[TriLUG] [more and more OT]: Hobby Parts for Electronics

Lee elfick at trilug.org
Thu Apr 15 10:06:01 EDT 2004


Jeremy Portzer wrote:

>While I agree that selling a $3 part for $15 may seem pricey, I don't
>understand the general snobbishness against Radio Shack among electronics
>geeks.  Sure, Radio Shack doesn't have the selection or pricing of Digikey
>or similar online/catalog warehouses.  But each store doesn't have
>anywhere near the sales volume, and Radio Shack locationas are close by.  
>According to their web site, Radio Shack has over SEVEN THOUSAND
>locations.  There is almost always one in your neighboorhood, and they
>have all the basic electronic parts you normally need.  They've got to pay
>for all that rent somehow, so they can be near you.
>
My problem with Radio Shack is their horrid selection of anything 
resembling an electronic component. Sure, they have tuners, amps, TVs, 
and computers, all of which I can get cheaper at Best Buy, but god 
forbid you go in there on the day of assembly and hope to pick up a 
momentary SPST switch. You are just going to be SOL. Having 7000 
locations and being right there doesn't mean squat if they don't have 
what you need. Its sad to say, but AutoZone has a better selection of 
switches than Radio Shack does. If they would get rid of all the garbage 
that I can get cheaper/better from BB or CompUSA, they would have room 
for the stuff that no one else carries, the stuff they actually used to 
be known for and for which they had a corner on the market.



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