Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past

In message , stuart noble
writes
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Not very long if they don't change their business policy. I'm not too
sure of the exact figures now, but a few months ago I wanted a 2,4AH 12V
SLA and Maplins were about 3 times the price of Screwfix, and others
locally. Plus the stock turn over was likely very low at Maplins so the
battery could well have been on the shelf for months, if not years!


--
Bill

In article ,
stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past


Did you check Boots? I've found they are about the cheapest for that sort
of battery of the High Street stores.

Maplin charge 36p for a single resistor. Costs about 2p elsewhere.

--
*HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:14:49 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past

I have read some very adverse reviews e.g. on Amazon about badged
batteries which just don't last.
Not sure if the issue is incorrect storage or if they are fakes.

I followed the advice and went to Poundland where you can get a card of
batteries for (no sh*t) £1.

Cheers

Dave R

--
Windows 8.1 on PCSpecialist box

stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past

Maplin have very little chance of survival. IIRC they are owned by a
hedge fund, so they're doomed.

On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:14:49 +0100, stuart noble
wrote:

Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

The pound shops sell packs of such coin cells. I can't recall whether
any CR2025s were on the card amongst all the other sizes which
included the ubiquitous CR2032 as used in over 90% of PC MoBos and,
I've noticed just recently, some modern laptops. It might be worth a
look.


99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.


Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past.

Presumably this "Matey from Dragons' Den" will be making quite sure
that the _only_ type of NiMH AA cells being stocked will all
exclusively be of the LSD type (as opposed to the opposite case where
they only stocked the high self discharge type).

No wonder they went bust with such a total lack of interest in what
the punters wanted from their rechargable AA cells, let alone
everything else. If they couldn't get that simple inventory choice
right, they deserved to go under imho.
--
J B Good

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

On Friday, 29 August 2014 16:17:25 UTC+1, Johny B Good wrote:


Presumably this "Matey from Dragons' Den" will be making quite sure
that the _only_ type of NiMH AA cells being stocked will all
exclusively be of the LSD type

Marketed at hippies and ravers no doubt.

In article ,
Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

Who said anything about a shop? That's the Maplin website price - the 2p
one being from other electronics suppliers, although you'd have to add
VAT to that. But then they also do a cheaper rate for bulk.

To put it in real money, I usually buy resistors by the hundred. So 2 quid
versus 35. ;-)

At one time Maplin were fairly competitive with the big suppliers. Not any
more.

--
*Home cooking. Where many a man thinks his wife is.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(
--
J B Good

On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 08:46:40 -0700 (PDT), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Friday, 29 August 2014 16:17:25 UTC+1, Johny B Good wrote:


Presumably this "Matey from Dragons' Den" will be making quite sure
that the _only_ type of NiMH AA cells being stocked will all
exclusively be of the LSD type

Marketed at hippies and ravers no doubt.


Why am I not surprised at that interpretation of that particular TLA.
I meant, as I'm sure you're well aware, Low Self Discharge (implied
when I mentioned High Self Discharge a few words later on).
--
J B Good

On 29/08/2014 17:23, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

Who said anything about a shop? That's the Maplin website price - the 2p
one being from other electronics suppliers, although you'd have to add
VAT to that. But then they also do a cheaper rate for bulk.

To put it in real money, I usually buy resistors by the hundred. So 2 quid
versus 35. ;-)

At one time Maplin were fairly competitive with the big suppliers. Not any
more.

I stand corrected :-) Though 35p for a single resistor on the web is
also a fair price - time picking etc. P+P on top of that. I notice the
2p resistors are only sold in tens on RS - that's got to be easier to
handle than singles too.

I've never been aware of Maplin being any good - I've never lived near
one so never got used to them if they were competent in the old days,
and I've always been impressed at how crap their shops are when I've
seen them.

On 29/08/2014 17:42, Johny B Good wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a shop,
probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more than
about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the cost to the
shop is zero.

