From the beginning, Tindie has been dedicated to building a community to support hardware creators and enthusiasts. In 2012, the most immediate need was a place for makers to sell their hardware creations to like minded enthusiasts. As of today, the Tindie Marketplace has –
- Over 100k unique visitors a month
- Over 21,000 orders to 96 countries
- 4,000 products
- 1,000 hardware companies like Arduboy
Together we’ve built the largest community of hardware businesses and enthusiasts anywhere in the world. It is because of that, Popular Science labeled Tindie the “Etsy of Hardware.” It’s an honor to be compared to such a great company – when we are only a (growing) team of 3 🙂 We’re hiring!
Every day we help new projects come to life, and witness the struggles of businesses behind them. We get emails like this one from a PhD Candidate at UCLA-
We have designed a wearable board and sensor around the neck, however we are requesting quotes for a design manufacturer, or a hardware company that can build and design the final product.
Let me know if you can help, or know of anyone that can help.
We hear stories of makers paying $20k for introductions to manufacturers or a startup losing $100k to middlemen that never produce. The truth is that there are countless stories like those.
There has to be a better way. You shouldn’t have to fly to Shenzhen or pay tens of thousands of dollars to find the best manufacturing partners. Fundamentally we don’t believe startups and inventors should have to pay to find great manufacturing partners. It should be as easy as finding the nearest Starbucks.
Today we are launching a project that we’ve been working on since August –
Tindie Biz
A free, community tool for finding and reviewing the best manufacturers & suppliers around the world. Soon you’ll be able to freely find the best injection molders in Michigan or top LED suppliers in Shenzhen with a simple search. Already we have over 1,400 US manufacturers like Bay Area Circuits, a PCB manufacturer in Fremont.
Bay Area Circuits already has 17 reviews from makers to engineers at Tesla. One of their reviews –
I have been consistently impressed with the speed, quality, and communication I’ve gotten from BAC. We’ve done several board runs there now, and I expect to use them from now on.
Usually my order shows up on time or early, sometimes with extra boards included in the box. On all but one occasion, the product has been exactly as ordered. I placed one order that came back with an error, but they were able to correct the problem, re-run the board, and deliver the very next day.
Overall, I recommend BAC without hesitation.
We’re crowdsourcing this problem and turning to the community to help us. Today’s announcement is the launch to further gather reviews and businesses that the community has used in the past. The process:
- Search for a business
- If we have it, great! Please add a review of your experience
- If you don’t, please add it and leave a review.
Once we have sufficient number of reviews, we will be fully opening the platform for free use.
- No subscription fee
- No cap on searches
- No ads or sponsored results
A free, open platform for the community to find great businesses others have used in the past. Together we can solve this problem. In 2015, we shouldn’t have to navigate our social networks for recommendations – it should just be at our fingertips with open collaboration and transparency.
Starting now, you can now help the community and share your experiences. Thanks for your help and please share your experiences now!
