Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

wired.com

61–70 of 142 posts

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#61
post #43

Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high prices. We need brick and mortar places to buy components. It might be worth a lot of goodwill from electronics tinkerers. Although I guess that's not a big enough group to matter, but who knows...

If you're in the Bay Area, halted.com has a store in Santa Clara that totally blew my mind. Dozens of aisles of electronics components, including racks of reels of surface-mount stuff. They also have stuff like used oscilloscopes, industrial robotics controllers, etc.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#62
post #43

Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high prices. We need brick and mortar places to buy components. It might be worth a lot of goodwill from electronics tinkerers. Although I guess that's not a big enough group to matter, but who knows...

If you're in the Bay Area, halted.com has a store in Santa Clara that totally blew my mind. Dozens of aisles of electronics components, including racks of reels of surface-mount stuff. They also have stuff like used oscilloscopes, industrial robotics controllers, etc.

If you're in the Bay Area, you never needed Radio Shack to begin with. Their market is (was) the rest of us, here in flyover territory.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#63
post #37

This is a good example of why we should let failed companies fail and let good companies then salvage the good assets. Imagine US government had taken over RadioShack to "protect the jobs" using taxpayers money and spent billions for a so called turnaround.

RadioShack is not comparable to Detroit.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#64
post #45
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can only talk about our (Postmates) experience but having multiple pickup and drop-off locations increases the efficiency of a fleet dramatically. In larger cities like New York, LA, etc. multiple warehouses are a huge advantage. Off course i'm mostly referring to on-demand or same day deliveries here. Maybe i should add some more color here. If you think in terms of traditional delivery, one warehouse is enough. B…

Probably true but there's not much that needs to be delivered in less than a few hours.

That's a call that has to be made on the demand side. Some of us have a steady flow of overnight boxes coming in from DigiKey and Mouser containing, well, nothing very expensive or interesting to most people.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#65
post #24
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually get cat food and water fountain filters as a subscription through Amazon and they always offer me kitty litter on the home page. They just don't have the kind I use.

On the other hand, I'm sure they've made you think a time or two about buying your brand of kitty litter from them....

Have we learned nothing from pets.com and the expense of shipping heavy pet products? :)

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#66
post #56
post #43

Please, please, Amazon, leave 1/16 of the shelf space for electronic components! Pack them densely, don't offer customer support, and charge high prices. We need brick and mortar places to buy components. It might be worth a lot of goodwill from electronics tinkerers. Although I guess that's not a big enough group to matter, but who knows...

You know where I can buy a lot of common electronic components these days? Home Depot. Buildings are increasingly wired with various digital sensors, so electricians are increasingly in need of electronic this-and-that to couple them together. Sure, you can't build whole from-scratch circuits purely from hardware-store parts, but if you run out of resistors/pots/whatever, you can restock pretty cheaply in any town bi…

On the other hand, consider the chain store "Tacoma Screw" around here. They sell what you would expect - screws, nuts and bolts, of every description, type, grade, hardness, length, head, etc. It's a marvelous place for an engineer like me.

The prices are, of course, high, but when I break a bolt or lose one for my car or other project, Tacoma Screw has an exact (or better) replacement.

The hardware store sells bolts and nuts, too, but the selection is erratic and the quality is dubious. When I don't want my transmission falling off, I want top quality bolts guaranteed.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#67
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except for the small fact that the NYSE suspended trading on stock RSH yesterday?

Pump and dump doesn't require that the stock be traded on an exchange -- the idea is to manipulate perception and, thereby, demand to improve the price you can sell at, which applies no matter what mechanism you are using to sell.

Right, I'm aware of 1) what pump and dump is and 2) the fact that unlisted stocks can still be traded. But the reason the NYSE suspended trading is to prevent pump and dump amidst talks of a buyout with Sprint, Amazon, etc. It's much harder to do so with unlisted stocks...

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#68
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, I'm sure they've made you think a time or two about buying your brand of kitty litter from them....

Have we learned nothing from pets.com and the expense of shipping heavy pet products? :)

> Have we learned nothing from pets.com and the expense of shipping heavy pet products? :)

It gets shipped even if you buy it in a retail store.

Pets.com was a great idea poorly executed about a decade too early.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#69
post #58

Oh no I sure hope not, the tax will be back and that is enough to move me to other sites in several cases. Edit: To clarify, no sales tax was one of the first things Amazon and other online retailers had on their side. They could sell things cheaper, even by a little, and the rest would be made up by not having to pay sales tax. If they have a presence in a state though they have to collect sales tax. If you buy a lo…

Paying taxes is a civic duty.

Re: Amazon Is in Talks to Buy RadioShack Stores, Report Says

#70
post #58

Oh no I sure hope not, the tax will be back and that is enough to move me to other sites in several cases. Edit: To clarify, no sales tax was one of the first things Amazon and other online retailers had on their side. They could sell things cheaper, even by a little, and the rest would be made up by not having to pay sales tax. If they have a presence in a state though they have to collect sales tax. If you buy a lo…

Amazon already collects sales tax in 24 states as per your link.
Post reply on HN