No joy at my Shack...everything I looked up seemed to be full price. Couldn't find the goodies you guys are finding. Of course, were pretty much in the technological armpit of the rustbelt's farmland!
Spurred on by doggiedoc's trove of 74-cent servos, I went to an out-of-the-way Shack, one I had never been to before. Apparently no one else had either. I got servos, GPS, compasses, Xbees, even a Stamp Activity kit for $14.99. And plenty of Hexbugs in Halloween & Christmas colors.
This hoarder finally has ENOUGH. Enough to last me a long time.
Now what? Maybe Robomagellan?
BTW, keep at it, Rick. All the stores I visited in LA had the same fire sale prices.
All of the available inventory was in the stores, none in the warehouse.
Toomanytools,
When they remove a sku from the web it is no longer possible to sell it in a store. It will not ring up on a cash lane. We return Merchandise to warehouse for unknown disposition.
Jim
Erco I have the same issue with the search. There are 6 Radio Shacks within 50 miles of me and if I do 50 miles I usually don't see much. I key in the zip code of the city 40 miles away with 4 Radio Shacks and I almost see something different. I also wonder how accurate those searches are. How often the database is updated with what is scanned at the register?
The search is definitely flaky. I found other stores in the area and seached using their zip codes and found items that should have appeared when using my zip code.
Another thing that bugs me about Radio Shacks search - they never tell you the quantity. If you want more than one of something you may need to hit multiple stores.
Spurred on by doggiedoc's trove of 74-cent servos, I went to an out-of-the-way Shack, one I had never been to before. Apparently no one else had either. I got servos, GPS, compasses, Xbees, even a Stamp Activity kit for $14.99. And plenty of Hexbugs in Halloween & Christmas colors.
This hoarder finally has ENOUGH. Enough to last me a long time.
Now what? Maybe Robomagellan?
BTW, keep at it, Rick. All the stores I visited in LA had the same fire sale prices.
Have fun with these:
23-925 CR123 Batteries 2.48
23-1131 Duracell 9V 1.18
23-578 Duracell D 4PK 1.78
278-873 100' 4-Conductor Phone Wire Was 4.97
60-783 Night-Vision Was 19.97
26-3140 MS Natural Keyboard Was 9.97
272-1185 MagLight AA Bulbs 0.58 (Sell for $3)
26-3214 Targus AWE79US Dual-Fan Chill Mat 5.98
Are you guys seeing any of these prices marked on things? About the only sale item I recognized from this discussion in my Shack was the Panavise but it still had the old $24-ish sale price.
Guess they've been too busy selling something???? to mark the prices down!
Not like I really need anything!! (oooh, them sounds like fightin' words in this thread)
I've seen a few Serial LCDs where the clamshell is cracked at the corners of the PCB. I don't how sturdy the PCB is or if Parallax will replace it if it's faulty.
All of the available inventory was in the stores, none in the warehouse.
Toomanytools,
When they remove a sku from the web it is no longer possible to sell it in a store. It will not ring up on a cash lane. We return Merchandise to warehouse for unknown disposition.
Jim
In the past stores seemed to be hit and miss as to accurate price labeling.
FWIW...if I saw something of interest I would request a price check.
Considering the number of SKUs that Radio Shack is downsizing, I would expect many items not to be marked accurately...salesmen do not get commissions for updating price labels.
Are you guys seeing any of these prices marked on things? About the only sale item I recognized from this discussion in my Shack was the Panavise but it still had the old $24-ish sale price.
Guess they've been too busy selling something???? to mark the prices down!
Not like I really need anything!! (oooh, them sounds like fightin' words in this thread)
I've seen a few Serial LCDs where the clamshell is cracked at the corners of the PCB. I don't how sturdy the PCB is or if Parallax will replace it if it's faulty.
I've bought 10 of the LCDs and almost everyone of them had the plastic packaging cracked.
None of PCBs were damaged though and all of the displays work great.
While the Radio Shack search engine lacks in many ways, it does allow us to see how unpopular electronic components are compared to other items Radio Shack does sell.
Increasing components available at Radio Shack will not save the company.
Kind of sad to see the do it your self generation die off...when the last do it yourselfer leaves, be sure to shut off the soldering iron.
The search is definitely flaky. I found other stores in the area and seached using their zip codes and found items that should have appeared when using my zip code.
Another thing that bugs me about Radio Shacks search - they never tell you the quantity. If you want more than one of something you may need to hit multiple stores.
