On Fri, 28 Apr 2017 16:31:09 -0500, philo wrote:

On 04/28/2017 04:20 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 28 Apr 2017 13:55:04 -0500, philo wrote:

On 04/28/2017 01:36 PM, Frank wrote:


snip
I think it is a crap shoot looking for cheapest stuff. I've never
shopped ebay but my brother-in-law has bought stuff for my wife which
turned out to be crap. Chinese stuff might be good or bad and US stuff
may even be the same but quality control should be better and they
filter out the bad. Worth paying for.


Here is where it all started for me.

I do a lot of computer repair work and one day the unbelievable thing
happened...I ran out of CMOS batteries!


No big deal, I'll just run over to the local drug store and pick one up,
I'll pay a bit too much but big deal.

A battery which should have been may $2.50 was marked $7 !

No way could I do that.

I went on line and ordered from China.

Price was $2.58 but that is not the whole story. $2.58 for TWENTY
of them and that INCLUDED shipping!!! 13 cents each I guess


They arrived in ten days and they are A-1 .

Identical as far as I can tell to the $7 drugstore variety.

I've nipped over to my local Princess Auto store (Canadian version of
"Harbour Fright" and picked them up 10 or 12 for $2.99 on sale. - no
waiting.




With on-line shopping so easy I hardly ever take the car out to go
shopping. Though I wanted to get the battery right I way I did not
/need/ to get it right away.
When a customer is waiting for their machine 10-40 days on the "slow
boat from China" isn't an option, and PA isn't much farther than a
local computer supplier where my wholesale price is about $2.99 each.

When I'm "on the clock" it's still cheaper to even grab one at a drug
store than to drive an extra 8 blocks for a $2.99 battery - as
difficult as it is to get my head around THAT some days!!!!.

That said, today was the last day of 1/3 of my working life going to
the same office every morning (16 years of my 48) for 8:30.
One more step towards retirement. I'm not quite retired yet - just
tired!!!!