Got it. More like 7 volts to 10 volts capability. (depending on your preferred safety margin)

 

3316% markup compared to Tayda.

 

50V into 1kΩ gives me 2.5W

 

50V into 1kΩ gives me 2.5W

maybe it has a temperature coefficient "protection feature"?

 

maybe it has a temperature coefficient "protection feature"?

At $1.99 each, it definitely has that feature.

 

All of the cost is picking, packaging, and labeling. You don't see Digi-Key running storefronts for a very compelling reason.

 

Obviously gold plated.

 

All of the cost is picking, packaging, and labeling. You don't see Digi-Key running storefronts for a very compelling reason.

Right, but that means they could have sold packages of 5 for the same price and looked more competitive to the consumer - but their marketing group was so bad.

On the other hand, components was less than 5% of their floor/shelf space so that 'department' didn't make or break the company.

 

All of the cost is picking, packaging, and labeling. You don't see Digi-Key running storefronts for a very compelling reason.

Other stores seem to have no trouble selling individually packaged items well under a dollar. Sometimes even just a few cents a piece. Hardware stores come to mind.

It's fine if they have some sort of minimum break even cost for a single item, but then they should put 10 trimmers in a bag for $1.99. If someone needs a part quick, it's fine to charge for convenience, but I personally would not buy out of principle if the price is blatant gouging. It's an insult in a small plastic bag.

 

There was never anything wrong with Radio Shack. They stayed in business for 60 something years. Things change, new industries and businesses come up and old ones become history. There are fewer and fewer DIY'ers than the old days, and internet shopping and larger outlets ( like Fry's ) has killed many of the older B&M businesses.

If anything, they just didn't adapt to new realities.

 

Small hardware stores are not exactly a model of retail success. They are slowly being consumed by the big box stores. You can't find exactly what you want at HD or Lowes, it comes in a bag, with more than you need, for an exorbitant price. What choice do we have?

 

There was never anything wrong with Radio Shack. They stayed in business for 60 something years. Things change, new industries and businesses come up and old ones become history. There are fewer and fewer DIY'ers than the old days, and internet shopping and larger outlets ( like Fry's ) has killed many of the older B&M businesses.

If anything, they just didn't adapt to new realities.

Now that you wrote it, I'll agree with most of what you said. I just feel bad seeing a staple from my childhood go they way of the dinosaur and want to blame it on something other than time or evolution of technology because those causes just make me feel old.

 

Other stores seem to have no trouble selling individually packaged items well under a dollar

What "other" electronic stores? I have no problem paying a premium or components at Radio Shack if it means I am going to finish a project now as opposed to waiting for shipping. My Tec scope was down. Traced it to an op amp Radio Shack had in stock. I would have paid twice what they were asking to get the scope back up and running that fasr.

Eons ago at work, we had a bunch of boards no one could fix. I traced the issue down to a particular chip. Went to the stock room and checked out several chips. To my surprise, the replacement did not fix the issue when everything said it had to fix the problem. Thinking I had a bad batch of chips, I setup a little test circuit out of circuit from the board. I was seeing the same issue with the chip with my own design.

We had a bad batch of chips. It was way no one could fix those boards. They never figured the chips they were working with were bad. Ran down to the local Shack and picked up a few. Popped them into the boards and bam I had working boards.

Still more boards to repair. I got the manufacturer and batch number of the chips we had in stock. Gave them to my parts guy and told him NOT to buy in this batch. In fact to be safe, buy another manufacturer. A month goes by and my parts guy asks me "how many of those chips did you want"? (Oh brother). Again I remind him about the manufacturer and batch number of what not to buy. Another couple of months and finally, the chips are there on my desk. I opened them up and guess what? Tossed them in the trash, talked to my boss, went down to the local Shack and expensesed every chip they had in stock.

I was glad the Shack was there. Made my job a lot easier that day.

 

What "other" electronic stores?

Home Depot, Lowes, Sears,... all of them have bins with hundreds of different hardware products priced from just a few cents to a dollar. What's different between a bin of washers and a bin of resistors? Nothing.

I have no problem paying a premium or components at Radio Shack if it means I am going to finish a project now as opposed to waiting for shipping. My Tec scope was down.

"Need" is relative. If I had a pace maker that was failing and the local Radio Shack was the only local place that had the part that could keep me alive, then even $100,000 for an individually packed resistor would seem like a reasonable solution.

 

Other stores seem to have no trouble selling individually packaged items well under a dollar. Sometimes even just a few cents a piece. Hardware stores come to mind.

It's fine if they have some sort of minimum break even cost for a single item, but then they should put 10 trimmers in a bag for $1.99. If someone needs a part quick, it's fine to charge for convenience, but I personally would not buy out of principle if the price is blatant gouging. It's an insult in a small plastic bag.

Hardware stores are in a very different situation because their customer base is so much larger. How many washers would Home Depot sell for every resistor that Radio Shack sells (even if the pricing were comparable).

 

Home Depot, Lowes, Sears,... all of them have bins with hundreds of different hardware products priced from just a few cents to a dollar. What's different between a bin of washers and a bin of resistors? Nothing.

There's a big difference -- dozens and dozens of people buy washers for every person that buys resistors.

 

I agree. Home Depot sells thousands of washers, screws and the like daily, making the low prices viable. And besides, it's not a fair comparison between a big box store like HD and a small neighborhood store like RS.

 

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.

 

Home Depot, Lowes, Sears,... all of them have bins with hundreds of different hardware products priced from just a few cents to a dollar. What's different between a bin of washers and a bin of resistors? Nothing.



"Need" is relative. If I had a pace maker that was failing and the local Radio Shack was the only local place that had the part that could keep me alive, then even $100,000 for an individually packed resistor would seem like a reasonable solution.

Home Depot, Sears all carry op amps, voltage regulators, resistors? What aisle? I must have missed that.

If you don't like the prices at Radio Shack then don't pay them. For me I am really glad they are there. Paying an extra $1 or $2 every once in a while is not going to break me.