Here's a list of the Shack's Velleman kits, starting at $1.78! Good first project, soldering practice, etc. The TV Pong game is $2.98, sheesh! Stocking stuffers.
I was unfortunately a little late to the show but I did score a few good deals. Of the 3 Shacks in my area I was only able to find one Parallax item left on sale. I got the PMB-648 SiRF GPS module for $10.00. Picked up 2 of the LED kits for $6.00 each. A good Logitech remote for $10.00. 9V solar panel for $3.50. Best deal of all, IMO, 20 Ea. Duracell AA batteries for $3.00. I may make my way south this weekend to check out some of the other stores. None of them had the servo deals but oh well, I am happy with what I got so far.
I am not a big fan of the plastic packaging...it makes it a pain to store the item (in the package) in any storage drawer..too much bulk..
I prefer the plastic bag approach..but if the handling of the component during shipping is seeing significant trauma then the plastic package would give it more protection.
Considering Radio Shack prices continue to be in free fall, does this mean that those who purchased earlier when they were higher will lining up for price adjustments?
I just bought a Parallax 29133-RT 3-Axis Compass Module this weekend for $9.97 and now its listed at $4.99!! Everything on clearance got another price slash! Hopefully the nearby RS that has the XBee kit for $19.99 will still have it by Friday since that is the next day I can make it to that store!
I went to the only Radio Shack that had the XBees in my area and they were not out on display so I asked a clerk about it. He went back to the stock room and came back 5 minutes later saying he couldn't find it and it probably was already boxed up with some return inventory. He said it probably was sold then returned so it showed up on the website but was not actually for sale... yeah:(. I've seen stuff that looked like a truck ran over it at Radio Shack that was returned then put back on the shelf for sale. It looks like they are returning the stuff on sale so get it soon before its gone!
Did anyone else grab some of these freebie DIY project pamphlets from the Shack? I only saw these two different ones at all the Shacks I went to, but one of them says project #8; there may be that many. Possible collector items if the Shack gets out of DIY as quickly as it got in.
Amazingly, all the Arduino & SeedStudio stuff is still full price. As are just a few Parallax items like the Prop QS board, the HW board, and PING.
Found some pretty good deals at my local Radio Shack stores and blew my electronics budget for a while. Some of the prices were just too good to pass up. Found an obscure store that had three servos (.74 each) and also an Arduino Mega ADK version for $9. Several of the soldering kits will be going to the local Cub Scout pack and will be good for teaching the kids how to solder.
A couple things I noticed that were odd is that Radio Shack seems to be dumping products and then replacing them with their branded version of the exact same thing. In particular are the $100 parts kits 1 and 2 that support the Make Electronics books. The Make versions are being sold off at $18 while the same thing with the Radio Shack name is $100. Do they honestly think that the Radio Shack name is more valuable than the Make name on that set?? It would be different if they were selling their new version for less but they still want a premium for it. I also noticed that Radio Shack is now selling their own 3-pin sonar module that looks a lot like a ping but it has a white PCB and it looks like the circuitry is different. It seems that may be a knock off version that they are moving to.
A couple things I noticed that were odd is that Radio Shack seems to be dumping products and then replacing them with their branded version of the exact same thing. In particular are the $100 parts kits 1 and 2 that support the Make Electronics books. The Make versions are being sold off at $18 while the same thing with the Radio Shack name is $100. Do they honestly think that the Radio Shack name is more valuable than the Make name on that set?? It would be different if they were selling their new version for less but they still want a premium for it. I also noticed that Radio Shack is now selling their own 3-pin sonar module that looks a lot like a ping but it has a white PCB and it looks like the circuitry is different. It seems that may be a knock off version that they are moving to.
Robert
Noticed the same thing too. Hope it works out for them............
Found some pretty good deals at my local Radio Shack stores and blew my electronics budget for a while. Some of the prices were just too good to pass up. Found an obscure store that had three servos (.74 each) and also an Arduino Mega ADK version for $9. Several of the soldering kits will be going to the local Cub Scout pack and will be good for teaching the kids how to solder.
