advice on making an item
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: Tippmann Paintball
Forum Name: Paintball Ideas / News From Tippmann
Forum Description: Got a new idea or a way to improve something?
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=175229
Printed Date: 15 July 2025 at 4:14pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: advice on making an item
Posted By: a_sock
Subject: advice on making an item
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 3:25pm
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well I have devised something and am going to be doing a prototype soon and plan to patent, manufacture and sell this, and I just would like some questions answered. I have a friend who has built a bunch of little gadgets for paintball and is currently having his products made in China I think, and I was thinking of making an agreement with him where I get a decent percentage of sales and he takes care of all the other things because he has expereince in this. Based on my research and planning it should cost about 1-5 bucks to build per unit, depending on the model(have 3 different model ideas) and depending on where he gets the materials, its mainly plastic and other very simple things, and I think that if he bought in bulk each unit would only have maybe 50cents of alluminum and plastic, and Im hoping they would sell from $40-120, depending on model and what he thinks would be a good price, but I do think that $40 is a low ball. my question is, should I just sell the idea to him, agree on partnership and I get a portion of sales with a low amount of money invested on my part, just start out building them by myself and not have them mass produce and see if I can just sell a couple and learn if theirs any demand, or if theirs any advice anyone can give me. I will not give out any details on the product because I do not have a patent yet and am trying ot be very cautious about this. I can say that it is paintball related, aimed at stock, open stock class, and open class paintballers, and the target audience would be people wanting to do something without spending 300-500 dollars to do it, and my product will or should be compatible to all major markers (dont have plans for a kit for A5's, and my cocker conversion kit is very rough, and the very exotic guns wont have a kit for them, unless demand is high, and phantoms would just be pointless to do...) I know this is long but I wanted to get everything answered, Thanks. ------------- its easy to be famous, just set yourself on fire |
Replies:
Posted By: Stopwatch
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 4:02pm
| If you don't know what you are doing then I would suggest you go with your partner(if you trust them) but also do not emediatly mass produce them. Makes them yourself in small quantities and see if there is anyone at all who would want to buy 50 cents of plastic for 120$ |
Posted By: paintballa43708
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 6:44pm
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first you should make aproxmitly 5 our so and mabby post on ebay our pbnation. see how they sell and try to get feedback. after that see if the user liked the gun. if they do make a few more if they are in demand mass produce thats how i would go at it. ------------- Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body 
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Posted By: a_sock
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:38pm
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K thanks, its just that right now my prototype has other peoples things in them so its just a matter of getting some raw materials and making somehting 100% original from the shop, but if I were to sell an item and dont have the patent others may get a patent and steal my idea? Im just kind of scared someone will get ahold of my idea and run away with it. ------------- its easy to be famous, just set yourself on fire |
Posted By: paintballa43708
Date Posted: 02 May 2008 at 7:55pm
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try and patent everything so you dont have any people try and make a substantial amount of money on your product. ------------- Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body
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Posted By: Evil Elvis
Date Posted: 04 May 2008 at 11:05pm
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your limiting your product to a small sector of the paintball world. So I wouldn't mass produce 100's of them that will sit on your garage.
