driven we would have not done it or we'd just design a simple injection molded fob.

I am proud to be part of the Jeep community and this project has been especially rewarding to work with so many passionate enthusiasts.

......Says the guy with a 5-figure key fob (because all the design and development cost is in mine)

Well, I can respect what you are saying. I will order one and post an honest review video on my youtube channel. I really wish there was a key spot for this but maybe that doesn't really matter.
Meanwhile, you've changed my mind. Well, I still think it's expensive. But I'll give it a shot.

 

[Tuggernuts]

Just ordered mine. I don’t feel bad about the price. Why? These guys bought a Gladiator just like the rest of us. They saw an annoying issue and they set out to fix it, for all of us. The R and D, the cost of materials and equipment, and the value of the idea itself. I will give an honest assessment as well when I get mine. I’m excited to reduce the size of this fob.

 

[punk'n]

I usually don't comment on things like this but I have to add my $.02.

There are several threads on the factory remotes and wanting various aftermarket options. Heck, there are 34 pages in this thread alone. And, after 34 pages of asking for this or that from crdouglass3, he comes up with a solution to what people want. Notice I said "a" solution. Its not what everyone was asking for because everyone wants something different. But, it looks like a great fob solution being offered in multiple variants. Maybe not for everyone but neither is the factory one.

As far as pricing, crdouglass3 should not have to offer any reason for why he priced it as he did or explain what his costs are. This is the great country of America. If you can conceive, develop, prototype, produce, beta test, modify the prototype, produce a final product and create a web ordering process with so many options either for yourself or at a better price......please do it!

While I have no affiliation to, nor do have any idea who crdouglass3 or DI Labs are, my guess is that they had a business going prior to this adventure. That means that for every fob they have churning out, it takes production time away from their real business adventures. I doubt anyone would be willing to do that at a loss.

Additionally, these fobs are like every other purchase for our Jeeps. They are not necessary, but we buy them anyway. After all, we all got 2 perfectly working fobs with our Jeep purchase. I even got 4 wheel/tire sets that worked fine with mine that I immediately replaced. What a waste of money!

Anyway, I plan on ordering a fob today after I decide what color/texture combination I want. I figure if I keep my Glad for only 2 years, the fob cost me a whopping ($)O.068 cent per day to own. You can spend a hell of a lot more that that on going to the movies, sitting at a bar or eating dinner out- and have nothing to show for it but memories.

@crdouglass3 and/or DI Labs, thank you for creating these fob options for us.

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