For a screw, that's feasible - open box, put on shelf. It's obvious when
screws get swapped between boxes, and they're generally big enough not
to get confused. Though for a tiny grub screw, you're probably going to
have to put them in packets.

Resistors are rather harder to identify. You'll not be able to keep them
loose in boxes. You could keep them on tapes, and make sure you put the
right tapes in the right place. If you let customers near them that'll
go wrong, so you'll have to serve them yourself. There goes your profit
instantly - while it may take a few seconds to retrieve from the tape,
the volume won't be such that you can have a person dedicated to that so
you'll have to get somebody to walk to the right place and sort it out.
You could keep them in bags with labels - that means customers can deal
with it, but the time taken bagging means you're into that 35p each
straight away.

Now you could sensibly have quite a sharp taper for buying more than one
- eg a quid for ten resistors would be a fair price for a retail shop.
Alternatively use the small things as loss leaders. But the surprisingly
large costs for singles are how much these things actually cost if you
want to turn a profit.

In article ,
Clive George wrote:
I stand corrected :-) Though 35p for a single resistor on the web is
also a fair price - time picking etc. P+P on top of that. I notice the
2p resistors are only sold in tens on RS - that's got to be easier to
handle than singles too.

That is still only 20p. Almost half the Maplin price. And RS manage to
deliver the next day. Maplin can take 5.

--
*The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 17:42, Johny B Good wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a shop,
probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more than
about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the cost to the
shop is zero.

It's a while since I bought resistors but the idea of buying them singly
(apart from the big wirewound ones) seems daft. If memory serves, in the
places I used to buy from (Henry's Radio, Electrovalue), the minimum
order was ten, which were supplied on tape. They're so cheap it's not
worth buying less than ten, and it's always good to have a wide
selection in the store cupboard.

--
Mike Barnes
Cheshire, England

In article ,
Clive George wrote:
You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

It's not a shop. They charge the same for mail order.

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a shop,
probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more than
about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the cost to the
shop is zero.

But in any case probably no one would ever buy just one resistor. If they
did, the postal charges would be silly too.

--
*Upon the advice of my attorney, my shirt bears no message at this time

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 29/08/2014 13:14, stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

Any such cell that costs more than £2 is a misnomer. (OK - I know about
the special issues.)

--
Rod

On 29/08/2014 18:54, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Clive George wrote:
You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

It's not a shop. They charge the same for mail order.

And? So they're overpriced for mail order. What's that got to do with
the costs of running a shop?

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a shop,
probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more than
about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the cost to the
shop is zero.

But in any case probably no one would ever buy just one resistor. If they
did, the postal charges would be silly too.

I'm talking about shops, JBG is too.

On 29/08/2014 18:07, Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 17:42, Johny B Good wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?


Yes, which is why they can't survive in the high street. They're relying
on a dwindling number of people who can't or won't shop online.

stuart noble wrote:
On 29/08/2014 18:07, Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 17:42, Johny B Good wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a profit?
Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?


Yes, which is why they can't survive in the high street. They're relying
on a dwindling number of people who can't or won't shop online.


The high street problem is complicated by lack of parking, weather,
high shop rentals and business rates which are not turnover related. I
use Toolstation a lot, because I have a local branch, with good stocks,
easy parking and nothing gets broken in transit. It also avoids having
to stay around to get delivery. But, they have enough turnover to avoid
the business rates problem and their rent is quite low because of their
location. The local Maplin has close to zero customers and they cannot
survive.

"David" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:14:49 +0100, stuart noble wrote:

Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these
things is (and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past

I have read some very adverse reviews e.g. on Amazon about badged
batteries which just don't last.
Not sure if the issue is incorrect storage or if they are fakes.

I followed the advice and went to Poundland where you can get a card of
batteries for (no sh*t) £1.

