Used Ergo-keyboard Market (Question/Discussion)
I love a lot of the keyboards on here (especially ones with an integrated track ball) but I'm a poor grad student under deadlines; even most kit-boards are too much of a time sink for me to soldier together.
I know at least some of you like trying new boards all the time. And I'm guessing some of you have one or two daily drivers and then 3 older boards; maybe one that was a prototype build, or a novelty micro-board that was fun to just play with but not use, etc.
I would be happy to effectively fund a new kit/build for someone by buying one of those older (assembled) boards, but I don't know where to look.
Is there any kind of used market, or do you guys have any recommendations?
There is a site called Keebswap which aims to be a used mechanical keyboard market to replace the subreddit r/mechmarket on Reddit (a formerly popular topic-based discussion platform that ... probably still exists but I'm not sure). Note, I haven't used either of these; I just know they exist.
The idea is nice and I hope it does well but the filtering/tagging on there is non-existent so browsing isn't so good.
From my experience, used boards are mostly sold in the respective semi-local communities on Discord. The continent you live on is a good first indicator for what communities to join :)
This ended up being the most helpful!
I found a discord for Charybdis, along with a channel specifically for buying/selling and it looks promising. Thanks 👍
Fantastic, happy you found something!
Craigslist and r/mechmarket have been my go-tos to finding used boards. It's not very reliable as they pop up once in a blue moon, but every so often the stars align and I check mechmarket on a day when a board I want is there.
What's your budget? I have also been looking out for something similar, mostly on r/mechmarket (I have an ergo travel that I am trying to get to work consistently).
There are sometimes deals like this: (not sure if this one is still available) at $80 https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/162uc4s/uscah_dilemma_v1_choc_pink_w_paypal/
Another place I've found really good prices is the bastardkb discord, but like r/mechmarket the postings for split keyboards are infrequent.
If you have switches and keycaps from a donor mech kb, this could be a good option at $128: https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/162uc4s/uscah_dilemma_v1_choc_pink_w_paypal/
Edit for completeness: $120 one piece option just without keys/keycaps: https://ergohaven.xyz/shop/tproduct/339856256-880659810681-planeta
Not including switches and keycaps, two cheapinos would come to around $60 according to the prices listed on its GitHub (I don't think I'd be confident to do the job myself, but going half with someone might be a cheap option).
This is the thread where I learned about the cheapino and the OP is asking a similar question that might have relevance to your situation https://www.reddit.com/r/ErgoMechKeyboards/comments/16id57p/recommendations_for_cheap_split_ergo_keyboard/
thanks for the related thread and the board links! I think I found a good option in a discord (a Charybdis) so I'm working on getting that.
Nice! What discord if you don't mind me asking?
Sorry took me awhile to get around to finding the link: https://discord.gg/ZnPtnu6K
No worries, I was wondering if it was bastardkb, good prices
Not sure about others, I tried to sell me keyboard but without success, maybe split keyboards are a bit too niche and no one near me (HK) is interested. I just disassembled the keyboars to scrap the components for the next build, which is a bit sad considering a significant amount of time is spent on assembling it.
that is sad. I feel like shipping isn't as big deal compared to the cost of the board. I mean I'm looking at a pre-built Charybdis and it's $500+
Indeed, the major cost is labor cost. I was iterating on the design once a month and do some very simple tweaking (change the screw location for example). Because I want to make sure that the entire thing works, I need to solder everything for each cycle. Due to the lack of components, I have to disassemble old working keyboard to make a new one. I probably disassembled 4 or more in total. I was looking to sell the old one for $100, but no one was interested. I guess a lot of mechanical keyboard users are probably not used to split keyboard and DIY keyboards, so are not willing to buy it.
This isn't a full answer to your question, but as for where secondhand keyboards are bought/sold, I bought one from eBay a while back.