What the first quote came back at
Higher than I planned for, in the places I expected, and one place I didn't.
The first real quote came back this week. I said at the start of this that I'd write down what actually happens rather than the tidied-up version, so: it came in higher than my working number, by enough to matter.
Where it went over
The shell, which I expected, and which I've already decided to spend on. That conversation was in fabric samples, round one.
The sealed core, which I did not expect. Glass micro-beads are cheap; the compartment stitching to stop them shifting around is not, because it's several additional operations on a part nobody will ever see. This is the direct cost of the problem I noticed while pouring them between containers, which is a satisfying and expensive kind of foresight.
The zip. Genuinely did not see this one coming. Because the whole thing goes in the microwave with the cover on, the zip has to be non-metallic all the way through — teeth, slider, and pull tab. Ask for a "nylon coil zip" and you will cheerfully be sent one with a metal slider on it, because that's the default and nobody thinks about it. Specifying the plastic slider explicitly, and getting a spec sheet rather than a nod, costs money and about three extra emails.
Certification. ASTM F963 testing is a fixed cost regardless of how many units you make, which means at a first run of a few hundred it lands on each unit hard. I knew the number. I had not internalised what it does to a small batch.
What it doesn't change
The price. $55–75 is still the range, and I'd rather make fewer units at a price that works than more at a price that quietly eats the second run.
What it might change
The size of the first batch, and how long the waitlist needs to be before the campaign is worth launching. I'll have a real number on that in a few weeks, and when I do you'll get it here first, including if it's a number I don't like.