Crazy Radio Shack price

[jrmymllr]

I know there's many examples of this, but I couldn't keep this one to myself even if perhaps not that interesting to some.

This fan, catalog number 273-244, was USD $16.95 when introduced in 1989. I remember seeing this back then and thinking it was expensive but adjusted for inflation it's, as of February 2024, *gulp* over $42!

It was reduced to $14.99 in 1994 which is over $31 now. Were BLDC fans really that expensive then or was Radio Shack just crazy? It appears to be very good quality but yikes.

[themadhippy]

was Radio Shack just crazy

In the uk   yes there prices on many  things was  a joke,although they were known as tandys over here. .Our other high street retailer ,maplins, initially was ok,but towards the end got silly,the price of 1 resistor was the same as buying 100 from a reputable online seller.

[Veteran68]

Yes they were grossly overpriced when it came to individual electronics components. But many of us hobbyists back in the day before online really had nowhere else to turn for a local source. At best we might know of some specialty mail order shops. But as a teenager getting into electronics in Small Town, USA, Radio Shack was my electronics parts mecca. So my frame of reference was "this electronics hobby is expensive" LOL.

Little did I know...

[floobydust]

Not a lot of BLDC fan offerings in the 80's. At the time, it was such a cute tiny fan I hadn't seen anywhere else for sale. I would say that was the main driver in the high price. I got one, used it for cooling a HeNe laser, still have it.

Although, do not forget Radio Shack's business model going back to the 1970's - import electronics from (then developing) Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and markup the price, resell for huge profit.
Today, it is still a core business model to outsource, import, markup the price and sit back on your laurels enjoying the profits and your nation's decline.

[DonKu]

Rumor sadly says sometimes the Shack sold "seconds" - rejected components. It's a plausible cause for the failure of a few Forrest Mims projects back in the day.

[jrmymllr]

Rumor sadly says sometimes the Shack sold "seconds" - rejected components. It's a plausible cause for the failure of a few Forrest Mims projects back in the day.

I thought their parts were fairly good quality. Their enclosures were nice. The main exception I can think of was the 1/16" drill bit that was included in their PCB etching starter kit. It had a rough ground-down appearance with a jagged spiral groove. And it could be easily bent like a piece of iron rod. Needless to say it had no chance of drilling FR4.

[jrmymllr]

At the time, it was such a cute tiny fan I hadn't seen anywhere else for sale. I would say that was the main driver in the high price.

Yes! I wanted one because of this. I had to wait until it was put on clearance. I have two and have never used them LOL.

[jrmymllr]

Yes they were grossly overpriced when it came to individual electronics components. But many of us hobbyists back in the day before online really had nowhere else to turn for a local source. At best we might know of some specialty mail order shops. But as a teenager getting into electronics in Small Town, USA, Radio Shack was my electronics parts mecca. So my frame of reference was "this electronics hobby is expensive" LOL.

Little did I know...

Yep. My mother used to tell me I had an expensive hobby. Now it's a relatively cheap hobby. There was a store in my hometown that mostly sold electrical fixtures and supplies, but had an electronics store in the basement. I could get lots of things there Radio Shack didn't have, but some of the prices.....I recall the LM317T was maybe $1.99 at Radio Shack, but at this place, $7.50 for the SK (RCA) part. And that was well over 25 years ago.

Once I discovered Digikey and All Electronics (RIP) I was like a kid in a better candy store.

[BrokenYugo]

Looks like Digikey wants $10-15 for Japanese brand 40x40x10, $42 sounds about right for RS markup.

[themadhippy]

They might have been pricey but at least we got a free battery every month.

[floobydust]

Rumor sadly says sometimes the Shack sold "seconds" - rejected components. It's a plausible cause for the failure of a few Forrest Mims projects back in the day.

I thought their parts were fairly good quality. Their enclosures were nice. The main exception I can think of was the 1/16" drill bit that was included in their PCB etching starter kit. It had a rough ground-down appearance with a jagged spiral groove. And it could be easily bent like a piece of iron rod. Needless to say it had no chance of drilling FR4.

Radio Shack did sell semiconductor rejects, for cosmetics or "blems" as their own with RS part numbers on them. Lots of Motorola discrete transistors. For a while they were reselling surplus parts from legendary Poly Paks and other manufacturers.
I didn't find a problem with the parts aside from the price, so we renamed it "Rip(off) Shack".

[jrmymllr]

Rumor sadly says sometimes the Shack sold "seconds" - rejected components. It's a plausible cause for the failure of a few Forrest Mims projects back in the day.

I thought their parts were fairly good quality. Their enclosures were nice. The main exception I can think of was the 1/16" drill bit that was included in their PCB etching starter kit. It had a rough ground-down appearance with a jagged spiral groove. And it could be easily bent like a piece of iron rod. Needless to say it had no chance of drilling FR4.

