Radio Shack prices....OUCH!

[Dishman Dan]

On the local news they run a ABC news business segment from the network. This morning they mentioned that Walmart is beefing up its electronics department to compete against electronic giants like Best Buy and... get this... Radio Shack!!!...


I used to love going to Radio Shack but like others, it is in desperation and mostly clearance items. I bought a battery for my 4DTV receiver and what a joke that was. I even had the item number but you should of seen the puzzled and confused staff working there! I spotted the item hanging on the wall behind the counter and they insisted that was the wrong item! "What Dish Network receiver do you have sir???..."

The last clearance bargain was official SONY brand memory cards for the PS2 for $5! Santa was popular with that price!

 

[Davage]

Here's my Radio Shack story.. It was back in the year 1996 or so. My AC adapter for my Realistic brand scanner had quit. That AC adapter had worked for about 12 years and then stopped. Radio shack had a replacement AC adapter for $12, which I was willing to pay. As I go to pay, the cashier dude tries to sell me a 3-year extended warranty for $10.

Hmmm.. A 3 year extended warranty for 80% of the selling price...... No. I think I'll take my chances..

 

[bhelms]

More evidence of their loss of differentiation, even that far back. Most everything they sell anymore is "me too" commodity stuff you can find many other places, and usually for a lower price. They only way they and others in this same situation have to make a buck these days is by pushing the high-mark-up (and low value!) add-ons like extended warranties. The sales persons probably earn a "spiff" (per-item commission) every time they sell one of those warranties, hence their incentive to try, even when it seems ridiculous...

 

[boom]

I needed some RG6 cable the other day, went to radio shack, then best buy (I hate best buy)...and shockingly, Best Buy beat them on cable prices! Although either way I paid way too much for 100 foot RG6, but I needed it that day! Damn cost of convenience!

 

[mikelib]

Walking around the Dayton Hamvention today, I was surprised to find that Radio Shack had a fairly large booth and they were selling shortwave radioes and scanners. They had a lot of stock and they had a good size crowd looking at their products. I checked out their shortwave radioes because they were offering a twenty percent discount. I'll check them out again tomorrow and see what else they are selling.

mikelib at the dayton hamvention.

 

[Mr Tony]

I needed some RG6 cable the other day, went to radio shack, then best buy (I hate best buy)...and shockingly, Best Buy beat them on cable prices! Although either way I paid way too much for 100 foot RG6, but I needed it that day! Damn cost of convenience!

I buy all my cable from Lowes in 500 foot boxes

 

[classicsat]

I used to buy RG8 there for ham use all the time, even though many of my HAM acquaintances preferred another cable that I can't remember the number. I didn't like it because it used these weird "N" connections that were hard to solder onto the cable, but I did have to buy a short length of it once to use with my ICOM-7000, which only has "N" connections.

Probably RG213. It is diametrically identical to RG8, and could use the same connectors, but was less lossy at VHF/UHF frequencies. I got a deal on some cut lengths from a hamfest once (not Dayton), and put PL259s on one for VHF, and N connectors on another, which I used for my old C-band dish LNA.

I have use RG8-X with good results for VHF 2M. RG8-X was diametrically identical to RG59 (had to use adapter sleeves for PL259s), and performed much like full sized RG8

 

[mikelib]

Check out the Radio Shack booth at Dayton, Hamvention:

 

[Tron]

I just remembered that I got the best deal I've ever seen on the two tuner Silicon Dust HD Homerun from Radio Shack. It was an online only deal, free pick-up at a store of my choice. Final price was ~ $92...

 

[JerryVT]

I like the fact that the sign is old-school, just like when I was a kid

 

[Bill_KY]

I found a decent amount of RG8 coax at Dayton. The best deal was 30 feet of premium stuff (difficult to bend...LMR/hardline/9913?) for $12 with PL259 connectors.

 

[Mr Tony]

I like the fact that the sign is old-school, just like when I was a kid

yeah I saw that too

 

[Mr Tony]

I found a decent amount of RG8 coax at Dayton. The best deal was 30 feet of premium stuff (difficult to bend...LMR/hardline/9913?) for $12 with PL259 connectors.

glad you found some RG8 Bill

 

[gdavisloop]

Just be glad there still is a store on every-other corner that sells electronic parts!

 

[turbosat]

a new RS gotcha

I needed another cable connector-adapter today for my police scanner project.
So I popped into the local , brand-stinking new RadioShack store to get one. I'd bought one about 2months ago there, I think it was around 10bucks for ONE BNC-to female RG6 adapter+ a 2pack of PL-259 connectors, which I thought was high, but it was something I wanted to get without a lot of looking around.
Nobody carries those pl259 things anymore around here, was something that was quite popular in the cb-radio days though. And the bnc adapter for my rg6 scanner antenna cable was wonderful-no soldering of cable connecters!
Well today , the ONE bnc-adapter thing was going to be over 7 dollars, so I walked. Found two cable-suppliers on the net, one with a warehouse in GA. 67cents Each, another site they were 1.45 each. Even with nearly 5bucks USPS shipping I am still saving money lol. And I can get several of them for that price!

 

[DJ Rob]

If it's something I need NOW and don't want to drive far, I'll go to Radio Shack and pay the premium. Otherwise I get my stuff from the locally owned electronics shop 20 miles away or from an online seller.

I miss the old days of Radio Shack from the 80s where they were always fun to go into and there was always a cool "toy" to buy.

 

[pro96]

hey hey hey now, ever since this past Saturday I have a different feeling about Radio Shack.
They had what I needed to fix my Sonicview 8000HD, so please don't bash RS LOL

 

[turbosat]

Pro I wouldn't bash them, just their prices! Considering what it was in this case and where it came from.....it got to me.

 

[johns70]

I haven't been to a radio shack for years now. I used to go to one when we need plastic project boxes for R&D projects at work. Came in pretty handy at the time. They're changing the name to THE SHACK now. They should just change it to THE SHAFT.

 

[Tron]

Well today , the ONE bnc-adapter thing was going to be over 7 dollars, so I walked. Found two cable-suppliers on the net, one with a warehouse in GA. 67cents Each, another site they were 1.45 each. Even with nearly 5bucks USPS shipping I am still saving money lol. And I can get several of them for that price!

So true... Their prices on assorted connectors and adapters have gotten so high, I bulk buy the things on EBay and pay about the same amount!