Why are O-rings ludicrously expensive?

[Virtual01]

Every manufacturer seems to like charging 15-18 USD for a set of O-rings. Are you kidding? That's over 10 cents a piece for tiny, otherwise useless rubber rings.

 

Is there any reason I shouldn't buy the ones for $1.50 off of some sketchy chinese ebay seller? I'd rather get burned on a sketchy product then pay 10 times its value.

[improbablepants]

marketing.

[QueenDemetria]

Every manufacturer seems to like charging 15-18 USD for a set of O-rings. Are you kidding? That's over 10 cents a piece for tiny, otherwise useless rubber rings.

 

Is there any reason I shouldn't buy the ones for $1.50 off of some sketchy chinese ebay seller? I'd rather get burned on a sketchy product then pay 10 times its value.

The eBay ones are basically the same thing, I have a set of "premium's" and eBay's and the differences are little. They are expensive because milking PC/Keyboard people is easy.

[Virtual01]

The eBay ones are basically the same thing, I have a set of "premium's" and eBay's and the differences are little. They are expensive because milking PC/Keyboard people is easy.

 

Good to know. Buying 2 sets now.

[Grrizz]

Most of the ebay ones are a lot harder (~70A) than the "premium" (~40A) ones but yea, they are still a bit over priced, when you order 1000+ at a time they are more like 3-5c a piece but when you're ordering tens or even hundreds you get charged through the ear for the hassle of dealing with such small quantities. The cheaper ones often aren't clear too which is better for backlit keycaps.

You just missed a group buy and a for sale listing on geekhack unfortunately that were more like $5-10 per 110/125.

[techswede]

15 bucks for a set of o-rings? You can buy a whole set of o-rings in various sizes for that.. 

[QueenDemetria]

Good to know. Buying 2 sets now.

Yep, the only thing you have to watch out for is bad sellers, but as long as they have good feedback and whatnot they are good.

[Agent181]

Look up on rings on Amazon there are some that are literally the same thing as the wasd ones but meant for pipes and other parts same company too different marketing it's like around $2 for 100 and look at the reviews of it

[WhoNeedsAName]

You could just get some dental elastics.

[DWN]

These are the o-ring dimensions recommended for most of the mechanical keyboards on the market.        

 

Outside Diameter: 8mm /0.32"

Inside diameter: 5mm /0.19"

Thickness: 1.5mm/0.06"

 

If you are willing to wait on shipping, you can get the O-rings for cheap here from ebay, banggood, or aliexpress. Search for "150pcs White Keycap Rubber O-Ring Switch Dampeners For Cherry MX" and confirm the 1.5mm thickness and you're good. You can pick them up in 8 days from Hong Kong for $2 + $2 eparcel upgrade. On some keyboards the clear O-Ring's allow more LED light to reach the keycap.

 

If you increase the thickness of the O-Ring too much you may block the actuation point.  Most actuation points are at 2mm of 4mm total travel.

 

Silicone rings work fine. If you have higher demands from your keyboard, EPDM rubber has a better resistance to cracking and tearing than nitrile or silicon rubber.