About Regional PCB Group Orders

[jamro]

This discussion category helps Tiny Engineer builders find other people in the same region who may want to combine PCB orders and share manufacturing and shipping costs.

It is intended as a community coordination space, not a marketplace operated by Tiny Engineer.

Regional group orders are independently organized by community members.

How to start a regional group order

1. Go to GitHub Discussions

2. Click New discussion.

3. Select the Regional PCB group orders category.

4. Create a separate discussion for your region and batch.

5. Use a clear title such as:

   [US] Main Board Rev 2 — looking for participants

   [UK] Main Board Rev 2 — 10-board assembled batch

   [EU / Germany] Main Board Rev 2 — PCBWay group order

6. In the first post, include:

   • country or region
   • board revision
   • PCB manufacturer, if already decided
   • PCB only or assembled PCBA
   • approximate target quantity
   • estimated cost per board, if known
   • current status of the group order

7. Other community members can reply in the discussion if they are interested.

8. Once the group is formed, move payments, shipping addresses and other private information to a private communication channel chosen by the participants (for example, Discord, Signal, Telegram or another private group/chat).

Do not post sensitive information publicly in GitHub Discussions.

Suggested status

Please keep the first post updated as the batch progresses:

Interest check → Collecting participants → Ordering → In production → Shipping → Completed

If an order is abandoned, please update the discussion accordingly so other members know it is no longer active.

Important: these are independent community orders

The Tiny Engineer project and its maintainers:

• do not sell the boards offered in this category
• do not collect or hold payments
• do not collect shipping addresses
• do not place orders on behalf of participants
• do not fulfil or ship regional orders
• do not verify or approve organizers
• do not guarantee that an organizer will complete an order
• are not a party to transactions between participants

Using this category only means that the project provides a place where community members can find each other.

Participation in any group order is voluntary and at your own risk.

Protect your personal information

Do not post any of the following publicly:

• postal addresses
• phone numbers
• bank account details
• PayPal or other payment account details
• payment confirmations containing personal data
• other sensitive personal information

GitHub Discussions should only be used for public coordination and status updates.

Once participants decide to proceed, they should choose their own private communication method for exchanging addresses and payment information.

Before sending money

A group organizer is another community member, not a verified Tiny Engineer seller.

Before sending money, consider:

• reviewing the organizer's GitHub profile and contribution history
• asking for a clear manufacturing quote
• asking for a breakdown of manufacturing, shipping, taxes and other costs
• confirming the exact PCB revision being ordered
• confirming what happens if the final cost changes
• confirming what happens if the manufacturer rejects or changes the order
• using a payment method with appropriate buyer protection where available

Do not send money if something does not feel right.

Tiny Engineer does not maintain a list of "trusted" or "verified" group-order organizers.

Keep group orders transparent

Regional group orders should primarily be a way for community members to share manufacturing and shipping costs.

Organizers are encouraged to publish a simple cost breakdown, for example:

PCBWay PCBA order: $160
International shipping: $40
Import / taxes: estimated $25
10 boards
Estimated cost: ~$22.50 per board + local shipping

Screenshots of manufacturing quotes are welcome, but please remove names, addresses, order numbers or other sensitive information before posting them.

Any commercial resale activity should be clearly identified as such and may be outside the purpose of this category.

If something goes wrong

If you suspect spam, fraud, impersonation or another abuse of GitHub, use GitHub's reporting tools.

If a discussion is clearly misleading, abusive or unrelated to community group orders, project maintainers may close or remove it.

However, Tiny Engineer maintainers cannot mediate payment disputes, recover funds, enforce delivery, or act as an escrow service.

Other ways to get a board

Regional group orders are only one option.

The project is also working on making it easier to order individual boards directly from PCB manufacturers, including testing PCBWay Shared Projects.

The long-term goal is to make it possible to order a single assembled Tiny Engineer board directly from a manufacturer without needing to organize a group order.