Radio Shack did sell semiconductor rejects, for cosmetics or "blems" as their own with RS part numbers on them. Lots of Motorola discrete transistors. For a while they were reselling surplus parts from legendary Poly Paks and other manufacturers.
I didn't find a problem with the parts aside from the price, so we renamed it "Rip(off) Shack".

And if the part wasn't a reject before it was put into RS packaging, in some cases they tried to make sure it was by the time it was opened. Almost the bottom of this page: http://wirehead.byethost10.com/upg/upg.html

"Device may be damaged by static" and they used white stryfoam

[johnboxall]

They might have been pricey but at least we got a free battery every month.

Batteries. As a child and then an enterprising teenager with family spread around the east coast, I had a card for every Tandy [Australia] store possible. Could usually get a couple a week. After a while staff would transfer and they'd sort of recognise you, but ended up buying things too so it all worked out. Had wads of lay-by carbon copies. Good times. Oh well, back to work.

[Alex Eisenhut]

Batteries. As a child and then an enterprising teenager with family spread around the east coast, I had a card for every Tandy [Australia] store possible. Could usually get a couple a week. After a while staff would transfer and they'd sort of recognise you, but ended up buying things too so it all worked out. Had wads of lay-by carbon copies. Good times. Oh well, back to work.

Ha, when I was a kid I had "Battery Club" cards for every Radio Shack within biking distance. It was only for the carbon-zinc red cells which weren't very good.
The gold ones were great, I still have gold Enercell AAAs that still work.

[EPAIII]

Hey, it's DC and brushless! That's a premium quality part. 

Who ever said Radio Shack was cheap? 1/2 W Resistors that sold for $0.10 each, qty of 1 or $0.03 each, qty of 100 elsewhere cost $0.25 at RS. Unless you bought the assortment packs which were 51% of some value that was never used.

[rdl]

Back before the internet Radio Shack was about all there was for electronics hobbyists. Your only other option was mail order. And you literally mailed your order in with a check and then waited a couple of weeks to get your stuff. Probably if you had a credit card you could use the phone to place your order and that would be quicker. Hopefully you called an 800 number because long distance was a thing back then. I didn't have a credit card in those days.

[DonKu]

My first solo Radio Shack shopping experience happened around the age twelve. Everyone else in the store at the time towered over me as a taller adult. A few smiled down at me and a few frowned as if to say, "Get what you want kid and get out." But I only wanted to browse the merchandise as the adults did.

Besides mail order and Radio Shack, St Louis sported a Layfayette Radio Electronics outlet and Gateway Electronics, an electronic surplus store with a  collection of components, books, and magazines.

Denver used to have electronics stores all over the place. The Internet's impact on the stores is unknown to me.

One of my online vendors, Universal Radio, successfully transitioned their brick and mortar to the Inet. But now the second generation's retired both themselves and their showroom.  https://www.universal-radio.com/location.html

My last solo Radio Shack visit took place at a much later date. Radio Shack contracted with me to install a back room device at the two stores in my small town. Finally, the keys to the kingdom became mine long enough to see the all of the expensive goods locked up in back.

[jrmymllr]

Back before the internet Radio Shack was about all there was for electronics hobbyists. Your only other option was mail order. And you literally mailed your order in with a check and then waited a couple of weeks to get your stuff. Probably if you had a credit card you could use the phone to place your order and that would be quicker. Hopefully you called an 800 number because long distance was a thing back then. I didn't have a credit card in those days.

I ordered a kit from Heathkit when I was a kid. Mailed in the form, and waited about a month. That was a long, long month.

[EPAIII]

Actually, there were parts stores for the radio and TV repair trade and industrial electronics. As an hobbyist you had to find one which would accept your business. I was lucky as there was such a store in New Orleans called Southern Radio. I even had a personal charge account there.

They must have been doing something right because they are still in business, with a small change in their name to Southern Electronics. I guess "Radio" was too much of an image of the past.

Oh, and quite often their prices were better than Radio Shack. I shopped both in the 1960.

Then DigiKey came on. They had a better selection and discounts that were, at first, pinned to the amount of the total order. That gradually went away in favor of today's quantity based prices: over time more and more of their prices were marked as ND, for non-discount. It was often worth the wait as they had things you couldn't get locally without it being a special order (in other words, wait for it).

Of course, in other countries your mileage WOULD have varied.

Back before the internet Radio Shack was about all there was for electronics hobbyists. Your only other option was mail order. And you literally mailed your order in with a check and then waited a couple of weeks to get your stuff. Probably if you had a credit card you could use the phone to place your order and that would be quicker. Hopefully you called an 800 number because long distance was a thing back then. I didn't have a credit card in those days.