Yes, but they do not last very long in a watch or in a car key fob.

stuart noble pretended :
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2 Duracell.
Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

99p less 61p postage makes them 19p each. Proper retail packaging (best
before 2023 etc). One wonders what the factory gate price for these things is
(and how long Maplins can survive in the high street).

Matey from Dragons Den thinks he's saved Jessops but the place is always
empty when I walk past

...and for £1 you can buy a card filled with a wide range of such cells.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On 29/08/14 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:
I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing,

It all depends on how you account for cost of sale.


--
Everything you read in newspapers is absolutely true, except for the
rare story of which you happen to have first-hand knowledge. €“ Erwin Knoll

On 29/08/2014 13:14, stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

Hopefully that will help to kill the "you get what you pay for" crap.

Certainly you rarely get more than you pay for, but all too often you
can pay more, or much more, and not get as much.

--
Rod

On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:51:18 +0100, polygonum wrote:

On 29/08/2014 13:14, stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

Hopefully that will help to kill the "you get what you pay for" crap.

Certainly you rarely get more than you pay for, but all too often you
can pay more, or much more, and not get as much.

Very true. We might pay for what we get sometimes, but if we got what we
payed for, SOGA would be unecessary.
The cells and batteries from the poundish shops are mostly crap - I've had
some that are well below voltage a couple of years within their date. The
Kodak (Pro?) seem to be good (Poundland?). Good value, at £1.50 for 10, are
Ikea's cells (and PP3s).
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

Clive George wrote:

I've never been aware of Maplin being any good - I've never lived near
one so never got used to them if they were competent in the old days,
and I've always been impressed at how crap their shops are when I've
seen them.

Years ago when there was a (seemingly?) more general widespread interest
in building circuits they were very good; they stocked loads of obscure
components and resistors were 3p each. About 10-15 years ago they
shifted to be more black-box oriented and sell PC bits, RC cars, disco
lights, etc (and always, I suspect, at prices higher than more
specialist "specialist" suppliers.) In the last few years (when I
haven't really been much) the stock of "proper" components has dwindled
while the pricing has shot through the roof.

--
Scott

Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket?

On 30/08/2014 08:12, PeterC wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:51:18 +0100, polygonum wrote:

On 29/08/2014 13:14, stuart noble wrote:
Needed a new CR2025 battery for a remote. EBay 99p delivered for 2
Duracell. Currys £4. Maplins £4 EACH (and a brand I'd never heard of).

Hopefully that will help to kill the "you get what you pay for" crap.

Certainly you rarely get more than you pay for, but all too often you
can pay more, or much more, and not get as much.

Very true. We might pay for what we get sometimes, but if we got what we
payed for, SOGA would be unecessary.
The cells and batteries from the poundish shops are mostly crap - I've had
some that are well below voltage a couple of years within their date. The
Kodak (Pro?) seem to be good (Poundland?). Good value, at £1.50 for 10, are
Ikea's cells (and PP3s).


People still trust brands, sort of. I trust Ikea and Duracell, but not
Kodak (who give the impression they sell their name because that's all
they have left).

In article ,
Mike Barnes wrote:
It's a while since I bought resistors but the idea of buying them singly
(apart from the big wirewound ones) seems daft. If memory serves, in the
places I used to buy from (Henry's Radio, Electrovalue), the minimum
order was ten, which were supplied on tape. They're so cheap it's not
worth buying less than ten, and it's always good to have a wide
selection in the store cupboard.

Quite. And Maplin will charge you 10x the price of a single one. I'll bet
they don't sell many. ;-)

--
*Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 18:54, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Clive George wrote:
You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with
retail parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail
Operators' Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a
profit? Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

It's not a shop. They charge the same for mail order.

And? So they're overpriced for mail order. What's that got to do with
the costs of running a shop?

Don't care. They could easily sell them in packets of 10 or whatever at
the same price and still make a big profit. It's a nonsense to expect
every single part like that you sell to be profitable/cover all costs on
its own. Self defeating - as it certainly puts me off buying anything from
them.

