Originally Posted by
InkUnderNails
Back of the envelope numbers but I could make and sell them for about $50 each and make about $40 each in profit. Add a little red and green LED and we are up to about $25 each, my cost. I could outsource them to China and get them for about $2.95.
Of course, you would want to manufacture them EXACTLY to spec, so that a few months from now, you can lobby your Congressman to lobby TSA to modify the rules - slightly wider/narrower blade, mm longer or shorter. That way, TSA would have to completely replace the useless tools and you would be able to cash in a second time around. Of course, your profit would be marginally lower, because you would be expected to 'donate' generously to your Congressman...
Or, better yet, manufacture them not-quite-to-spec and accidentally discover the problem after all checkpoints have been equipped. Ask for a big $$ infusion to study the problem for a solution, announce that there isn't one, and manufacture a new (flawed in a different way) set.