I suggest that you make a quick batch and cash in. There isn't a huge Pump stock class market out there for Paintball Companies to decide to rip off your idea and make a run to china. I say make a few get well known on the Online community (stock class and open class) and market to them. It's not like your equipment is geared torwards the more Main stream Paintball niches like Tourney Ball and Scenario. ------------- 
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Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 15 May 2008 at 11:03am
I am not a patent lawyer, but I would think you need to be very careful here. If you are building off of someone elses patented technology, they may be able to expect royalties from your design as it uses their core product. I work in the electronics industry and have seen several situations where a component manufacturer had to go back and pay royalties to another company because the "new" chip they designed and marketed was based on technology patented by another company. Also, be very careful when working with Chinese suppliers. They hold little regard for U.S. patent and/or copyrights. ------------- "When I grow up I want to marry a rich man and live in a condor next to the beach" -- My 7yr old daughter. |
a_sock wrote:Posted By: Monk
Date Posted: 15 May 2008 at 4:00pm
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Didnt the mccarter Buzzard start out like this. Small business maybe 1 or 2 a few weeks or so, then people started really getting into mccarter products? Like said before I wouldnt worry about a patent right now. make a few to a hundred, and sell them. Check how fast they sell and go from there. Im assuming that you are either doing a pump conversion kit or some sort of 12gram quickchange adapter. Either case, it would be a good idea to do a bit more research, get a good idea of whats already out there for the price you want to get. Also to check to see why they are no longer made. Goodluck bro! |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 16 May 2008 at 3:10am
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*Earon Carter. M. Carter Brown is the admin of a self-named forum that specializes in older paintball gear. :) ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell" 
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Posted By: a_sock
Date Posted: 16 May 2008 at 6:45am
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isps and exams comming up so I have to study, Im trying to build my own parts but its a slow process because I'm not an expert with this, and I only have access to the machinery I need in school. If i can get the parts or most of the complicated to fabricate parts done before summer I should have a working model (thats going to look like crap) by the end of the summer. ------------- its easy to be famous, just set yourself on fire |
Posted By: paintball437085
Date Posted: 16 May 2008 at 7:50am
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you cant rush your prototype our it gonna blow ------------- psn=Xx_DY3_xX |
Posted By: Yomillio
Date Posted: 18 May 2008 at 11:21am
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When you get a few prototypes built, put them in the hands of a few players to get feedback and see what troubles they run into or improvements they want. It will help you a lot in the long run. The best idea for something like yours would be to produce however many you want and afterwards attempt to sell it to a small, trustworthy company. This is extremely risky if you don't have a patent, but I think a patent or patents would be far from worth it with your current market because done quickly and properly, with a lawyer and such, it will cost you multiple thousands of dollars. ------------- 
http://www.tippmann.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=172327 - Forum XBL Gamertag Collection |
Posted By: xr80fan
Date Posted: 23 May 2008 at 2:22pm
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as soon as you get them pantnted could u post sum picks i bet you could get some good ideas about how to inprove it and stuff from the peole on the fourms.
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Posted By: Nagash1959
Date Posted: 01 June 2008 at 10:14am
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First off, use the Poor-mans patent method. Draw up detailed blueprints with your personal information on them, then mail them to yourself. I'm not joking. This sets a standard that you in fact did it before anyone else did. I have friends that are free-lance writers that do this ALL the time. It may not stop anyone else from doing it, but it stops people from ever being able to sue you if they beat you to production. Second, partnerships are typically a bad idea when dealing with low loss risk. If you can afford the production yourself and have little to no other overhead then most of the partnership benefits are lost. I take it that whatever you designed isn't likely to malfunction and get you sued? So that leaves the (IMO) best method to start out with, which was already mentioned. eBay it. Make them and sell them off on eBay, any forum that does allow members to sell goods, anywhere and everywhere that will let you. By doing it yourself you'll at least see the most return as is possible. Be sure though to get an actual patent going as soon as possible. Something that almost every marker ever could use other then pumps?....hmmm.....an ASA made out of cheese? ------------- 98 Custom Cyclone Double E-Trigger Polished Internals Freak kit X-chamber CP Drop w/On/Off |
That would be the only real benefit, in a limited partnership setting, all limited partners have zero personal liablity. Of course you'd have to convince your friend to be a general partner then, and that is kinda hard "Hey man, if we get sued, can it be like...JUST you who has to pay?"Posted By: paintball437085
Date Posted: 01 June 2008 at 10:27am
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do you have a name for it yet ------------- psn=Xx_DY3_xX |
Posted By: a_sock
Date Posted: 01 June 2008 at 10:50am
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....crud a name...Project is majory postponed, time spent in school, team practices, friends, job, money tied up for jacksonville, I soo wanna go to that, I got an invite to walk the feild with team so I actually get to stand where pro's get shot, lol I could imagine trying to deflate and put a bunker in my shirt... Plus other scenario games coming up aorund the country and area, so everythings on hold. Ill mail the schematics to myself, and Ill find a name for it... maybe do a survey at school for sociology, what would you rather buy a "" or a "___" ------------- its easy to be famous, just set yourself on fire |