BTW, RS and CPC also run 'shops' in the form of trade counters. But supply
goods at the same prices as mail order.

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a
shop, probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more
than about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the
cost to the shop is zero.

But in any case probably no one would ever buy just one resistor. If
they did, the postal charges would be silly too.

I'm talking about shops, JBG is too.

Well, if your idea of how to run a shop is the one used by Maplin it will
explain everything when they fold.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Capitol wrote:
Yes, which is why they can't survive in the high street. They're
relying on a dwindling number of people who can't or won't shop online.


The high street problem is complicated by lack of parking, weather,
high shop rentals and business rates which are not turnover related. I
use Toolstation a lot, because I have a local branch, with good stocks,
easy parking and nothing gets broken in transit. It also avoids having
to stay around to get delivery. But, they have enough turnover to avoid
the business rates problem and their rent is quite low because of their
location. The local Maplin has close to zero customers and they cannot
survive.

At one time I was happy to go to a Maplin shop. Quite enjoyed it. One I
used was not the closest, but had a car park. And in those days they
stocked most of the things I was after. And would often make impulse
purchases after wandering round the shop. If they didn't stock what I was
after, they'd send it by post for free - and quickly. Their prices were
reasonably competitive too.

They made a decision to move from stocking components at reasonable
competitive prices to selling phones etc. And they're not competitive
there either. Their answer to falling profits seems have been to put their
prices up and expand. The only way that would work is if they have a
monopoly. Which they don't.

--
*Virtual reality is its own reward*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Scott M wrote:
Clive George wrote:

I've never been aware of Maplin being any good - I've never lived near
one so never got used to them if they were competent in the old days,
and I've always been impressed at how crap their shops are when I've
seen them.

Years ago when there was a (seemingly?) more general widespread interest
in building circuits they were very good; they stocked loads of obscure
components and resistors were 3p each. About 10-15 years ago they

Yes, my experience too. Maplin *used* to be one of the few companies
in the electronics field who sent stuff 'by return' just aboout. They
also pioneered on-line ordering with a dial-up text based modem
service.

I also used them a lot when I was in the Middle East between 1980 and
1987 and they shipped stuff out there efficiently and promptly.

--
Chris Green
·

wrote:

Maplin *used* to be one of the few companies
in the electronics field who sent stuff 'by return' just aboout.

What happened to Watford Electronics?

On 30/08/2014 10:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Clive George wrote:
On 29/08/2014 18:54, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Clive George wrote:
You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with
retail parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail
Operators' Heaven". :-(

Do you have any idea how much it costs to run a shop and make a
profit? Especially on low volume components such as single resistors?

It's not a shop. They charge the same for mail order.

And? So they're overpriced for mail order. What's that got to do with
the costs of running a shop?

Don't care. They could easily sell them in packets of 10 or whatever at
the same price and still make a big profit. It's a nonsense to expect
every single part like that you sell to be profitable/cover all costs on
its own. Self defeating - as it certainly puts me off buying anything from
them.

BTW, RS and CPC also run 'shops' in the form of trade counters. But supply
goods at the same prices as mail order.

You've got to make at least ten quid an hour out of a person in a
shop, probably a lot more. That means for 35p, they can't spend more
than about a minute and a half on a sale, and that's assuming the
cost to the shop is zero.

But in any case probably no one would ever buy just one resistor. If
they did, the postal charges would be silly too.

I'm talking about shops, JBG is too.

Well, if your idea of how to run a shop is the one used by Maplin it will
explain everything when they fold.


It's a peculiar model. They seem to have a limited product range and not
especially good prices. Very few people seem to go in, yet a lot of
staff - about 5 in my local store, and they seem enthusiastic and
knowledgeable. And I see on Wikipedia that they were sold in March to a
'restructuring' outfit.

