Am I the only one who thinks it is difficult to find open groupbuys?

Submitted by Molnes t3_ykcbx9 in MechanicalKeyboards

Hello guys. Am I the only one who struggles finding open groupbuys for products I actually want? It seems like every group buy with a product I would like is just sold out when I go on KBDFans. Is it expected that I should go onto the site everyday to see if there is a new groupbuy? It's so difficult to find open groupbuys.

I recently built a 65% keyboard, and I want to do a 75% build too. All the diy kits and cases I find are not what I'm quite looking for, so I found out I need to look into groupbuys. However, every groupbuy I find on kbdfans with products I would be interested in are sold out. Does anyone have any tips for a beginner? Even tips about a good looking 75% that is in stock. (I'm not looking for those compact 75%, I'm looking for one with a bit space between the number and f keys, f.ex the Luna 80, but a 75%)

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QWERKey-UK t1_iusgegs wrote

https://www.mechgroupbuys.com/

You may also want to check out Mech Merlin on YouTube who has a weekly group buy round up.

Also, just keep up to date on Geekhack.org

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Molnes OP t1_iusgp2y wrote

Thank you for the tips! Turns out looking at KBDFans isn't the best option.

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YourLocalLoserrr t1_iusjae5 wrote

Mechmerlin posts weekly YouTube summaries of all groupbuys, he's amazing

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Fraaaaan t1_iush3hn wrote

You'll obviously struggle with finding open group buys if you don't know where to look for them. It also doesn't help that lost of keyboard group buys are very limited in time and quantity.

Geekhack is where most keyboard and keycap interest checks (IC) and group buys (GB) are announced. It's an ugly old forum but it's the preferred hobbyist place for posting and keeping up with upcoming projects. This is the best place to keep yourself informed about all kinds of projects.

There's also a good amount of projects that are announced solely on the designer's Discord server, this is more common for keyboards than it is for keycaps. Figure out which designers you like and join their Discord servers.

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Molnes OP t1_iusi3e7 wrote

>There's also a good amount of projects that are announced solely on the designer's Discord server, this is more common for keyboards than it is for keycaps. Figure out which designers you like and join their Discord servers.

Yeah that makes sense. I should probably look into some designers. Actually I visited Geekhack once, but I just thought "surely nobody uses this old website", but thanks for the clarification. Will bookmark that website.

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KuroRyuu86 t1_iuv90lb wrote

Always look at the date of the last post on each thread. An easy sign that there is always activity. It will also show u how many people are browsing the site.

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sunfaller t1_iusi41p wrote

Incoming QK75 opening this month or next.

Info about upcoming GBs are usually in discord so I agree, hard to find info.

And KBDfans arent always going to have the ones you are looking for as they go to different vendors.

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Molnes OP t1_iusjq19 wrote

Oh that actually helped really much. I just found Candykeys, who has the Freebird75 ready for preorders, which is both budget friendly and nice!

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Miguel7501 t1_iusyi06 wrote

Search the sub for [GB] and [IC] once a month and sort by new. You'll find most of them right here.

As for in-stock 75% boards: Keychron Q1 or V1 depending on how much you want to spend. They are solid prebuilts and can be customized easily.

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Ckamc t1_iuuht7b wrote

what are you looking at on their website?

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Molnes OP t1_iuv37jh wrote

The groupbuys category. Upcoming, Interest Checks etc. And almost everything is sold out, unless it is some numpad keycap kit.

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Ckamc t1_iuv95c0 wrote

Well up coming and interest check means it's not live yet or able to be purchaee able. When they decide to, you can sign up for notifications for when it does.

Most of their stuff from interest check to live... Kinda all over the place for when they launch it. If it has a price and says interest check or in production, means it will launch soon.

The only thing in a 75 from them would be that new odin75 they are working on. Not sure when but looks like something happen since they marked it as "in production"

Different companies have different ways of displaying things. So don't look right away at the sold out icon as there might be more info in the description.

Overall, I think there are less group buys from some brands and more in stock drops starting to happen. But looking at thocstock and mech group buy sites gives you an idea... But a lot of checking in with everything is kind of how some of the hobby works.

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Molnes OP t1_iuvcgg1 wrote

Thanks man! That is a good point. I should probably get more into other sites and stuff. Just found it difficult to find vendors. Obviously after this thread, I realize there is a lot of possibilities!

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Impossible_Finger_79 t1_iuw6wzj wrote

Yea.. it's called the worst hobby on the internet for a reason.

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