BobG said:
Oh come on Mike. Everyone in the family knows where every part is in
the store and what it costs! You ask one of the girls at the counter
"Where are the double ganged and concentric pots?' They say "Aisle
three!' They price the used stuff at 'about half of retail'. Just being
able to look at the stuff is better than picking it from a picture on a
computer. I've been going there every weekend since '74. You need to go
every week to catch the interesting stuff and good deals.
Its not worth spending a whole day making the trip there and back
(Over three hours each way) on the off chance that they actually got in
something worthwhile. Its too bad that the other surplus stores closed,
and that "The Electronic Barn" went to stereo crap. I have almost as
much stuff stashed here as they do, anyway. I grew up about an hour's
drive from Mendelson's in Dayton, Ohio. The stuff was five to ten cents
on the dollar for new parts, and the junk was sold by the pound. they
had two floors of a six & a half story building open to the public, and
it was a full city block, with another city block of parking, just
across the street. Skycraft bragged to me that they did $1,000,000 in
sales one year. Mendelson's did over 100 times that in the same year.
Then there was Fair Radio, in Lima Ohio.
As far as Skycraft, I used to sell him truckloads of parts and
hardware when I worked for Sonnetec systems in Altamonte Springs. The
guy who owned Skycraft was a real thief. He would tell my boss, I can
only give you 50 cents each for these contactors, I can only get a
couple dollars for them in the store. I smiled and asked, Then why are
they priced at $90 in your store? Either give me the $5 each, or put
them back on the shelves. he never bought anything expensive, unless he
had someone waiting for it. He left two truckloads of stuff piled on
the floor that day and called my boss to tell me he wouldn't ever come
back, or buy anything from us, again. A week later he was back with
$2500 in cash.
I had a ball just wandering through his store with him following me,
trying not to be seen. I would find something that had a decent price
that i could use. If I didn't buy the whole lot, he pulled them off the
shelf and marked the price way up.
BTW: Have you ever been to Acme Industrial Surplus?
--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida