Electronic toymaker for hire?
July 12, 2010 12:06 PM Subscribe
I would like to pay someone to build me an electronic toy. See this Jobs post.
Is there another site that I could request bids on?
Best answer: I looked at that posting with interest when you put it up, but decided not to contact you about it for a couple reasons:
I would probably need to charge you more than you expect or would be willing to pay. Even though the function of the device is simple, it's still an electronic device that needs a proper power supply and a custom enclosure, and designing that kind of thing as a one-off is cost prohibitive. Add to that the fact that buttons, knobs, switches etc tend to be some of the most expensive components you can buy (at least if you want them to last,) and you're left with a price in the hundreds of dollars at least.
The other issue is liability. Designing things for toddlers to play with is risky. I'd feel awful if a kid choked on a piece of something I built or managed to get a painful shock from it, and would do everything I could think of to make it as safe as possible. As an individual I'm not sure exactly what I'd be liable for, but I'd expect to be vulnerable to a massive lawsuit if anything did go wrong, and I really wouldn't be comfortable promising that it wouldn't when the stakes are so high. Toy companies test their stuff exhaustively and have massive budgets for doing so, and still there are frequent toy recalls.
I expect other people looking at your listing would share my concerns regardless of where you post it. If your goal has changed (If, say, you have a toy idea and want a prototype made so you can shop for a manufacturer or something) and you're invested enough in the idea to spend more than what most people consider a "toy" to be worth (and note that in your bid request) I think you'll have better luck.
posted by contraption at 12:23 PM on July 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
I would probably need to charge you more than you expect or would be willing to pay. Even though the function of the device is simple, it's still an electronic device that needs a proper power supply and a custom enclosure, and designing that kind of thing as a one-off is cost prohibitive. Add to that the fact that buttons, knobs, switches etc tend to be some of the most expensive components you can buy (at least if you want them to last,) and you're left with a price in the hundreds of dollars at least.
The other issue is liability. Designing things for toddlers to play with is risky. I'd feel awful if a kid choked on a piece of something I built or managed to get a painful shock from it, and would do everything I could think of to make it as safe as possible. As an individual I'm not sure exactly what I'd be liable for, but I'd expect to be vulnerable to a massive lawsuit if anything did go wrong, and I really wouldn't be comfortable promising that it wouldn't when the stakes are so high. Toy companies test their stuff exhaustively and have massive budgets for doing so, and still there are frequent toy recalls.
I expect other people looking at your listing would share my concerns regardless of where you post it. If your goal has changed (If, say, you have a toy idea and want a prototype made so you can shop for a manufacturer or something) and you're invested enough in the idea to spend more than what most people consider a "toy" to be worth (and note that in your bid request) I think you'll have better luck.
posted by contraption at 12:23 PM on July 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Developmental psychology type labs build these sorts of one- or two-off blinkenlights contraptions with some frequency. Depending on complexity, whether it needs to withstand kids handling it or not, etc., the price can range quite a bit (I've been lucky so far that all my stimuli have been analog toys I can build/sew myself, so I don't have numbers off the top of my head.) If you're near a university with a psychology department, they might be able to put you in touch with whoever makes their experimental toys.
posted by heyforfour at 12:41 PM on July 12, 2010
posted by heyforfour at 12:41 PM on July 12, 2010
My concern would be a different one; namely, that I would produce something that met your (currently vague) specification, but that wasn't quite what you had in mind, and the project would require a bunch of revisions before you were happy.
Also I'm in another country; international shipping could be expensive.
posted by Mike1024 at 12:54 PM on July 12, 2010
Also I'm in another country; international shipping could be expensive.
posted by Mike1024 at 12:54 PM on July 12, 2010
I used www.guru.com a couple of years ago to find an electrical engineer to help me figure out how to wire a bunch of lighting components together in my house. It worked out great.
posted by ssimon82 at 3:14 PM on July 17, 2010
posted by ssimon82 at 3:14 PM on July 17, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by TooFewShoes at 12:14 PM on July 12, 2010