[Interest Check] The Amazing Chocolatier

[Muirium]

It is legal practice for a store, but not for our standard gb settings.

You'll have to dig into the USA laws, not your own. They're located in the US, not Germany.

Are they sharing any of those fat, tasty profits of theirs with you, Spikey? Or did they find other means to convince you?



Tell Kahn I could use some of those, to help collect DT Club fees on time.

[Spikebolt]

I wish they would give me tasty profits for sharing my opinion with you guys, but unfortunately all they give me is the goods I pay for

[c2lknt]

That bug pic brought back a flood of childhood memories - I haven't seen it since I watched it as a kid, maybe 5yo? That bug is why I'm still creeped out by bugs, and why I won't let anyone put any mind-controlling doodads in my ears.

@OP: If you're aren't yet caught up in it, JD45 hype is swelling, and will become a mighty... something... I can't make this bad innuendo joke work right now. Anyway, get yourself a 1.75 r3 enter, 1.25 r3 tab, 1.75 & 1.25 r4 shifts and THE SWELL will be satisfied. (Am I getting those right, JD45 and JD40 friends?)

Sorry to everyone for really phoning it in on that innuendo.

[photekq]

+1 to zslane. I understand the arguments of those against MD, but I don't agree with them at all. And that's coming from someone living outside the US!

Their registration wall is there for a legitimate reason. Do you think they have it there just to annoy people?

They're a US based company, so of course you're going to be paying import charges if you're outside the US. Are they to blame for this just because it's not viable for them to open a EU storefront/distribution center? Get a proxy!

I've bought from Massdrop several times and it's always been a great service. I don't want a community from them - I want the keyboard communities here and at GH to be able to use their great storefront as a platform on which great things can be done. Just look at Granite, Whitefox and Triumph Adler. Do you think they would have been anywhere near as successful without Massdrop?

[KRKS]

You mean Yet Another Last Batch and Triumph Scratcher? And since they can't even get a numpad right, I wouldn't count on Whitefox being as intended either.

[kbdfr]

[commenting registration "is a way to provide you cheaper prices without requiring manufacturer approval]
Do you live in a country where sellers need manufacturer approval to decide on their retail prices?

You do too. Although that ('vertikale Preisbindung', can't be arsed to look up the english legal term) is illegal in the EU, that happens way too often.

Now that's an argument
Basically you are saying Massdrop rightly require registration at the outset in order to comply with illegal practices.
Would you then find it OK if their prices were calculated so to cover e.g. bribery costs?
Oh, I forgot - anything is OK, after all they supply us with those colourful litle pills which make us so happy
(I mean keycaps, of course).

[zslane]

I've noticed that MassDrop is the favorite whipping boy of the mech keyboard community these days. I'm sure that once their massively illegal and unethical business practices are exposed and reported to the appropriate authorities, it will close its doors and no longer offend everyone's grass-roots sensibilities. Everyone wins! Except everyone.

[kbdfr]

I'm only objecting to the fact that they compel users to first register before they can at all access their website,
and otherwise only commenting the various (in my opinion nonsensical) answers.

Let me put it the other way round:
What would be different if they offered open access to their website and registering was only required to actually be active there (i.e. post, comment, buy)?

[webwit]

Registration is easy and free of charge. It is a minor annoyance for the five minutes it takes to register and then it is never an issue again.

You didn't read their illegal, shitty, nasty terms.

[ReleaseCandidate]

You do too. Although that ('vertikale Preisbindung', can't be arsed to look up the english legal term) is illegal in the EU, that happens way too often.

Now that's an argument

It wasn't meant as argument about massdrop (I neither care much 'bout massdrop nor this set of keycaps).

Basically you are saying Massdrop rightly require registration at the outset in order to comply with illegal practices.

No, that's not what I've said. And AFAIK it isn't illegal in the US.

[Muirium]

Their registration wall is there for a legitimate reason. Do you think they have it there just to annoy people?

Actually, given that it is indeed MassDrop we're talking about, I would in fact say yes! Their whole pattern of behaviour is a douchey, swaggering Fuck You to us here at DT. Just look at all these *free marketing* threads MassDrop's minions post all over our forum. And then try to find high profile mentions of DT on MassDrop's site. The balance is entirely lopsided. What a surprise: towards the profit makers' interest!

The fact we need to explain the hidden costs of imports so frequently here in that context is because MassDrop is particularly good at catching newbs' attention. While, naturally, their advertising contains no warnings for foreign buyers. That's fine if we're not involved in the poor bastards getting dragged through the cleaners. But when the advertising is on our site, it's plain wrong to sit on our hands as new DTers show up, excited, and soon to be rudely popped of their customs cherry.

If DT was an enlightened dictatorship, under my vindictive, totalitarian, and brutal control, you bet I'd actively consider erasing MassDrop from the face of the earth. Or rather their marketing materials from the forum! But we're not that far on the road to Stalin's sublime paradise quite yet…

[Spikebolt]

I just don't find those arguments compeling, Mu! People share deals/polls ran on massdrop because they think it is a good deal, not because they're a Massdrop minion... There are also a shit ton of ebays links shared everyday, and ebay never mentioned us and no one was ever thought out to be an Ebay minion

It's the buyer's responsibility to know the import taxes that they are subject to. It would be cool if they could warn you about the value, sure, but it's not like any other keyboard vendor/gb holder is doing the same.

I see Massdrop as a reliable way to join GBs, one that has customer support and real money back guarantees in case anything goes wrong. I have no brand loyalty, or community expectations, I just think they provide a good service. Don't understand why registration is such a deal breaker for you guys, but I respect your decision non the less.

[Muirium]

Actually, I do routinely grumble about all the free publicity we give eBay, too. (But I can't think of a good DT search term for it to insert here!) Of course, eBay already owns the global auction market — they are the Amazon / Google of that space — so our publicity is almost irrelevant. But Massdrop is still picking up steam, and we keep on giving it to them, with no thanks or respect in return.

[KRKS]

Well, I'd say they get more publicity from the wrong Linus and the likes. Not sure about now, but back when I watched his videos MD got a shout-out every 3-4 weeks.