ID cards/holders & Feeding Charts

Very nice!

This is the record cards that I built using Excel. I use them for all of our snakes. On the picture page, I put a digital photo for ID purposes, and on the receipt page, I scan the receipt and insert it as a photo here. Enjoy.
http://www.baileyreptiles.com/pics/recordcard.xls

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Originally Posted by jglass38
Now that is some fine news! Get a cheap barcode scanner and you are good to go!

EDIT: Wow! $750 for the pro version that has barcode scanning capability. That is a steep upgrade from the $20 version.



Wow. I guess I never looked at the prices. I guess you know what to buy if you need an extra tax deduction. ;)

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Hello folks. I'm a little late on this thread, but I felt obligated to post when I read it.
First, a "cheap" scanner defeats the point of having that sort of capability. Descent wireless scanners start at about $500. If you are really going to use a barcode system, you would also need a direct thermal label printer. A descent model of one of those is also going to set you back about $500. I've tried the personal label printers and the do not hold up over time. You get what you pay for. So, there's a grand in hardware. If you have a larger building, you'll need additional wirelss access points for the scanners. That's more $. It would be great if the equipment was cheaper, but it's not. Yes, you can get cheaper equipment, but there's little point in having a scanner with a cord or one that's only good for 15 feet from the base.
So about that $750 for the software... Why do you think it's "steep"? People that need or want it are obviously breeding for profit if they are at a scale of size that it would be a consideration. Barcode inventory is for a "commercial" purpose. Not hobby. They can make a profit, but I can't? I suppose you would have to be a programmer to understand the amount of work that goes into this sort of thing.
I also suppose no one seems to remember another "software" that tried and failed to bring a barcode system to this industry and wanted $3-5K for it and it was never even brought to market... the same software that was introduced at $150, then dropped to $79 in less than a month and is now free. I commented to several "big" folks in the industry about that product and my failure to believe it would fly. I was correct. Oh well.
Back to the profit... If you were to really look around at inventory software packages with the hardware, you will quickly find that you are going to be spending over $2000 for a generic package with no specific catoring to this industry. Am I making a profit on this? From a business stand point, absolutely not. However, some people think that becuase it's "just" my labor that it's profit. You get paid for time you work; don't you? Anyone that had needed support of Degei for any reason can easily attest that they got their $20 worth. To date I have never even charged a single user for phone support when they were having problems and I thought it would be easier to work out over the phone. To top that off, I have always done it at my expense and called them. This project is a "hobby" of sorts, like many of you that keep a casual collection and occaisionally breed and sell offspring. Anyone operating at a profit? Add up all those cages, bedding, the electric bill, animal prices, ect. and tell me. Most "hobbiests" are not. But that's not who is going to buy this software.
To sum it up, I've put in countless hours into this project over the past 3 or so years and have yet (and don't expect) to make a profit. I do think that it would be ok if I recouped a little of my expense. Another thing people never consider is there is thousands of dollars of development software behind this project. Guess who paid for that? Even so, that expense pales to my expendature in labor.
Still, I continue to distribute the free version of Degei 1.8 to anyone that wants it. I'd love to know how many people are using it. Well over 100 people download it a month. Guess it's too good for a free version, because if all those people purchased the standard version, I wouldn't be posting this.
Just thought you might like to hear my point of view.
I recognize the customer's names in this thread and I Thank You for your support.
I'm going to copy this to the Degei support forum and see what other users think.
-d

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Originally Posted by Damon Theis

Hello folks. I'm a little late on this thread, but I felt obligated to post when I read it.
First, a "cheap" scanner defeats the point of having that sort of capability. Descent wireless scanners start at about $500. If you are really going to use a barcode system, you would also need a direct thermal label printer. A descent model of one of those is also going to set you back about $500. I've tried the personal label printers and the do not hold up over time. You get what you pay for. So, there's a grand in hardware. If you have a larger building, you'll need additional wirelss access points for the scanners. That's more $. It would be great if the equipment was cheaper, but it's not. Yes, you can get cheaper equipment, but there's little point in having a scanner with a cord or one that's only good for 15 feet from the base.
So about that $750 for the software... Why do you think it's "steep"? People that need or want it are obviously breeding for profit if they are at a scale of size that it would be a consideration. Barcode inventory is for a "commercial" purpose. Not hobby. They can make a profit, but I can't? I suppose you would have to be a programmer to understand the amount of work that goes into this sort of thing.
I also suppose no one seems to remember another "software" that tried and failed to bring a barcode system to this industry and wanted $3-5K for it and it was never even brought to market... the same software that was introduced at $150, then dropped to $79 in less than a month and is now free. I commented to several "big" folks in the industry about that product and my failure to believe it would fly. I was correct. Oh well.
Back to the profit... If you were to really look around at inventory software packages with the hardware, you will quickly find that you are going to be spending over $2000 for a generic package with no specific catoring to this industry. Am I making a profit on this? From a business stand point, absolutely not. However, some people think that becuase it's "just" my labor that it's profit. You get paid for time you work; don't you? Anyone that had needed support of Degei for any reason can easily attest that they got their $20 worth. To date I have never even charged a single user for phone support when they were having problems and I thought it would be easier to work out over the phone. To top that off, I have always done it at my expense and called them. This project is a "hobby" of sorts, like many of you that keep a casual collection and occaisionally breed and sell offspring. Anyone operating at a profit? Add up all those cages, bedding, the electric bill, animal prices, ect. and tell me. Most "hobbiests" are not. But that's not who is going to buy this software.
To sum it up, I've put in countless hours into this project over the past 3 or so years and have yet (and don't expect) to make a profit. I do think that it would be ok if I recouped a little of my expense. Another thing people never consider is there is thousands of dollars of development software behind this project. Guess who paid for that? Even so, that expense pales to my expendature in labor.
Still, I continue to distribute the free version of Degei 1.8 to anyone that wants it. I'd love to know how many people are using it. Well over 100 people download it a month. Guess it's too good for a free version, because if all those people purchased the standard version, I wouldn't be posting this.
Just thought you might like to hear my point of view.
I recognize the customer's names in this thread and I Thank You for your support.
I'm going to copy this to the Degei support forum and see what other users think.
-d

