With all the Holy Panda drop hype, why aren’t any of the switch shops selling switches by the individual parts?
It would save time for switch modding and since most brand switches share the same housing and only differ in stems, it would be cheaper to stock stores with popular stems.
Part of this is inspired by the amount of leftover / wasted springs I have from modding Cherry and Gateron switches to lighter springs.
I’ve often thought the same thing. u/hbherionbob over on Reddit sells Outemu Sky & Ice switches in parts I believe, but those are the only 2 switch types he has available. My guess would be the manufacturers do not want to sell switches in pieces. Also the added labor mark up for someone to take switches apart & sort the pieces probably keeps this from making sense for the smaller shops. Hopefully someone will start selling a good selection of switch pieces as I would love to see that as well!
Some places, like Switchtop, sold Cherry Clear stems back when those were the peak of tactility. Aristotle stems used to be sold stem-only, back when they were still available.
There are many parts not fitting togheter and not everyone is aware of these compatibilities (e.g. outemus tops,etc)
But i guess mainly due fragility and dust. For example if you have to stock all the parts, the bottom could be really a failure (the leaf damaged or moved a bit changing the switch feel and functionality) or dust inside the housing. Dust and scratches on the stem could be a thing too.
On a side note, all the manifacturers usually stock-lube the switches slighlty (leaf and stem) and they do not assume that everyone lubes their switches.
It’s not a wise idea to sell/ship bottom housings on its own cause the leaf is very easily damaged in transit and is susceptible to dust / contamination. A damaged leaf is no good for a switch modder, so that’s why it’s never offered. I always cringe seeing people selling disassembled switches and shipping them in bags.
Yeah, makes sense. There really would be no good, cost effective way to safely ship bottom housings by themselves when I take the time to think about it. 