February 02, 2025
Last Chance to Back the EEW Fold
The EEW Fold Kickstarter is closing in just a few days! If you’ve been considering getting this brand new eSpinner at a discounted price, now is the time to act. A huge thank you to all of you who have already supported this project. It means the world to me!
One of my favorite things about running a Kickstarter campaign is the opportunity to dive deep into the story behind a new product. Over the past month, I’ve shared many updates about the EEW Fold, but one of my favorites was about the new control software. This exciting upgrade will make the motor work even better, enhancing your spinning experience.
Progress on the injection molds is going great. I recently received new samples from updated molds and it solved all the major issues with the first set of molds. I’ve just finished assembling a few test units and will be sending them off to some of my beta testers to get their feedback after I do some testing with them.
Over 1500 people have joined this Kickstarter so don’t be the one to miss out, support the EEW Fold on Kickstarter today!
EEW 6.1 – Staying Ahead of the Game
I’m thrilled to share that I’ve managed to restock my products before running out—a rare achievement for me! While I thought I had plenty of time with my last order of EEW 6.1s, the new batch arrived just two weeks before I would have sold out. Thankfully, this means the EEW 6.1 has stayed consistently available in my store. For someone who isn’t exactly known for perfect stock planning, I’ll count this as a big win. The EEW Nano 2’s current out-of-stock status is a case in point.
On a related note, the EEW Yarn Counter has been selling much faster than expected. Based on current trends, it will likely go out of stock in 3–6 months. I’m working on some exciting improvements for it, but that means there’s a good chance it will be unavailable for a while during the transition. Rest assured, I’m doing everything I can to keep that downtime as short as possible.
Thanks for your continued support and enthusiasm for my products. It keeps me motivated to do better every day!
This is the container as it arrived to my warehouse with all the EEW 6.1s.
How Tariffs Affect EEW Products
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about tariffs lately, so I want to explain how they affect my pricing without diving into the broader political debates.
How Tariffs Affect My Pricing
My products are priced primarily based on how much they cost to produce. If production costs go up, my store prices eventually go up as well. However, I won’t raise prices until these increased costs actually affect me. That typically happens when a new batch of products arrives.
For example, the U.S. recently announced a 10% tariff increase on goods imported from China, including mine. You won’t see any immediate price increases unless that 10% tariff remains in place by the time I receive my next shipment (likely in June). And even then, only newly arrived products would reflect the tariff-driven price increase. I’m committed to not using tariffs as an excuse to raise prices prematurely; I’ll only do so if necessary to cover increased costs.
How Tariffs Are Paid
When I import a large container of products into the Boston port, I have paperwork showing the total cost of the goods. Previously, I paid a 7.5% tariff on that amount. With the new 10% increase, my tariff could go up to 17.5% total. My import agent collects that amount and sends it to the U.S. government.
Which Costs Are Affected by Tariffs
Tariffs are paid on the direct cost of goods, which includes:
- Bill of Materials: Motors, circuit boards, pedals, plastic parts, and everything else that goes into the final product.
- Machine Time: Operating mold machines, circuit board assembly robots, and more.
- Human Labor: Wages for assembling and testing products.
These are my biggest expenses, so tariffs on them can have a noticeable impact.
Which Costs Are Not Affected by Tariffs
Many business costs fall outside the “cost of goods” and are not subject to tariffs, including:
- Design & Engineering: I do most design work myself which keeps this low, but occasionally hire consultants for specialized problems.
- Prototyping: Ordering parts for product prototypes and testing.
- Injection Molds: The steel molds used to produce plastic parts.
- Container Shipping: Sending finished products from China to the U.S.
- Warehouse Space: Storing goods locally until they are sold in my store.
- Insurance: Various policies to protect against potential business risks.
- General Overhead: Software, corporate tax filings, tools, and other operational expenses.
Anticipated Price Changes
While tariffs may go up by 10%, I don’t expect my final prices to rise by that exact amount because not all costs are tariffed. That said, the largest portion of my costs does face tariffs, so a moderate price adjustment could occur. If China imposes retaliatory tariffs on U.S. components (oddly, some chips in my products come from the U.S. and are then assembled in China), those parts could be taxed twice. Once going into China and once coming back.
Assuming no further tariff increases, I anticipate my overall costs might rise by 5–9%, and I would likely increase prices by a similar range.
Product Updates
Below are estimates and the dates may change.
- EEW Nano 2.1 – June 2025
– Maurice Ribble
Inventor of the Electric Eel Wheel
View web version of this email
www.DreamingRobots.com
EEW Facebook Group
EEW Ravelry Group
EEW Youtube Channel
EEW Instagram Account
EEW Discord Server
