The future of ZD Encoders

[Vigo]

Hello all!

First, I wanted to say that I am back in the states and have had a wonderful time off in Aisa. It has been awesome having a few months away from the internet to focus on my kids and family, as well as eating good food and visiting cool places. When I returned back to the grind of everyday life, the plan was to go back to selling encoders as I always have. I have been meaning to write this message a few days now, but have been afraid to let the cat out of the bag. Unfortunately, I am at a point where I feel I will most likely no longer be selling any encoders in the future.

I will be selling everything off and you will see these encoders for sale from other vendors in the future.

Thank you for your support.

[Nephasth]

Thanks for all your hard work, Vigo!

[yotsuya]

I'm glad I got mine from you when I did. Glad to see you back!

[DaOld Man]

Yes, thanks for your hard work. I did not buy one of your encoders, but I was going to when I finally broke down and made a one player bartop.
It sucks that people will steal your ideas and designs.
If you decide to get back into the business, please let us know.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun. (Enjoy life, for it's not very long.)

[Drnick]

You did a good job  Now go find something you really enjoy doing and work on that for a bit,

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Many thanks for all your hard work man (and wife!)  We here at Kitchen Stadium enjoy the encoders you sold us damn near each and every day!

...If you decide to get back into the business, please let us know.

YES. PLEASE. I'd much rather buy from someone I "know," even if it's slightly more expensive, than bother with fleabay or the like. Same reason I still do most of my pc parts buying business with NewEgg. Yeah, there are cheaper places out there now, but I have NEVER had an issue with them -- many RMAs, but NEVER a "problem" -- and that's worth something, I think.

[BobA]

Thanks for the hard work Vigo.  You did a great job and I think you started up a small industry all by yourself.  Best of luck on any new endeavours.   

[BadMouth]

I had assumed the ones on ebay were yours! (never paid any attention to the location)
Wish there were some kind of recourse for you...

[emphatic]

This makes me sad, you had a great thing going. I did buy both of mine from you though (I live in Sweden) and I was super-happy with everything. I also really loved that you offered support for US and Japanese sticks/buttons, I'm sure the eBay sellers won't give you those options. Thanks a lot for your great service!

[Vigo]

Thank you all! I don't know how well I can convince you that you all have had an incredible impact on my life, but it is true. Its been a wonderful experience and I am glad you are happy with your encoders as well. 

As far as the situation goes with my brand, product write-ups, instructions etc. all getting ripped off. Well, I really came to terms with it quickly. James (The English name of the guy who makes the encoders) has the right to sell the his boards to any reseller he wants, and in a way I am really flattered that other resellers are using my brand name. I knew I couldn't sell forever, and it is good to know the product lives on even if I am not a part of it. I hope the other sellers do a good job. If there were a real need for me to come back, I would be happy to do so.

[Louis Tully]

.

[harveybirdman]

Just want to add my gratitude as well.  Two ZDs still going strong!  I originally bought these for a cheap way to test possible controls but now I'm pretty sure they're going in my final machine.

[kahlid74]

Thanks Vigo for all the hardwork.  You're countless hours spent have pushed the envelope on encoders and made them more readily available and affordable to all.  Glad you're back and rocking and rolling again.

[jmike]

     
      Thank you again Vigo, for all your hard work. (I think I still got one of your encoders)
(I bought about 6 or 7 of your encoders and two sets of those NES buttons).


 

[MTPPC]

What really stinks is that not only will the Chinese bootleggers steal your branding, their government subsidises their shipping so it costs them about $.01 to ship into your "local" market. But I've got to be honest. When you are dealing with communists, you can't expect to keep your profit margins because anyone building your stuff will either bootleg it to others or others will just buy one unit and copy or reverse-engineer it. I think you are making the right decision. Reselling Chinese doodads always has a limited lifespan and diminishing profit margins. If you must sell goods, sell something that is difficult to ship by air or sea. Or sell something that is totally custom like graphics. You see, it's hard to get 10 year-old slaves to do anything other than production line work.

[leapinlew]

I just bought 3 encoders from ebay. I didn't realize they weren't you either.

My question is, do they make the plug in quick connectors to fit Happ buttons? They say they fit Sanwa now, but I'd like to use them for Happ. What I've been doing is cutting and soldering, and I'd like to try them with quick connects.

[Afterburner]

hmmm...sounds like a story straight out of the book "Makers".

I think you did the right thing by branding them.  Normally your loyal fan base and word of mouth would be enough to keep it going. But if the other resellers are able to undercut you by that much its time to move on and view the lower cost  as a win for the community.

Best of luck to you.

[sharpfork]

Thank you all! I don't know how well I can convince you that you all have had an incredible impact on my life, but it is true. Its been a wonderful experience and I am glad you are happy with your encoders as well. 

I really appreciate the time you took to answer my questions when I was trying to figure out if the ZD PS2 functionality would meet my needs (turns out it didn't).  You offered great service and helped lower the finical barrier to entry for folks wanting to get into this hobby.
 

[Le Chuck]

Vigo, you rock.  No ifs ands or buts about it. 

[JDFan]

Vigo - sorry to hear you are quitting - was waiting for word to order one for my single player bartop build since everyone had good things to say about your service and the board seemed to fit my needs well - seems like word spread pretty quickly as several Hong Kong and China suppliers of the boards have shown up over the past week - would have rather ordered from you but went ahead and ordered today from Hong Kong - only time will tell if it works out. Good luck with any future endeavors you decide to pursue and thanks for the hard work in making these encoders more affordable     

I just bought 3 encoders from ebay. I didn't realize they weren't you either.

My question is, do they make the plug in quick connectors to fit Happ buttons? They say they fit Sanwa now, but I'd like to use them for Happ. What I've been doing is cutting and soldering, and I'd like to try them with quick connects.

Just ordered one myself and after looking at the new entries they seem to offer both types - and the info gets a bit confusing as it loses something in translation !! (from the looks they have listings for the Happ type connections and Sanwa type and also have either happ type joystick connections or the japanese 5 pin  type so you have to look over the ads to see what you are ordering and then also wouldn't hurt to mention which type you want in the memo field when placing the order (since the ad says to mention it if you want the happ type conections instead of Sanwa - not that that will quarantee the right ones in the end !! ) but for $10.99 shipped even if they come with the wrong ones a couple dollars for new connectors should be easy enough !

Now to see how long the shipping from Hong Kong (I went with them instead of from China) takes and what ends up being shipped.   

[leapinlew]

I just bought 3 encoders from ebay. I didn't realize they weren't you either.

My question is, do they make the plug in quick connectors to fit Happ buttons? They say they fit Sanwa now, but I'd like to use them for Happ. What I've been doing is cutting and soldering, and I'd like to try them with quick connects.

Just ordered one myself and after looking at the new entries they seem to offer both types - and the info gets a bit confusing as it loses something in translation !! (from the looks they have listings for the Happ type connections and Sanwa type and also have either happ type joystick connections or the japanese 5 pin  type so you have to look over the ads to see what you are ordering and then also wouldn't hurt to mention which type you want in the memo field when placing the order (since the ad says to mention it if you want the happ type conections instead of Sanwa - not that that will quarantee the right ones in the end !! ) but for $10.99 shipped even if they come with the wrong ones a couple dollars for new connectors should be easy enough !

Now to see how long the shipping from Hong Kong (I went with them instead of from China) takes and what ends up being shipped.

You expect me to read the entire ad now? 

Crap, I totally missed that.