I do find them useful for some things - needed some solder and heat
shrink wrap recently, for example. Expensive, though, but I didn't mind
as it was (relatively) buttons.

--
Cheers, Rob

Andy Burns wrote:

What happened to Watford Electronics?

The answer seems to be they went bust, got bought and moved to Luton

http://www.saverstore.com/informatio...ries.aspx#find

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
wrote:

Maplin *used* to be one of the few companies
in the electronics field who sent stuff 'by return' just aboout.

What happened to Watford Electronics?

they moved to Luton

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

/Johny B Good
- show quoted text -
Why am I not surprised at that interpretation of that particular TLA.
I meant, as I'm sure you're well aware, Low Self Discharge (implied
when I mentioned High Self Discharge a few words later on). /q

We call it H U M O U R....

Jim K

On 30/08/14 10:37, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
They made a decision to move from stocking components at reasonable
competitive prices to selling phones etc.
#
I think that decision was forced upon them: Very few people build things
out of components anymore. Its all rapsberry PI, plugin modules and
software.

Indeed a hobby project I am engaged in right now that would have been
several circuit boards, and a mass of components, is in fact reduced to
one interface board, a scrap PC that cost me a few beers, and a ****
load of software.

Its *cheaper* to do it in software and digital hardware than it is in
'electronics'

Maplin have retail outlets to make a profit out of. They have to cater
for the vulgar taste in instantly gratifying gadgetry. The Internet has
taken any hope of selling specialised stuff on the street away too.



--
Everything you read in newspapers is absolutely true, except for the
rare story of which you happen to have first-hand knowledge. €“ Erwin Knoll

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 30/08/14 10:37, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
They made a decision to move from stocking components at reasonable
competitive prices to selling phones etc.
#
I think that decision was forced upon them: Very few people build things
out of components anymore. Its all rapsberry PI, plugin modules and
software.

Indeed a hobby project I am engaged in right now that would have been
several circuit boards, and a mass of components, is in fact reduced to
one interface board, a scrap PC that cost me a few beers, and a ****
load of software.

Its *cheaper* to do it in software and digital hardware than it is in
'electronics'

Maplin have retail outlets to make a profit out of. They have to cater
for the vulgar taste in instantly gratifying gadgetry. The Internet has
taken any hope of selling specialised stuff on the street away too.

But Maplin sell on the internet too. Even Ebay. Dunno who buys their stuff
off there, though, as it's not at competitive prices.

--
*I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it..

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 29/08/2014 17:42, Johny B Good wrote:
On Fri, 29 Aug 2014 16:45:01 +0100, Clive George
wrote:

On 29/08/2014 16:17, Johny B Good wrote:

That's the thing, isn't it? I think most of us appreciate the
staggering mark up between factory dispatch price and end user retail
pricing, particularly peculiar to the UK.

Is it peculiar to the UK though? Isn't it just a normal western world
thing, and also related to the cost of retail?

Eg the resistors at 35p each - that's actually a sensible price when
sold singly in a shop.

You think! "Jeesus H Kriste!". No wonder the UK is awash with retail
parks. The major retail chains must think the UK is "Retail Operators'
Heaven". :-(

Watching Dragons Den is scary wrt retail prices.

What does it cost you make these?

"We ship them in from China at 99p each, wholesale they are £4.99 and
retail £14.99"

Makes you realise just how internet sellers can sell stuff cheaper than
anyone with a real shop.

--
Chris

On 30/08/2014 10:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I'm talking about shops, JBG is too.

Well, if your idea of how to run a shop is the one used by Maplin it will
explain everything when they fold.

I've said elsewhere I've never seen any reason to buy from Maplin, so
I'd not be running a shop like them. But my point about single resistor
pricing remains - in a retail environment, 35p is not an unreasonable
price for an item like that. 35p is also not an unreasonable price for
ten, and that's a clue that selling in singles isn't a good move.