Ask HN: Critique my custom hardware solutions idea
I find it more than a little curious that so many people - including me, if I may say so - are hackers and build cool, actually practical toys, yet I virtually never hear of people selling these to others. Thus, the idea of creating a 'hacker creations market' (or something like that. It's not as if I've got it all worked out) popped into my head: a place where people can buy (maybe request) and sell hacks, creations and blueprints.
The problems I see with such a market are these: - Custom solutions are more expensive than products made by people at an assembly line. Thus, hackers would need to demand quite a bit of money for a single solution, which buyers may not be willing to pay. - Hacking is a hobby. People don't want to try to make money with their hobbies. - Quality assurance would be difficult.
I think the first problem is avoidable/solvable, and the second problem is only a general sentiment few people actually care about (if you can make money with your hobby, I suspect most - not all - would take it). But, hey, I've been known to be wrong from time to time. I don't know how to solve the third problem, but at first thought I think a 'rating' system and a strict set of rules of what you can expect from the creator/buyer would be best.
The reason I like this idea so much is that there are so many careers people can choose to do solo and make a decent amount of money, but building new stuff isn't one of them - unless you want to do a startup, which requires you to focus on a single thing for a very large amount of time (i.e. most people I know who build stuff don't want to do that). I don't know whether the idea I proposed is possible, but I hope you can see why this idea appeals to me, and, hopefully, to others.
Do you have any thoughts on this? Do you think it's possible? Would you or hackers you know like and use such a service?