For those that walk into a Radio Shack and don't see the reduced price, just take one to the counter and ask for a price check! Stores are often remiss about getting the clearence Tags put out on a proper schedule!
Jim
My local store had but one in stock. They did however have a very large number phone contracts for the hispanic community.
The next closest location in Skokie has 5 quickstarts in stock, but I resisted and decided to let some other kid get a deal this time. One more kid building bots is one step closer to a better world, IMHO.
Been buying Quickstarts for less than $5..while the RS website still shows them at $20.
One manager mentioned that Arduino boards fly off the shelf when they are slightly discounted...while the Parallax propellor boards can't hardly be given away for free.
Been buying Quickstarts for less than $5..while the RS website still shows them at $20.
One manager mentioned that Arduino boards fly off the shelf when they are slightly discounted...while the Parallax propellor boards can't hardly be given away for free.
I just checked and they're a little less than $15 at my local Radio Shack. They had two on a clearance table. Not sure if they had more in the back.
$14 at another store nearby. Clerk said clearance prices will vary by store.
I picked up two at the $7.47 price then went to another RS where they were > $14. The clerk at the second RS told me her particular store was corporate-owned. I don't know if that accounts for the difference or not.
Finally two forumistas corroborate my all-too-fantastic claim. Thank you, Gentlemen!
I see this all the time when I go to buy closeout items at different retailers.
It used to be uniform pricing across all stores...even on discontinued items...now the pricing is dependent on how much profit the local manager wants to accept.
FWIW...I just purchased a certain item from RS...four different prices at four different stores...all corporate owned...with its pricing ranging from full list to 10 cents on the dollar.
Want to see interesting employee behavior? Go to the higher priced stores and request them to price match their competing same company stores for the lower prices.
FWIW...there are ways to force a store to match the lowest price being offered by any national chain including their own on any item in stock so don't take "No" for an answer,.
What we are seeing is just another case of the B&M stores trying to protect their inflated profit margins from the advent of Internet selling.
I got two QuickStart Rev A boards in Philadelphia for $7.47 each plus tax. I'm not used to sales tax from living in NH but it was still a good deal. Too bad they seem to be closing out a lot of their Parallax stock.
I was in a store one time looking for floppy disk cases. The store had a large display up front but when I went to the back of the store they had the same item on shelves marked down! Needless to say I bought the marked down ones. I have seen this in a couple of stores where one item is displayed in multiple places with different prices. It pays sometimes to look around and find the lowest price so when you check out and it rings up wrong you can mention it to the cashier since they should sell it to you at the lowest price displayed.
If there are still stores that go by the price tag instead of scanning a bar code then it really is time to make a portable printer for a "Sale of the Century" price tag maker!
Got (the last) two today! They were still listed at $43! I also got a 10% student discount! I have no need for the boards right now, but how could I pass up that deal? They are great little boards. At this price I could almost give them away to colleagues interested in using them.
Thanks for the tip. I picked up four quickstarts and will do a little evangelizing. One already went to my brother-in-law to explore as an Arduino alternative,...
I hope to use two to upgrade sumobots since I really don't like the basic stamps that come with them - The lack of any parallelism and interrupts makes things confusing. ping versus servo control etcetera.
Comments
Jim
The next closest location in Skokie has 5 quickstarts in stock, but I resisted and decided to let some other kid get a deal this time. One more kid building bots is one step closer to a better world, IMHO.
One manager mentioned that Arduino boards fly off the shelf when they are slightly discounted...while the Parallax propellor boards can't hardly be given away for free.
I picked up two at the $7.47 price then went to another RS where they were > $14. The clerk at the second RS told me her particular store was corporate-owned. I don't know if that accounts for the difference or not.
I see this all the time when I go to buy closeout items at different retailers.
It used to be uniform pricing across all stores...even on discontinued items...now the pricing is dependent on how much profit the local manager wants to accept.
FWIW...I just purchased a certain item from RS...four different prices at four different stores...all corporate owned...with its pricing ranging from full list to 10 cents on the dollar.
Want to see interesting employee behavior? Go to the higher priced stores and request them to price match their competing same company stores for the lower prices.
FWIW...there are ways to force a store to match the lowest price being offered by any national chain including their own on any item in stock so don't take "No" for an answer,.
What we are seeing is just another case of the B&M stores trying to protect their inflated profit margins from the advent of Internet selling.
Per that reasoning I should edit this thread into "You'll Never Guess What I Found at the Shack for Under $8".
Lithium 9v batteries for $0.97
TI-84+ calculators for ~$32
Swann cameras for a fraction of what they go elsewhere.
Quickstart boards for LESS than $4.97
Various Parallax components for $3.97
Green laser pens for $2.97
Xbox stuff for pennies on the dollar.
There's more...but that should get you started.
Happy hunting!
I need to clear some inventory here to get ready to open the new Propellerpowered shop with two new products.
Jeff
Got links Jeff?
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/155939-Cleaning-out-old-inventory-to-prepare-for-new...
I'd rather folks PM me what they want and I'll put this stuff out first-come, first-serve.
Jeff
Hello!
Jeff I just sent you a PM.
See your PM..
Shall I take this all one step further and publish all of the Quickstart add-on board .DIP design files somewhere as Creative Commons?
Got it and sent off a reply, which should arrive with the support item from PayPal. Why not? It couldn't hurt.
That's three of you!
I've pulled the items off and will do my best to ship tommorrow afternoon providing I've recieved everyone's paypal. Worse case, Wednesday.
There's still a few items left... I'll check in the morning and see if there are waiting PMs.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php/155939-Cleaning-out-old-inventory-to-prepare-for-new
Jeff
I hope to use two to upgrade sumobots since I really don't like the basic stamps that come with them - The lack of any parallelism and interrupts makes things confusing. ping versus servo control etcetera.