After several months of work, we officially launch lectronz.com, a new marketplace for electronic enthusiasts focusing on the open-hardware and DIY electronics community.
As a start, we are looking for EU-based sellers to join us now!
And do not worry: in a couple of months, we plan to open up to sellers worldwide.
Update: we welcome sellers from everywhere to join the party!
How it started
We are a small open-hardware business called OMZLO, based in Greece. Like many other SMEs in electronics, we face trouble manufacturing our products because of supply chain issues. While there isn't much we can do to solve that problem, we started looking at things we can improve in the open-hardware market. There are features that we need that are not available out there.
The first feature we needed is boring but essential. In July 2021, new VAT (tax) calculation rules came into force for companies providing products to consumers in the European Union. Therefore, we needed a platform that could provide VAT/tax calculations based on the location of the buyer. Since Brexit, there has been a similar requirement in the UK.
We also wanted a fulfillment API, weight-based shipping calculation, and many other nice things. We thought: surely other makers and businesses out there would like the same thing!
So in June 2021, we decided to embark on a new project: creating a new marketplace for the open-hardware community with the features that we really need today. This is how lectronz.com was born. The principle is simple: sellers can list their products for free on Lectronz, and we will collect a small fee on each order.
Yes, there is already a well-known thriving marketplace for small hardware businesses. We use it ourselves, and we love the friendly community they have built. Their platform is more polished than Lectronz. But they provide none of the necessary features we mentioned above. Moreover, they have been recently acquired by a large corporation that has not shown much interest in the maker community. We feel that this is the right time for an alternative.
How it's going
In the past few months, we tested Lectronz with a small group of people from the hardware community, who provided invaluable feedback, bug reports, and ideas. We are amazed and forever thankful that people donated so much of their free time to help out. We are committed to continuing to develop lectronz.com with the feedback of the community, and we already have some exciting features in mind!
We are starting small, but we hope to grow big!
Come and join us!
P.S.: Platform seller fees are 0% for the first 10 orders! ;-)