A couple things I noticed that were odd is that Radio Shack seems to be dumping products and then replacing them with their branded version of the exact same thing. In particular are the $100 parts kits 1 and 2 that support the Make Electronics books. The Make versions are being sold off at $18 while the same thing with the Radio Shack name is $100. Do they honestly think that the Radio Shack name is more valuable than the Make name on that set?? It would be different if they were selling their new version for less but they still want a premium for it. I also noticed that Radio Shack is now selling their own 3-pin sonar module that looks a lot like a ping but it has a white PCB and it looks like the circuitry is different. It seems that may be a knock off version that they are moving to.
I've grabbed as many of the 9V batteries as I could but I couldn't believe it when I saw 20-pack of AAs for $2.98. All are Duracell which usually cost many times more and some of the 9V and AAs will still be good for years. I could only find 1 pack of CR123 so far, which is what the Penguin uses. I tested all of my serial LCDs in demo-mode and they all work. A few more LCDs and my binge will be complete.
Comments
This hoarder finally has ENOUGH. Enough to last me a long time.
Now what? Maybe Robomagellan?
BTW, keep at it, Rick. All the stores I visited in LA had the same fire sale prices.
All of the available inventory was in the stores, none in the warehouse.
Toomanytools,
When they remove a sku from the web it is no longer possible to sell it in a store. It will not ring up on a cash lane. We return Merchandise to warehouse for unknown disposition.
Jim
The search is definitely flaky. I found other stores in the area and seached using their zip codes and found items that should have appeared when using my zip code.
Another thing that bugs me about Radio Shacks search - they never tell you the quantity. If you want more than one of something you may need to hit multiple stores.
Have fun with these:
23-925 CR123 Batteries 2.48
23-1131 Duracell 9V 1.18
23-578 Duracell D 4PK 1.78
278-873 100' 4-Conductor Phone Wire Was 4.97
60-783 Night-Vision Was 19.97
26-3140 MS Natural Keyboard Was 9.97
272-1185 MagLight AA Bulbs 0.58 (Sell for $3)
26-3214 Targus AWE79US Dual-Fan Chill Mat 5.98
Brian
The remote is infrared but I might hack it using the Key Fob remote Parallax sells to switch it to RF instead of IR.
The 75 ohm switch module is a sealed unit controlled by a small microcontroller of some sort. I think it requires 12 volts but should be easy enough.
Guess they've been too busy selling something???? to mark the prices down!
Not like I really need anything!! (oooh, them sounds like fightin' words in this thread)
So what happens on Monday...prices go back up on the remaining items or do the items just disappear?
FWIW...if I saw something of interest I would request a price check.
Considering the number of SKUs that Radio Shack is downsizing, I would expect many items not to be marked accurately...salesmen do not get commissions for updating price labels.
I've bought 10 of the LCDs and almost everyone of them had the plastic packaging cracked.
None of PCBs were damaged though and all of the displays work great.
Increasing components available at Radio Shack will not save the company.
Kind of sad to see the do it your self generation die off...when the last do it yourselfer leaves, be sure to shut off the soldering iron.
Very few if any inventory programs allow the public to know quanities in realtime.
Walmart is one of the leaders in this area and they do not have that capability even within the company.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=13384949&kw=velleman%20kit&origkw=velleman+kit&sr=1
I am not a big fan of the plastic packaging...it makes it a pain to store the item (in the package) in any storage drawer..too much bulk..
I prefer the plastic bag approach..but if the handling of the component during shipping is seeing significant trauma then the plastic package would give it more protection.
Amazingly, all the Arduino & SeedStudio stuff is still full price. As are just a few Parallax items like the Prop QS board, the HW board, and PING.
A couple things I noticed that were odd is that Radio Shack seems to be dumping products and then replacing them with their branded version of the exact same thing. In particular are the $100 parts kits 1 and 2 that support the Make Electronics books. The Make versions are being sold off at $18 while the same thing with the Radio Shack name is $100. Do they honestly think that the Radio Shack name is more valuable than the Make name on that set?? It would be different if they were selling their new version for less but they still want a premium for it. I also noticed that Radio Shack is now selling their own 3-pin sonar module that looks a lot like a ping but it has a white PCB and it looks like the circuitry is different. It seems that may be a knock off version that they are moving to.
Robert
Noticed the same thing too. Hope it works out for them............
Knock off versions also are MUCH cheaper as everyone knows...did you check to see if it was a PING module or a PONG module? ;<)
Do you think a knock off version of other Parallax products will be coming too to a Radio Shack store near you?
Meanwhile Radio Shack being Radio Shack will continue to charge $$$$ for convenience...
Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween Nano Hexbug (60-863) - $2.08