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Damon,

I don't think anything I or anyone else said (and you quoted me but combined mine and somebody else's post) was attacking you. I know you can't read tone in people's posts but you seem genuinely upset about the comments. Keep in mind that I am one of the people that has bought the pay version and I think you have done an excellent job with it (which you would see with a search on Degei where I pimp it out every chance I get). You made some good points in your post and I am sure you will have a market for it. All I said was that it was "Wow! $750 for the pro version that has barcode scanning capability. That is a steep upgrade from the $20 version". There was no intent behind that other than my initial sticker shock. I suppose if I was in a position to need software like this, I would probably be all over it. I wonder what kind of market there is at that price point but I assume if you spoke to the big breeders out there that there was some interest or you wouldn't have spent all this time and money in development. Best of luck in everything you do and know that I support and applaud your efforts!

Jamie

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Damon,

I don't think anything I or anyone else said (and you quoted me but combined mine and somebody else's post) was attacking you. I know you can't read tone in people's posts but you seem genuinely upset about the comments. Keep in mind that I am one of the people that has bought the pay version and I think you have done an excellent job with it (which you would see with a search on Degei where I pimp it out every chance I get). You made some good points in your post and I am sure you will have a market for it. All I said was that it was "Wow! $750 for the pro version that has barcode scanning capability. That is a steep upgrade from the $20 version". There was no intent behind that other than my initial sticker shock. I suppose if I was in a position to need software like this, I would probably be all over it. I wonder what kind of market there is at that price point but I assume if you spoke to the big breeders out there that there was some interest or you wouldn't have spent all this time and money in development. Best of luck in everything you do and know that I support and applaud your efforts!

Jamie

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I also agree with what Jamie said here. I use your full version for $20 and recommend it to people on a daily basis. I love the idea of the bar code system and will hopefully be able to add that to my setup in the future. We never intended to down-play the hours of work such a program takes to implement. I applaud the programs you have developed for the keeping of herps and hope you continue to do so. :sweeet:

Yes, the worst thing about forums. Emoticons just can't convey tone. Please DO NOT take this post as any sort of attack. It was written very calmly and in good nature in the idea of honest debate.


I WANT feed back on this.

I also want to make sure people understand the reality of the work it takes and the expense involved.

Sorry about the quote merge, I was not paying attention. I did intend for both quotes to be nested with the correct user names.

About developlment, if you did the 3.0 upgrade, you know that Mike Wilbanks has helped make this happen. I also posted this on the Degei site. If it wasn't for him, it wouldn't have gotten done.

Jamie, please goto www.degei.com and check the links page under support. I just started a link exchange for Degei, so get me a banner.
-d

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Damon Theis

Yes, the worst thing about forums. Emoticons just can't convey tone. Please DO NOT take this post as any sort of attack. It was written very calmly and in good nature in the idea of honest debate.


I WANT feed back on this.

I also want to make sure people understand the reality of the work it takes and the expense involved.

Sorry about the quote merge, I was not paying attention. I did intend for both quotes to be nested with the correct user names.

About developlment, if you did the 3.0 upgrade, you know that Mike Wilbanks has helped make this happen. I also posted this on the Degei site. If it wasn't for him, it wouldn't have gotten done.

Jamie, please goto www.degei.com and check the links page under support. I just started a link exchange for Degei, so get me a banner.
-d

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Good stuff Damon! I will get my site banner over to you. I also want to get the 3.0 upgrade shortly to see what additions have been made. I reiterate my support for an excellent product that you have put a ton of time and effort into. Its my lifeline to keeping everything related to my collection organized.

EDIT: I didn't see it, but have you added any email functionality for events in the system?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Damon Theis

Hello folks. I'm a little late on this thread, but I felt obligated to post when I read it.
First, a "cheap" scanner defeats the point of having that sort of capability. Descent wireless scanners start at about $500. If you are really going to use a barcode system, you would also need a direct thermal label printer. A descent model of one of those is also going to set you back about $500.

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i know you can get a thermal barcode label printer on ebay the zebra brand for any where from 10 and up and these are very good printers.

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EDIT: I didn't see it, but have you added any email functionality for events in the system?

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There's a list of the new features on the web site. Please check it out. Also be sure to look and the new online doc system.

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i know you can get a thermal barcode label printer on ebay the zebra brand for any where from 10 and up and these are very good printers.

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I can't quote ebay prices. You know how that goes.
However, I did buy my own scanner (used) on ebay at substantial savings. (about half)
My pricing is based on new, waranteed items. For example, the Symbol ls4278 and the zebra/eltron lp2844.
Both pieces are in the $500 range.
-d