Price of Blackbird went up $1,144 from April 2020

[cchinicz]

Hey guys, I've just seen the price for the (backordered) brand new Blackbird and found out that it went up $1,144 since I bought it back in April 2020.

I'm wandering if this is the same unit I bought or maybe there are some changes. As far as I could check, its the same power9 CPU, 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD. Am I missing something?

[vikings.thum]

The price for a Blackbird is $1,558.19 today, ~$400 more compared to ~1 year ago.

Edit: Oh you're referring to the desktop (BK1SD1). My guess is that building such a system has become more costly because a) it needs more time than just putting a mainboard in a box and ship it and b) Tim's calendar is full, so time has become more valuable.

[cchinicz]

The price for a Blackbird is $1,558.19 today, ~$400 more compared to ~1 year ago.

Edit: Oh you're referring to the desktop (BK1SD1). My guess is that building such a system has become more costly because a) it needs more time than just putting a mainboard in a box and ship it and b) Tim's calendar is full, so time has become more valuable.

I meant the assembled desktop which sells for $3,994 on Raptor's web site (see attached).

[MPC7500]

This has to do with a number of things. But it should be noted that the fees that were listed separately in the past are now included in the price.

[cchinicz]

This has to do with a number of things. But it should be noted that the fees that were listed separately in the past are now included in the price.

Which fees? I paid $2,850 April 2020 for the Blackbird (mounted desktop). There were no fees on top of this price.

[MPC7500]

Order fees. Included since end of 2019, IIRC.

[cchinicz]

Order fees. Included since end of 2019, IIRC.

I've checked the invoice and they have not charged an "order fee". Maybe it was part of the shipping fee.

By the way, how much was this "order fee" that has been included in the price?

[vikings.thum]

You should get everything you need to know by using archive.org.

[cchinicz]

I simulated a purchase and found out they removed the possibility to buy the Blackbird with 8 cores. Of course you can still buy the CPU yourself and replace but that you'd have wasted the 4 cores that comes with the unit and the work and responsibility of replacing the CPU.

It seems Raptor wants to position the Blackbird even more "entry level", although the price went up $1,144.