Good point on RadioShack missing out on the whole Maker Movement. I thought a they could have taken the best projects off of instructibles or Make and selling kits - kit of the month club.Premium pricing for hobbyist parts did not do them in. The convenience and need-it-now aspect can support outrageous markups. I don't mind spending a couple extra bucks to have it NOW and avoid a freight charge. But if I make that bargain, I want a quality experience. Look at the iPhone 6 markup going on in China. Selling utter crap at premium prices with no tech support drove away parts buyers. But those buyers were probably not much of a factor anyway.
The bigger factor was that RS seemed to ignore a changing market and they failed to keep up with it. The average non-nerd had no reason to go to Radio Shack, and the average nerd was not terribly excited to visit either. Look at all the cool stuff showing up online at Make, Instructables and so on. Did Radio Shack contribute to that excitement? Not a bit.
Go get the owner's permission and start doing it ....Good point on RadioShack missing out on the whole Maker Movement. I thought a they could have taken the best projects off of instructibles or Make and selling kits - kit of the month club.
Bingo. Lowe's and Home Depot and Ace Hardware sell these items as a loss leaders, something inexpensive to get your butt into the store where chances are you will spend hundreds to thousands on the thing you are screwing or bolting down.And I'm willing to bet that HD takes losses on some small items to keep customers from going to the competition for those. Small stores like RS couldn't absorb losses like that.
I'm selling small part for a while now. Its not just hobby purpose, also research, professional DIY, collectors, and commercial customers.I think the Radio Shack stores needed higher volume, higher dollar traffic than hobbyists could ever deliver, even if the store was nerd nirvana. Retail is scored on revenue dollars per square foot. (Apple leads the pack.) Trouble is, all the non-parts stuff I could imagine them selling is available somewhere else.
It costs pennies.Bingo. Lowe's and Home Depot and Ace Hardware sell these items as a loss leaders, something inexpensive to get your butt into the store where chances are you will spend hundreds to thousands on the thing you are screwing or bolting down.
I always felt bad walking out with that $1.99 potentiometer in my bag. No company could survive on the pennies I spent there.
I can buy 20-30 of those for that same price.
Haven't had one component fail, from China.
And when your costs equal your selling price your profit is zero.It costs pennies.
prices are secondary what counts is the business model.And when your costs equal your selling price your profit is zero.
Hahaha, yes, never mind we're losing a nickel on each sale, we'll make it up on volume!prices are secondary what counts is the business model.
Yes. First sell with a loss, then source a larger amount at lower cost.Hahaha, yes, never mind we're losing a nickel on each sale, we'll make it up on volume!
The only retail chain. Better products were always available at better pricing elsewhere, but until the internet came along, the transaction cost - the cost to find, order and ship an item - for the average guy like me was too high and a trip to the Shack was the best or only option. Now it's easier and cheaper to order online than to head to town, even if I'm buying from someone's basement around the world.Bad for Radio shack: They were the only chain with these kinds of products.
by Duane Benson
by Jake Hertz
by Jake Hertz
by Duane Benson